Monitoring - Human Use

Human use monitoring

Rationale

Camping by the Thompson River in Aulavik National Park.

Understanding the human use of national parks in the Western Arctic is required for effective park management. The Western Arctic Field Unit has monitored human use of Aulavik, Ivvavik and Tuktut Nogait national parks since 1989. Human use monitoring involves recording the number of visitors and Parks Canada staff who use the park, when and where they visit and the types of activities they conduct. This information is used by Parks Canada to develop and refine its public safety, law enforcement, resource management, interpretation and education activities. It is also used to reduce conflicts between people involved in different activities in the park and conflicts between people and wildlife.

Objectives

• To document the extent and nature of human use of Aulavik, Ivvavik and Tuktut Nogait national parks.

Methods and Information Collected

• Human use monitoring is conducted for Aulavik, Ivvavik and Tuktut Nogait national parks.
• Information is collected for visitors, Parks Canada staff, researchers and students.
• The number of people in the park, the dates of their visit and their activities while in the park are recorded.
• This information is summarized every year.

Years of Data

• Aulavik: since 1994
• Ivvavik: since 1989
• Tuktut Nogait: since 1998

Results

Aulavik National Park

• The number of visitors to Aulavik National Park has remained relatively constant in the last eight years.
• In 1994 and 2001, 88 and 60 visitors from a cruise ship visited the park on a day excursion.
• The number of visitors to Aulavik is not expected to increase in the future as the park is expensive to visit.

Ivvavik National Park

• The number of visitors to Ivvavik National Park in 2002 was the highest since the park was created in 1988. The number of visitors has been increasing for the last 4 years.
• Since 1988, the number of commercial raft trips has decreased and the number of private trips has increased.
• The number of hiking trips in the park has increased in recent years.

Tuktut Nogait National Park

• There was only 1 visitor to Tuktut Nogait National Park in 2002. It is difficult to predict how visitation to the park will change as the park is relatively new.
• This park is the most easily accessible park in the Western Arctic as scheduled flights to Paulatuk bring hikers to within 44 km of the park boundary.

Staff and Researchers

• Parks Canada staff and researchers made a total of 609 visits of varying duration to Aulavik, Ivvavik and Tuktut Nogait national parks in 2002. A variety of resource management, public safety, law enforcement and education and interpretation activities were conducted during these visits.

Contacts

Ron Larsen
Chief Park Warden
Ivvavik National Park
P.O. Box 1840
Inuvik, NT X0E 0T0
Phone: (867) 777-8817
Fax: (867) 777-8820
Ron.Larsen@pc.gc.ca

Christian Bucher
Chief Park Warden
Tuktut Nogait National Park
P.O. Box 91
Paulatuk, NT X0E 1N0
Phone: (867) 580-3059
Fax: (867) 580-3234
Christian.Bucher@pc.gc.ca

Terry Skjonsberg
Chief Park Warden
Aulavik National Park
P.O. Box 1840
Inuvik, NT X0E 0T0
Phone: (867) 777-8802
Fax: (867) 777-8820
Terry.Skjonsberg@pc.gc.ca