What’s New at Nahanni River Adventures, Canadian River Expeditions

Bookmark this page and check back often to get the latest information about recent news from us and the Nahanni River Adventures and Canadian River Expeditions “insider scoop”:

Nahanni River Watershed Protection – THE JOB IS NOT FINISHED!

For years we have been campaigning for the expansion of Nahanni National Park to include the entire watershed. Research has shown that this is critical if the Park is to fulfill its mandate of protecting the species that move across its’ borders. The local First Nations want this protection to secure their traditional subsistence resources.

Last August we announced that Prime Minister Harper had announced withdrawl of the Nahanni watershed from mineral claim staking. This was an important step in expanding the boundary to protect the entire watershed. Unfortunately the final step of deciding on new boundaries and expanding the park has not been completed.

Now with a federal election, we have a chance to get our candidates to commit to getting this done!

Please take a moment and ask the Party Leaders and all your candidates if they will complete the process by expanding the boundary to that agreed upon by the Deh Cho First Nations.

For a complete list of members and links to their web sites: Google: Canadian Members of Parliament.

New articles!

In the summer of 1984, at age, 23, Neil Hartling headed up to Nahanni National Park in the Northwest Territories from his home
in Edmonton to experience and paddle a river that had haunted him since he was 15 years old.
Two things happened that summer that would change his life forever... Read More... Watching the river flow by Ed Struzik (37 Kb PDF)

AS FAR AS OUR GUIDES from Nahanni River Adventures knew, no one had ever flown an 18-foot raft (deflated) to Dusty Lake, near the headwaters of the Mountain River in Canada's remote Northwest Territories; portaged it and three canoes, coolers full of frozen steaks and oranges, cases of wine, tents, and Dutch ovens for the better part of a mile over ankle-twisting tussocks; and then plunged and scraped down the upper portion of the river to where it converges with the usual canoe route at Black Feather Creek. So we're claiming a first descent....Read More... Lair of the North Wind by Nancy Lord (160 Kb PDF)

New! Baja, Belize and Galapagos Trips

Looking for warm weather sea kayaking or a river trip through the jungle? In our October survey, many of you responded "yes". We are happy to announce that CRE has secured space on a number of world class experiences in Baja, Belize and the Galapagos Islands operated by experienced and trusted colleagues of ours from the eco/adventure world. New Baja and Belize trips are on stream for this winter (07/08) with the Galapagos trips available in 2009.

News From the Front

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation held a contest for the “Seven Wonders of Canada”. The Nahanni River was short listed as the people’s choice for the final vote and won spot #4! A telling vote of confidence for this grand river with the beautiful name.

Nahanni National Park Expansion one step closer!

GOOD NEWS for NAHANNI! Prime Minister Harper Announces Land Withdrawal for Nahanni National Park expansion and protection. But your support is still needed!

Aug 8 Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a large expansion of the boundaries of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, from 5,000 square km to more than 30,000! This is a big step towards protecting the entire 39,000 km2 watershed! Nahanni National Park Reserve was designated as UNESCO's first World Heritage List in 1978 and the section of the South Nahanni River within the Reserve that includes the renowned Virginia Falls was designated a Canadian Heritage River by the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board in 1987.

“Canada is blessed with magnificent geography from coast to coast to coast, but none more spectacular than Nahanni Park,” said the Prime Minister. “Today’s announcement will ensure that more of this precious land, and the unique wildlife populations it sustains, will be protected for future generations.”

The Prime Minister’s announcement allows for the protection of the majority of the land within the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem. The land will now be withdrawn from any kind of further development. Protected areas include mineral hot springs, limestone formations with international geological significance, and important grizzly bear, woodland caribou and Dall’s sheep habitat.

This is a first step, but a crucial sign the government is ready to move on the Park expansion. Now the task lies with Parks Canada to finalize the process. With the Prime Ministers office and Minister of Environment John Baird watching closely, we hope to see a final announcement by next summer!

The consultations, which will begin in the fall of 2007, will bring the Government together with the Deh Cho First Nations and other stakeholders to determine land-use policies that will ensure the long-term protection of the park. We will inform you of the consultation locations and dates.

Outfitter and guide Neil Hartling has struggled for this expansion for nearly a decade. He is thrilled, but at the same time cautiously optimistic about the bureaucratic process. “We must keep the pressure on so that the job is finished well – and soon!”

Latest Environmental Updates

The Auditor General is investigating the Prairie Creek Mine development in the Nahanni Watershed.

Canadian Zinc has been applying for and receiving a series of advanced exploration permits with the stated intent of opening the mine. There have been significant problems with the environmental assessment and permitting process for the Prairie Creek mine. Exploration and development activities have been considered in isolation from one another, and from the overall proposed mining operation. As a result the Prairie Creek mine is advancing without any assessment of the overall cumulative environmental impacts of the mine, and without considering the question of whether it is in the public interest that the mine should go ahead at all given its location. This fragmented, piecemeal approach to environmental assessment and regulatory review is often called "project splitting" and jeopardizes the effectiveness of the assessment process in protecting the environment. CZN appears to have managed to avoid environmental assessment and mitigating measures for even the existing environmental hazards (improper storage of cyanide and PCB’s), to say nothing of the upcoming hazards.

Find out more… (57 Kb PDF)

NAHANNI.COM Wins Yahoo! E-Connect Award

We are happy to report that Nahanni.com was just recognized at the November 9th Canadian E-Tourism Awards in Vancouver BC. At this prestigious industry event, Neil Hartling, founder and owner of Nahanni River Adventures and Canadian River Expeditions was awarded not only the Gold Prize for Best of Small Business Web Site, but the Platinum Award for all web categories – going against the biggest businesses in the country. The greatest accolade of the night was Nahanni.com winning the Yahoo! Big Idea Chair Award. The world's top ad agencies covet the Big Idea Chair and we are proud of the distinction this award brings to Nahanni and Canadian River Expeditions.

Neil Hartling’s comments at E-Connect:
“The web has been the greatest innovation in eco/adventure travel since the advent of nylon! Our guests are the big winners. The web allows us to provide a rich and deep way of allowing our guests to start their journey with us even before they arrive in the North. Our guests are more informed than ever before due to the power of the internet and this leads to a greatly enhanced vacation experience.”

“No Shit – There I was…” – Great Real World Stories

The Horton River is the most northerly river in mainland Canada. The Horton River guides from the recently completed ’07 expedition had this amazing story:

After lunch one afternoon, our group happened upon 6 White Fronted Goose gozzlings, swimming in the river. No parents in site. No contact was made with the cute, fuzzy gozzlings but they were admired from a distance. We paddled on for another 3 hours.

Later that evening, while eating supper, we herd a familiar chirping and turned to see five of the gozzlings marching up the beach to join them in camp.The fuzzy birds with ungainly large webbed feet were a comical but charming collection. They made a direct line for one of the overturned canoes. Possibly they had imprinted on it as a “a parent”. Realizing that one of the little birds had clearly already succumbed to a predator that afternoon, our group was torn between compassion and protecting the remaining group versus the knowledge that these birds had to remain wild and the best thing to do was to hope a parent was watching over them from a distance.

We tried all manner of strategies to lure them off to the water, even creating a fake “dummy” goose out of a burlap bag! But the gozzlings would have none of it.When everyone finally turned into bed, late at night beneath the midnight-sun, the gozzlings burrowed under the vestibule of one of the tents where they spent the night.

The following morning, with heavy hearts, the group exercised an elaborate diversion to embark without the gozzlings. They were a loving topic of conversation at every camp for the remainder of the trip. All agreed at the close of the trip that the memories and photos were “priceless”.

Guides Gossip

Your guides lead exciting lives even when they are not guiding on northern rivers. Find out what your guides are up to in Guides Gossip

Northern Currents

Nahanni River Adventures, Nahanni offers exceptional expeditions by raft and canoe on the great rivers from Alaska to Nunavut including: South Nahanni River, Tatshenshini River, Alsek River, Firth River, Snake River, Wind River, Stikine River, Burnside River, Coppermine River, Horton River, Mountain River, Yukon River, Taku River, Gataga River and Sea Kayaking and whale watching at Point Adolphus, Alaska, over-looking Glacier Bay National Park.

Our expeditions encompass Nahanni National Park (South Nahanni River), Kluane National Park (Alsek River), Ivvavik National Park (Firth River), Glacier Bay National Park (Alsek River), Herschel Island Territorial Park (Firth River).

Nahanni River Adventures operates in Alaska (United States of America), Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and British Columbia (Canada).

Nahanni.com is the online presence of the company, Nahanni River Adventures Ltd.

Nahanni River Adventures works with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society to ensure the environmental integrity of our wild places.

Neil Hartling, founder of Nahanni River Adventures, is also the author of: Nahanni, River of Gold...River of Dreams. Alaska to Nunavut - The Great Rivers. Nahanni River Guide. These books may all be purchased through Nahanni.com.

Common misspellings of the name are Nahani, Nahannie, Nahanie, Nahoni, Nahonni.
Nahanni River Adventures.