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Qausuittuq National Park (pronounced Qow-soo-ee-tooq, from Inuktitut meaning ''place where the sun does not rise'') is a national park located on northwest Bathurst Island in Nunavut. It was established on September 1, 2015, becoming Canada's 37th national park. This area was chosen to represent the Western High Arctic natural region, one of 39 such regions identified by Parks Canada. This region encompasses most of the high Arctic Archipelago (the Queen Elizabeth Islands and the Grinnell Peninsula on Devon Island, but not Ellesmere Island or Axel Heiberg Island). The park also protects important Peary caribou habitat. It is north of the existing Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area. ==History== Archaeological studies in the Bathurst Island area indicate occasional human use over the past 4500 years by prehistoric as well as historic Dorset and Thule Inuit. Human presence fluctuated with changes in climate, ice cover and the corresponding availability of wildlife for subsistence. Human use was primarily in the southern and eastern part of Bathurst Island, rather than within the proposed park area itself. Subsequently the area was explored by British naval expeditions during the mid-nineteenth century, primarily those associated with the search for the lost Franklin expedition. Several cairns remain on the north coast.〔 Exploration of the area continued sporadically, including scientific and commercial studies beginning during the 1960s. The community of Resolute, located on Cornwallis Island to the southeast of the proposed park, was established in 1953. Inuit from the community use the land and waters of the Bathurst Island area to hunt and fish. A park feasibility study was initiated in 1994. The work included a Mineral and Energy Resources Assessment. This report was released in 1999 and the overall park feasibility study was concluded in 2000. The lands on northern Bathurst Island were first withdrawn for the purpose of establishing a national park in 1996. In 2009 Parks Canada entered into negotiations with the communities most closely connected to the proposed park with respect to establishing an Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement (IIBA) for the establishment of the park. In 2015, the federal government introduced a bill to create the park, which received approval on June 24. The law specified that it would come into force on either the day of approval or on September 1, 2015—whichever came latest. With approval given in June, the park was legally created on September 1. Originally, the park was tentatively referred to as Tuktusiuqvialuk National Park. The current name was selected through a contest in the local area. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Qausuittuq National Park」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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