New section of park opening
Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment looking at early openings
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 21, 2015
INUVIK
If the first long weekend of summer weather put you in the mood for camping, you're not alone.
The summer-like temperatures over the Victoria Day weekend sent people flocking to local parks to celebrate.
Gwich'in Territorial Park, which remains informally open all year, was extremely busy over the weekend, said Don Kraik, the regional superintendent of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
"I was there overnight and it was very busy," Kraik said.
That's notwithstanding the fact that Gwich'in Territorial Park, like the other parks in the delta, don't officially open until June 1, which is the traditional date.
The nice weather on Mother's Day a week ago also drew droves of people to Gwich'in Territorial Park and to the other picnic sites such as at Campbell Creek.
Other parks around the southern NWT opened on the long weekend and were busy, despite sub-par weather compared to Inuvik.
Kraik said Gwich'in Territorial Park leaves the gate open year-round to accommodate hunters and harvesters who frequent the area during the winter.
He said the Inuvik Industry, Tourism and Investment office has often considered whether it should open the local parks earlier to coincide with the southern locations, but there are certain logistical difficulties to overcome.
"We give it all sorts of thought," Kraik said.
Traditionally, the weather hasn't been reliable enough in May for the parks to open, but that's changed this year, he said. Whether that's going to be a consistent pattern isn't clear yet, he added.
"Most of our parks are full of snow yet," he said.
That means that contractors would have to be called in early to clear out the lane ways and prepare the parks for use, he said.
There's not much budget for that kind of thing, he added, saying the ITI parks division is constantly battling for some increase in funding.
"We'd have to see if we could get some increased funding," Kraik said. "It would certainly be nice if we could."
Still, he recognized there's an opportunity being lost, at least in Gwich'in Territorial Park, where dozens of campers paid no fees to use it for three days.
Also, with the Dempster ice crossings closed and the ferries not yet running, it's impossible for tourists to get to the Inuvik region during this time of year unless they fly, Kraik said, which is also an inhibiting factor.
With the climate of the Western Arctic warming quickly, it's something the department will have to look at, Kraik said, but that could be a few years away as a clear trend of suitable camping weather would have to be evident.
"Historically, June 1 has turned out to be a better date," said Drew Williams, the director of communications for Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. "I've gone camping on the long weekend in the Yellowknife area, and had both sun and snow in the same weekend, like a lot of other people have."
Gwich'in Territorial Park is going to be even more attractive to campers and visitors this year, Kraik said, due to the addition of more hiking trails.
Three sections of trail are in the works after one section was added over the last year or so.
Most people would be familiar with the lookout trail just south of the Gwich'in campground at the park, he said, and these new trails will be adding to that.
The tender for the work is "closing soon," he added, with the work to be complete later this summer.
Kraik said the trails have been on the books in the park's master plan since it was established in the 1990s, but no progress was made until two years ago when the plan was revised.
When they're complete, people will be able to walk to multiple lookouts right from the campground, he said, and the system will be fairly extensive.
"We want to enhance the park experience for people and show off the flora and fauna," Kraik said.
