Wood Buffalo National Park

• Official Name: Wood Buffalo National Park
• Location: Northwest Territories and Alberta, Canada
• Year of Inscription: 1983

At 44,802 square kilometers (17,298 square miles), Wood Buffalo National Park is Canada’s largest national park and one of the largest national parks in the world. The park straddles the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It was established to protect the largest remaining herd of wood bison, also known as wood buffalo.

While its namesake buffalo were the main reason the park was created, it has other preservation and ecological significance. Wood Buffalo National Park includes the world’s largest inland delta and North America’s most significant remaining undisturbed grass and sedge meadows. The continent’s largest and most complete surviving Great Plains and boreal grassland ecosystem is also included in the parkland. In addition, the park houses the only natural breeding ground for the endangered whooping crane, which were preserved from extinction by biologists and naturalists who nurtured the breeding pairs found at Wood Buffalo. It is also an important part of the migratory bird route for many other species of birds.

Within the large expanse of the park, there are several types of ecosystems, including forest, wetland, and prairie. Wood Buffalo State Park also includes salt plains and a gypsum karst, or an area where the land topography has been shaped by water flowing through soft minerals such as limestone and gypsum, creating sinkholes, caverns and caves, and streams. On clear nights, it is often possible to see the Northern Lights from within the park.

The park is expansive and remote and is inhabited only by a small First Nations population who continue to use ancestral lands for hunting and fishing. Most of the ecosystems there are relatively safe from harm from human activity. However, the delta area at the convergence of the Peace and Athabasca Rivers, which includes a wetland that supports more than a million birds, is threatened by industrial and urban development further up the rivers. In recognition of the ecological significance of the area and the wildlife it contains and to increase its protection from the threats of human activity outside the park, Wood Buffalo National Park was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1983.

History

From the end of the last ice age, the area that now makes up Wood Buffalo National Park was inhabited by a succession of First Nations people who survived by hunting and fishing in the subarctic area for thousands of years. European settlers arrived in 1772, led by English explorer, naturalist, and fur trader Samuel Hearne. At the time of the arrival of Hearne and other fur traders, the First Nations population in the area included the Beaver and Slave (or Slavey) of the Athabaskan language group, as well as Chipewyan, Woods Cree, Dene, and Métis.

The Peace-Athabasca Delta was a central hub of activity for the First Nations people long before the arrival of the Europeans. It was where they came for trade, cultural, religious, political, and social purposes. Once Europeans arrived, English and French fur traders also established homes, trading posts, and other facilities in the same area. The newly arrived population grew steadily as various settlements were established, but the First Nations people retained a strong presence in the area as well. The settlements included Fort Chipewyan and Fort Smith.

The area was also home to an estimated 150,000 buffalo in addition to caribou, moose, black bears, wolves, beaver, mink, muskrat, fox, lynx, weasel, and red squirrels. Along with plentiful fish in the waters and dozens of types of birds, there were plenty of natural resources for both the First Nations peoples and the Europeans. Historical research has indicated that fewer than one hundred buffalo per year were harvested during this time.

For about a century, the fur trade continued in the area while the Cree, Dene, and Métis people continued to live, hunt, and work in the area around the delta. It was visited by a few natural scientists, surveyors, and geologists. For a time, Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries lived and worked among the traders and First Nations people. None of these groups left a lasting impact on the ecology, geology, or animal population in the area, however.

Then, just before the beginning of the twentieth century, the area was the subject of a major treaty. Known as Treaty 8—because it was the eighth treaty signed between the English Crown and the First Nations people in North America—it was formally signed on June 21, 1899. In what was thought to be a mutually beneficial agreement for both sides, Treaty 8 ended the rights of First Nations people to the land and turned it over to the government with the stipulation that the First Nations People were supposed to retain access to the land where they lived, hunted, fished, and so on.

In 1922, Wood Buffalo National Park was established on the same land affected by the treaty. It was established to protect the dwindling population of wood buffalo, a type of buffalo with a square hump that is taller and darker than its cousin, the plains buffalo. Although the animals were hunted, contemporary researchers have been unable to determine exactly why the population dropped so significantly between the late 1700s and the early 1900s. Shortly after the park was established, government authorities ordered the remaining Métis people living in the area off of the land, and any that resisted were forcibly removed. This began the start of a century of efforts by the First Nations people to regain access to Wood Buffalo and restitution from the Canadian government.

Between 1925 and 1928, government officials moved around 6,700 plains buffalo from Buffalo National Park to combat an overpopulation problem there. This move was protested by biologists, who feared the cross-hybridizing of the herds would be detrimental. As feared, the move did result in the spread of several diseases, including bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis, which became an ongoing problem for park naturalists. Despite the challenge of disease, the more than 3,000 remaining wood buffalo at the park represent the largest free-roaming herd of buffalo in the world.

Significance

Wood Buffalo National Park holds several unique features. In addition to being the home of the largest free-range herd of buffalo in the world, it is the only place in North America where the natural hunting interaction between wolves and buffalo has continued without interruption. The park also contains the only known natural nesting habitat of the endangered whooping crane at Whooping Crane Summer Range. Through the work of biological conservators with existing breeding pairs found at the park, the whooping crane has been preserved from extinction. Other animals also thrive in the park. In addition, 2007 satellite imagery revealed that the beaver population had constructed the largest known beaver dam, which measured 850 meters, or 2,790 feet.

In 1983, the park received UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, based on the presence of the largest Great Plains-Boreal grassland ecosystem of North America, the biodiversity of the Peace-Athabasca Delta, its importance to bird migration and to the whooping crane, and the presence of the large population of its namesake wood buffalo. The designation became important when it became clear that the Peace-Athabasca Delta was being threatened by human activity farther up the rivers, including oil extraction at the Athabasca Oil Sands to the north of the park as well as other industrial facilities. Concern was raised that this portion of the park was deteriorating, that there was a high threat of future damage to the area, and that there was a need for additional management and oversight to protect the diverse biological systems.

In 2013, the park came under additional protection when the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada designated it as a dark sky preserve. This made Wood Buffalo State Park the largest such preserve in the world. The intent of a dark sky preserve is to protect night animals such as owls, night hawks, and bats that populate the park. It also makes it easier for visitors to the park to observe the Northern Lights.

In addition, the land within the park remains an important part of the history and life of the First Nations people, especially the Métis. In 2005, the Mikisew Cree First Nation won a legal battle that made the government recognize the rights of the First Nations people to fish, hunt, and trap under Treaty 8 and other past agreements. Similar rights were extended to the Métis as well. This means that the park can remain an important part of the life of the First Nations people, whose ancestors lived there long before European settlers arrived.

In the mid-2020s, Wood Buffalo National Park faced several concerns. Extreme drought and aggressive wildfires troubled authorities throughout 2024. These, coupled with additional environmental threats, including industrial development and hydroelectric dams, raised concerns with UNESCO, which gave the Canadian government three years to address them or risk having the site labeled as “in danger.” UNESCO reported that Canada had missed a February 2024 deadline to file an action plan. Throughout these challenges, the First Nations populations in Wood Buffalo National Park remained ready and willing to protect the park and its ecosystems.

Bibliography

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“Discover: Wood Buffalo National Park.” Parks Canada, 3 May 2024, parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/nature. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Finkelstein, Maxwell W. “Wood Buffalo National Park.” Canadian Encyclopedia, 4 Mar. 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wood-buffalo-national-park. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Malbeuf, Jamie. “Report Outlines ‘Violent, Fraught’ History of Wood Buffalo National Park and Impact on First Nation.” CBC News, 22 July 2021, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/wood-buffalo-athabasca-chipewyan-first-nation-1.6111787. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Potyondi, Barry. “Wood Buffalo National Park: An Historical Overview and Source Study.” Parks Canada History, 1979, www.parkscanadahistory.com/series/mrs/345.pdf. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Ulrich, Carla. “Extreme Drought Is Forcing Wood Buffalo National Park to More Aggressively Tackle Wildfires.” CBC, 10 July 2024, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wood-buffalo-wildfire-management-2024-1.7258685. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Williams, Ollie. “Canada Criticized for Missing Wood Buffalo Action Plan Deadline.” Cabin Radio, 4 Mar. 2024, cabinradio.ca/173672/news/south-slave/fort-smith/canada-criticized-for-missing-wood-buffalo-action-plan-deadline. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

“Wood Buffalo National Park.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, whc.unesco.org/en/list/256. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

“Wood Buffalo National Park.” IUCN World Heritage Outlook, 2 Dec. 2020, worldheritageoutlook.iucn.org/explore-sites/wdpaid/10902. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.