Resource Management in National Parks

Currently there are 61 national historic parks and sites and 31 national parks. The national park's land area totals 140 845 km2 which represents 1.5% of Canada. Although this is a small percentage the area is appreciable given that it exceeds the area of Canada's Maritime Provinces and that of countries such as Greece and Bulgaria. In 1984 over 25 million visits to Canada's parks were recorded. Every province and every territory contains at least one national park (Figure. 1 ). Nevertheless, the present configuration is considered deficient by system park planners since only 20 of the 39 Canadian terrestial natural regions are now represented by these parks.