GIS concepts and capabilities needed to support Kluane National Park Reserve management planning: The Alsek River valley pilot study.

Abstract

Parks Canada uses park management planning to put into practice the dual mandate of protecting environmentally significant areas and providing for recreational activities within those areas. A park management plan lays out the objectives and strategies to indicate how each national park will protect and represent its natural and cultural heritages. A geographic information system (GIS) can support park management planning by providing the concepts of a data base management system and the capabilities of transforming spatial data into information through data integration, analysis-synthesis, and communication. Park management planning of a section of the Alsek River valley of Kluane National Park Reserve in the Yukon Territory requires the use of specific GIS concepts and capabilities. A three-phase GIS framework focusing on the pre-conditions to GIS application, the GIS application, and the GIS application evaluation is used to define the necessary concepts. The capabilities include acting as an inventory, analysis-synthesis or management tool to contribute to mapping, monitoring, and modelling the valley's resources and visitor activities.