What's Happening?
The stunning landscapes around the O'Grady Lakes - some of which is inside the proposed national park reserve.© Parcs Canada / C. Bucher, 2009Work towards establishing the proposed Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve has been ongoing for almost three years. Here is a summary of the key events that have led us to this point:
June 2007 – Parks Canada requests the support of Sahtu Dene & Métis of the Tulita District for an interim land withdrawal in support of the proposal to create the national park reserve.
October 2007 – Land Corporations of the Tulita District unanimously pass resolution supporting the interim land withdrawal.
November 2007 – Sahtu Elders from the Tulita District meet to discuss name for the proposed national park reserve. The name they propose is Nááts'ihch'oh.
January 2008 – Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Canada and Sahtu Dene and Métis of the Tulita District to develop an agreement to protect the South Nahanni River headwaters and negotiate an Impact and Benefit Plan.
February 2008 - Land withdrawal through Order-in-Council provides interim protection to 7600 square kilometres in the headwaters of the South Nahanni River in the Sahtu Settlement Area. The withdrawal means that no new leases or mining claims can be granted in this area until March 2012. Existing third party interests are not affected by the withdrawal.
The Honourable John Baird, then-Minister of the Environment and Minister Responsible for Parks Canada, speaks at the announcement of an agreement to work towards the creation of Nááts'ihch'oh National an agreement to work towards the creation of Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve at the Museum of Nature, Ottawa, April 7, 2008.© Parks Canada / S.Kilpatrick, 2008 April 2008 – The Honourable John Baird, then Minister of the Environment and Minister Responsible for Parks Canada, along with Sahtu leaders, youth and Elders from the Tulita District Nááts'ihch'oh Working Group announce and celebrate the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding and land withdrawal.
Clarence Campbell, Rocky Norwegian and Chief Frank Andrew listen to Minister John Baird speak at the announcement of an agreement to work towards the creation of Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve at the Museum of Nature, Ottawa, April 7, 2008.© Parks Canada / S.Kilpatrick, 2008 November 2009 –The Senior Mineral and Energy Resource Assessment Committee (MERA) —a committee composed of senior officials from various Government of Canada departments and the Governments of the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut — approved three boundary options for public and stakeholder consultations. The Committee was informed by studies conducted in recent years on mineral and conservation values in the area of the proposed park reserve. The options developed were reviewed by the Tulita District Nááts'ihch'oh Working Group prior to general consultations. The Working Group's review is ongoing.
January 2010 – On January 21, 2010, The Honourable Jim Prentice, Canada's Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced the formal launch of three months of consultations for the proposed Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve. For more details on consultations planned and how you can provide input see section “Get Involved”.
March 2010 – Aboriginal, third party and public consultation meetings should be completed by March 31st, 2010.
April 30th 2010 – Deadline for receipt of written comments for inclusion in the final consultation report.
Nááts'ihch'oh Working Group members visit Nááts'ihch'oh (Mount Wilson) and the South Nahanni River headwaters.© Parks Canada / C. Bucher, 2009Views and comments gathered during consultation period on the proposed park reserve and boundary options will be compiled and available to the public in report format later in Spring 2010.
This report will be used to inform governments' deliberations on a final boundary for the proposed national park reserve.
Negotiations with Sahtu Dene and Métis of the Tulita District on the Impact and Benefit Plan are nearing completion. The national park reserve cannot be established until the Impact and Benefit Plan has been completed. Once the Sahtu Dene and Métis have their Impact and Benefit Plan in place and the final boundary has been determined by the federal government in consultation with the Government of the Northwest Territories, Canada's Environment Minister and Minister responsible for Parks Canada will be able to recommend to Parliament that Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve be established under the Canada National Parks Act.