In pictures: Wood Buffalo National Park opens $10.7M field station

Wood Buffalo National Park has a new field station in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to support community-based monitoring and serve as a gathering place.

The facility, said by Parks Canada to have cost $10.7 million, is 10 km from Fort Chipewyan in northern Alberta.

The building holds a field data preparation facility, a large hall and a kitchen. It is intended to support “group engagement sessions, educational activities and multi-day culture camps” for up to 80 daytime visitors, Parks Canada said in a news release. Cabins and a campground can accommodate up to 50 people.

The field station was opened at a ceremony on June 30.

Parks Canada said it was designed in collaboration with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation.

“This is what sovereignty looks like: Indigenous Nations investing in themselves to protect our environment, culture and food chain,” Acting Chief Teri Villebrun of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation was quoted as saying.

“It’s up to us to stand against the forces of unchecked development. This is what that looks like.”

Chief Melody Lepine of Mikisew Cree First Nation said the field station supports “ongoing community efforts with our neighbours the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation, reflecting a shared commitment to stewardship and our collaboration in ensuring our Delta is protected for years to come.”

“This Field Station ensures that the people most connected to these waters are now leading the work to understand and protect them,” said President Ruby Ladouceur of the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation.

“That is stewardship as our Elders taught it, and collaboration as it should be: the three Nations and Parks Canada, standing together on the land, building something that will serve our children long after the ribbon is cut.”

The field station was funded through an action plan designed to help preserve Wood Buffalo National Park’s status as a United Nations-recognized World Heritage Site.