Yol xxYr - The Arctic Circle

86
Ftrcrn the earJ-y 1970's the Inuit of Pangnirtr-urg and Broughton fsland
have been learning wtr,at it is like to live near a national park.
For sone of these people the pa.rk has made very little difference rn
their lives , for scnre it has rneant a fu-Lr.-ti:re- job and the chance
to learn ner ski1Is, for otlers it has provided a chance for occasional
vrork to supplerent their j-ncorne frcrn hunting and carving.
Scrne Tnu-it stilf lrcnder vrhy tlrere j-s a park here and rad:y ",otrrists go to
so fiud effort and expense to visit this park.
Gradual-ly pople hav"e cune to realize that t-hrere can b a conflict
between nran and nature. Scnre of the ways men use iand, and the arrjmals
and plants that live on tJre land, can destroy tJ:e lard or change it for
a long time, scmetimes forerrer" i^trhen nen liverl as farmers, or in snall
tslrns, or as hr-:nters and trappers, and when Utey did not lirrc as large
gnroups in the sarre area, thry did not cLrange the land greatly. rf they
did danage scrTp area there sesred ta be very little cause foi worry as
there appeared to be an u,nlirtri-ted armunt of land, and natural beauty
was abrurdant everytarhere. ff the places rafiere rnen lived became too
o:cx,sded or made ugly and r:npleasant, then the ones rafio warrted to could
always mcve a littl-e furLher away a-nd find quiet, beautiful, r:nspoiled
places. Tloday the nunbers of tJre pople j-n the worl-d have increased
greauly and these people have j-ncreased their dsnards rryon the land
for nore food, mrre nobility, nore gadgets for arrrusenent, rrrf,re clothes
for fastrion, rTDre cunfort, nore, m3re, more. Thre erpty r:nspoiled placr=s
have begun to disppear. ltlrre and niore people are l-iwing in large cities.
Ttrey are drawn there to find jobs and to take adrzantage of the gireater
varieQr of services and material things they can find il the cj-iies.
EVen arctic oonmrrnities have beer: gnooing as people nove in frcxn their
carps. Al-1 over tire rnorld people have tended to nrrve closer to schools,
stores, hearttr centres such as hospitals and nr:rsing stations, and
centres for entertairmrent and recreation. As their nunbers increase
tlrqz create more jobs so tlrat the cities beccnie larqer and largrer.
Tkrese large cities bring prroblens for the peopj-e living there. Tbo
many people liwing close together seate nrental stresses that can rnake
people To overccne these stresses scr€ p€ople feer a strcng
need to get away fron people, buildings, noise and nen-rnade things - to
redi-scover, at least for a tjne, the peaoe of tlre natr:rar r,vorld.
Therefore, as tlre n'onbers of people in the world increase they put
pressure or stress on each other and on the 1ard. very foar places
are left r:nspoiled and unchanged by man" For ttrese reasons c€_nada
has set aside special places in each province and in tLre territories
as national parks. Tkre land in these parks is pr:otected frsn man-made
ctnnge as mucLr as 1nssib1e, so that only the natr:ral forces sucll as sq11,
ra]Jrr sno,,l, ic-e, ants are atlcxped to chnnge thre land.
Ttris protection s frcrn ncw these areas *itt stitt
be presenred for r ctrildren.