The Yukon Wilderness Preserve is continuing along with its vision.

Improvements have been made to the fencing, and its visitor program was expanded this year to include opportunities for tourists visiting the Yukon in the winter.

The vision remains clear, insists Cary Gryba, president of the Yukon Wildlife Preserve Operating Society, the non-profit society formed to take over management of the 316-hectare spread with an inventory of 107 wild animals.

Gryba says nobody has lost sight of the Takhini Hot Springs Road preserve's potential to become a world-class facility to provide not only tourism, but also education and research opportunities.

Policies have been developed, and more are being developed, in the ongoing effort to have the facility accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

As part of the initiative to advance the facility's professional profile, there needs to be a new research lab constructed to recognized standards, complete with a sterile working area and approved quarantine space.

Gryba says he'd like to see a new lab in place within two years.

'It is an aggressive target, but you have to set some goals,' he added in a recent interview while sitting on the deck of the main office overlooking what was once the Yukon Game Farm held privately by Uli and Danny Nowlan.

'We have a pretty strong team here, board members and staff alike. And we have pretty darn good support from the general public.'

Records show there were more than 4,000 visitors to the facility last year, generating some $53,920 in revenue, not including the 564 visitors this past winter, most of whom were Japanese tourists here to see the northern lights.

The Yukon Party government announced in December 2003 it was buying the wildlife spread for $2.06 million. Then-Environment minister Jim Kenyon said the government would provide an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 to operate the facility while the non-profit operating society got on its feet and was self-sustaining.

The government was under a spirited public lobby to buy the preserve, as the Nowlans had indicated they were closing it down and would sell off the animals and land individually if need be. The government resisted the pressure, arguing it was not in the business of interfering with the private sector.

When the purchase was announced, Kenyon said it was not a matter of the government purchasing a private business interest, since the Nowlans had closed the doors four months previously, in September 2003.

But Yukoners are not paying the $300,000 to $400,000 a year Kenyon predicted.

Yukoners put up $150,000 for O & M the first year, in a year of transition, according to territorial budget figures.

Another $550,000 was spent last year for O & M, and an additional $274,000 went to repairs and upgrades, for a total of $824,000 for the facility during the 2005-06 fiscal year.

There is another $962,000 set aside for the preserve this year, of which $550,000 has again been earmarked for O & M and $412,000 has been set aside for capital improvements.

Premier Dennis Fentie says his government will provide financial support to the facility for as long as it takes to explore all avenues available for its long-term survival.

His government, however, is mindful of the cost to Yukoners, and will be watching for the results of the four-year review, he said in a recent interview.

'I am not going to speculate whether it is going to take three years, four years, five years,' the premier says. 'We are going to take all the time we need to do the work necessary to bring the wildlife preserve to the very extent of its possibilities.'

Fentie says the Yukon Wildlife Preserve is a positive story for the territory. The options and potential for its future are substantial, he says, though not if the preserve is allowed to disappear.

'We are steady as she goes,' the premier insists.

Gryba maintains that with time, the facility will attain the international prominence that was hinted at when the purchase was announced 2 1/2 years ago.

Peter Karsten, who spent 20 years as director of the Calgary Zoo and was the founding president for the Canadian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, was hired by Fentie's government to examine the purchase proposal.

He described the preserve as a gem. He also suggested back then that once accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums, the facility would have little trouble in attracting corporate support and money from foundations mandated to support such facilities.

Gryba says that's still the plan.

There is no doubt there are some dilapidated buildings in need of repair, he says. Gryba agrees a research lab and quarantine facility are musts, and they're working on it.

He says there are plans to build an interpretive centre that will include a link to the animals on the preserve and how they were used by the indigenous people of the Yukon. Construction of a new lynx pen is going ahead.

But the preserve's predominant asset, the envy of many, is its natural setting.

'Other facilities in North America, or the world, have to replicate their habitat,' he says. 'We have all we need right here.'

Gryba says the preserve can't just be measured by its ability or inability to be entirely self-sustaining.

There are, he suggests, benefits that are not as tangible as the dollar bill.

He says there are educational opportunities, and summer employment prospects for those pursuing a career in animal welfare.

'One of our animal care assistants is in veterinary medicine right now,' adds Carolyn Thorne, who was hired on as the preserve's executive director a year ago.

'That is a reality, that can happen,' Gryba says of the preserve's potential as an anchor point for students and graduates in the field.

'All of these things take planning, and relationship-building with other institutions.'

Thorne says in addition to the $53,920 from the gate last year and $1,700 in revenue from the gift shop, there was $6,180 generated through the sale of 394 memberships.

The Department of Education contributed $6,000 to support its Grade 4 and 7 programs, and just over $400 came in from donations last year.

The annual operating budget, however, is $600,000, most of which goes to cover salaries and benefits for the four full-time staff including a full-time vet and the complement of summer staff.

But when you have 107 animals in your care, groceries and veterinarians' bills add up.

Thorne said the wildlife preserve spent $56,000 on grub, and another $135,000 on additional vet bills, supplies and testing.

Testing, says Thorne, is essential to keep diseases in check.

The facility had to put down a stone sheep and bull elk last fall after they tested for Johne's disease.

Two more stone sheep were put down earlier this year because of Johne's. But none has tested positive since.

As an added precaution, most of the animals except for the mule deer were prevented from breeding, and there were no offspring this year but for two fawns, she says.

'We are really committed to making sure these animals remain healthy,' says Thorne. 'It is a major focus here.'

Thorne, who came from a position as executive director of the Moncton SPCA the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals remains convinced of the wildlife preserve's potential.

The facility has already been home to a variety of orphaned animals, such as the likes of Chance the muskox calf that captured hearts around the world when it arrived from Cambridge Bay, N.W.T. in the spring of 2005.

Chance died unexpectedly this past spring, though it was not from Johne's or any other common disease, but rather a liver disorder, the cause of which is still being researched.

'We want to provide something that the Yukon people can be proud of,' Thorne says. 'You know, it is their facility.'

Customer Appreciation Day, Thorne emphasizes, is July 8.

Four legged assets at the preserve currently are:

• 18 muskox;

• 15 mountain goats;

• eight elk;

• five moose;

• 13 caribou;

• 17 mule deer;

• nine Dall sheep;

• five stone sheep;

• six big horn sheep;

• nine bison;

• two lynx.