The Nisutlin River delta is a busy place at this time of year. For migrating water birds heading south for the winter, the Nisutlin delta is the most important Yukon site south of Old Crow.

It's by far the largest river delta in the Yukon south of the Beaufort Sea coast. About ten kilometres north of the village of Teslin, the delta is a network of channels, mudflats, marshes and islands created by the Nisutlin River just before it drains into Teslin Lake.

Each fall, thousands of swans, geese and ducks, along with hundreds of shorebirds, settle on the delta to feed and gain weight before heading further south. The water birds attract predators like hawks, eagles, and falcons. More than 150 species of birds have been sighted in the delta.

For generations, the Teslin Tlingit people have used and cared for the wetlands of the Nisutlin River delta, so when they negotiated their land claim, protection for the delta was an important consideration.

The result was the creation of the Nisutlin River Delta National Wildlife Area, which became a legal entity in 1995. In the summer of 1997 the federal Minister of the Environment approved a management plan for the National Wildlife Area.

The management plan was developed by the Teslin Renewable Resources Council and the Canadian Wildlife Service, in close consultation with the Teslin Tlingit Council and the Yukon government.

Canadian Wildlife Service biologist Jim Hawkings is one of the people who worked on the plan. Through the Teslin Renewable Resources Council and the Teslin Tlingit Council, local people played an important part in developing the management plan and will play an important part in administering it, Hawkings says.

"Everybody on the Renewable Resources Council is a local resident, so there's big-time local control."

He says a major goal of the management plan is to make sure that pressures on the Nisutlin River delta are dealt with before they become a problem.

"As a general rule, people feel there's not a lot that needs to be fixed, but it does need to be protected."

The resources the delta offers are well worth protecting. Besides the diversity of birds, the Nisutlin River delta is home to moose, caribou, bears, deer and elk. It's especially important in late winter and early spring as a feeding area for cow moose and their calves, the authors of the management plan point out.

A variety of furbearers live in the delta, including ermine, wolverine, mink, fox, lynx and muskrat. The waters of the lower Nisutlin River contain salmon, trout, whitefish, burbot and other important food species.

For years the delta has been a popular place for hunters, especially from the Whitehorse area, as well as for fishing, camping, berry-picking, and other traditional activities. The creation of the National Wildlife Area won't change that, says Hawkings.

"It's a bit different from most of the southern National Wildlife Areas," he says. "Camping, fishing, hunting, and activities of that sort will still be allowed."

However, a waterfowl refuge is being set aside within the National Wildlife Area, partly to allow migratory birds a sanctuary where hunting is not permitted and partly to provide a place where people can view the birds without disturbing them.

"That was one of the concerns in developing the management plan -- trying to find a balance between viewing and hunting," says Hawkings.

The creation of the National Wildlife Area won't make a sudden and noticeable difference to users of the Nisutlin delta. The drafters of the management plan decided that it was not necessary to introduce major new restrictions on activities in the area.

"The most important thing," says Hawkings, "is that the designation as a National Wildlife Area has provided a mechanism to deal with any problems that come up there."

For more information about the Nisutlin River Delta National Wildlife Area and the management plan, contact the Teslin Renewable Resources Council, Teslin, or the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Whitehorse.