Boundaries revealed for Thaidene Nene, new N.W.T. national park

The expected boundaries of a vast newprotected area in the Northwest Territories have been revealed,along with theunique relationship Parks Canada is to have with theaboriginal people who live there.

"This is not your grandfather's national park," said SteveNitah, head negotiator for the local Dene.

Federal, territorial and aboriginal officials were on handWednesday in the remote community of Lutsel K'e to outline thenegotiated extent of Thaidene Nene,which means Land of the Ancestors in Dene.

"It's been a lot of hard work," Nitah said.

Thaidene Nene originally proposed in the 1970s is to cover27,000 square kilometres of spectacular and pristine waterways,forests and Canadian Shield around the eastern arm of Great SlaveLake.

About 14,000 square kilometres is to be managed as a nationalpark. Another 12,000 square kilometres is to become eitherterritorial park or protected caribou habitat. The land underterritorial control would have similar protections to thenationalpark.

But nothing will be done on any of it without hearing from theDene, Nitah said.

They are guaranteed a role with federal staff in planning,managing and operating all aspects of the park, said Nitah. Theywill be able to continue to hunt, fish and use the land in all thetraditional ways they have for centuries.

"It's pretty much a joint venture with Canada," said Nitah, whoadded the Lutsel K'e Dene will fund their part of the work fromtheir own resources.

Nitah acknowledged that the boundaries going out for publicconsultation are significantly smaller than the original ones.About8,000 square kilometres have been withdrawn because they are thoughtto hold resource potential.

"It was very important for the government of the NorthwestTerritories that that happen. I think we've done well inrepresenting our interests in ensuring that very key ecological andcultural areas were protected."

N.W.T. Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger makes noapologies for hiving off about a quarter of the original proposal.

"There's considerable mineral wealth, real and potential," hesaid. "There's diamonds for sure. There's some potential uranium.We haven't done the mineral assessments necessary in all areas."

Miltenberger said the remaining land is large enough to protectthe ecosystem and will also connect with conservation areas to theeast, such as the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary.

Thaidene Nene includes both boreal forest and tundra threadedwith lakes, rivers and waterfalls. The east arm of Great Slave Lakeboasts spectacular cliffs and islands and some of the deepestfreshwater in North America.

Wildlife includes moose, muskoxen, wolves, bears, wolverines,many species of birds and fish and the Beverly-Ahiak barren-groundcaribou herd.

Thaidene Nene is a Dene homeland, said Nitah.

"Our whole memory and understanding of who we are comes fromthere. Our culture and language is pretty tied to the land."

The boundaries will now go out for public comment. Once that'scomplete, legislation creating the park and outlining itsimplementation must be drafted and passed.