Beginning in 1972 as Lynx tundra Lodge - followed by East Wind Arctic Tours, Ltd. from 1985 through 1991 - and then finally as Great Canadian Wilderness Holdings, Ltd. from 1992 onward; our various enterprises have channeled several million tourism dollars into the NWT & Nunavut. We are proud that we have done so without having taken little away from the land, or having barely depleting our natural resources. Our highly ethical approach to tourism and land/water use, as well as continuing to play an instrumental role in the development of cultural tourism & eco-tourism in the Canadian Arctic has afforded us distinguished media attention & formal acknowledgments. This equally has brought much coverage and credibility to Northern tourism and its conservation issues.

A list of our most notable media and guiding accomplishments over nearly four decades of remote NWT Arctic operations is as follows:

-1975-77:  Great Canadian (then Lynx Tundra Lodge) facilitated, guided & outfitted with watercraft outfitted  Dr. Bryan Gordon his family & team for his extensive archeological dig in the upper Thelon area.  This resulted with acknowledgments in the educational archeological book 'People of Sunlight-People of Starlight' [ISBN #0-660-15963-5}.

-1984:Great Canadian (then East Wind) successfully organized, facilitated and guided with formal acknowledgments journalist Dave Nimmer of WCCO - affiliate of the CBS Evening News in Minneapolis, MN, USA for a five-part TV human-interest documentary on the Barrenlands, aired on CBS in March, 1985.

-1984: Great Canadian (then East Wind) successfully guided author Dan Crapen, Sr., resulting with formal acknowledgment in his book 'Wilderness North' [ISBN #0-932985-00-9].

-1987: Commissioned by the Government of the NWT, Great Canadian (then East Wind) successfully organized, outfitted and led a special tour to the Thelon Sanctuary, Nahanni National Park and Wood Buffalo National Park for key members of the Canadian Consulate General, including the

then Director General of External Affairs - Mr. Garrett Lambert.

-1989: In conjunction with the Northern Prince Of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Great Canadian (then East Wind Arctic Tours) successfully organized, outfitted and guided the United Nations UNESCO team to Virginia Falls in Nahanni National Park.

-1989: We successfully organized, facilitated and guided TV producer Jerry McKinnis of ESPN, resulting in formal acknowledgment of the three-part TV program - 'The Fishin' Hole'.

-1989: We successfully initiated, organized, outfitted & guided with formal acknowledgment the first of three special Thelon Sanctuary biological research expeditions called 'Project Oasis' in conjunction with biologist Judith Kennedy of the Canadian Wildlife Service.

-1990-91: We were formally recognized by the Canadian Green Consumer Guide as one of the top five  environmentally- conscious tourism operators in Canada [ISBN not available].

-1990-91: We became affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund Canada, by donating 25.00 per client booked on all of our trips, and carried the WWF panda logo on our literature for two years.

-1991: We trained and outfitted Maxwell Finkelstein of the federal Canadian Heritage River Secretariat for the Thelon River area, and then we successfully organized, outfitted the expedition that led into the Thelon Rivers' designation as a Canadian Heritage River.

-1991: We successfully organized, outfitted and guided Ontario film crew Eric & Brenda Beck with formal acknowledgment in the documentary film - 'When Time & Light Stand Still'.

-1994: We successfully facilitated, outfitted & guided author / photographer George Lepp with formal acknowledgment of the special Outdoor Photographer magazine article - 'Dance with the Caribou' [ISBN not available].

-1996: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted film producer John Howe & Jeff Elsted & from KUED-TV, an affiliate of PBS in Salt Lake City, Utah - resulting in production of & formal acknowledgment in the nature documentary 'The Snow Wolves', aired on PBS in the USA in 1997.

-1996:Great Canadian successfully organized, guided and outfitted writer Ted Keresote, editor of the 'Ecowatch' column in Sports Afield Magazine for a 3-week Thelon canoe expedition resulting in an article in the July 1997 issue. 

-1997: Great Canadian successfully organized, guided and outfitted a California TV film crew resulting in formal acknowledgment in the program 'Wild Things TV'.

-1998: By referral of some of our past clients - Ecoventures was nominated and became a primary runner-up for the Conde Naste Ecotourism Award 1998.

-1997-2000: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted the late renowned author & photographer Galen Rowell on our 'Dance with Caribou' trip.  This resulted with formal acknowledgment in the World Wildlife Fund tabletop book - The Living Planet' [ISBN #0-609-60466-X] (pages 142-145 inclusive).

-1999-2000: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted world-leading Photographer Art Wolfe, resulting with formal acknowledgment in the just released tabletop book - 'The Living Wild' [ISBN #0-9675918-0-5] (pages 79-81, 83, & 170)

-2000-01: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted Japanese writer Katsuyuki Tanaka - resulting in two major Japanese magazine articles about northern lights and autumn wildlife in Men's Ex magazine [ISBN #18677-12], and also for the Japanese equivalent of Newsweek magazine [ISBN not available].

-2000-01: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted the late author / writer Galen Rowell for his third trip with us, to obtain images for his new tabletop book: 'North America The Beautiful' [ISBN #1-56251-504-7] (Pages 286-293 inclusive).

-2000-01: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted Canadian author / writer Catherine Senecal to the summer caribou migration in the Thelon valley, resulting in two major publication articles published and released in the Michelin Press. Catherine Senecal then went on to win

won the prestigious 'Canadian Travel Commission's Northern Lights Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism' for best Internet Reporting, for  her article titled 'Tales of the Tundra: Exploring NW Canada'  published in the Specialty Travel Index. 

-2001-02: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted author Alan Weisman & Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Jay Dickman for a two-week expedition to the Thelon, the NWT diamond fields & the native community of Lutsel K'e.  this expedition resulted in the feature magazine article 'Diamonds in the Wild' - as well as the editorial - published in the December 2001 issue of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. 

-2002-03:  Great Canadian Wilderness was nominated by client & Yukon Northerner Dr. Dave Simonson for the World Wildlife Fund International Arctic Programme Arctic Award for Linking Tourism and Conservation. The initial nomination was then backed up by other nomination letters from client/author Alan Weisman and client/photographer Lonnie Brock. 

-2003-04: We successfully organized, guided and outfitted Canadian author Courtney Milne for a two-week expedition to the upper Thelon area. This trip resulted in a feature magazine article 'Journey into the Thelon',  published in the March 2004 PhotoLifeMagazine. 

-2003-04: Great Canadian successfully organized, guided and outfitted Canadian author & Photographer team Glen & Rebecca Grambo, resulted in a feature magazine article titled 'Dancing with Caribou - Autumn on the Barrengrounds', published in the 2003-2004 winter issue of Nature Canada magazine. 

-2004:  Great Canadian successfully organized, facilitated & guided George Archibald and 15 key members of the International Crane Foundation from the US on a special ten-day tour that included - in conjunction with Brain Johns of the Canadian Wildlife Service - the whooping crane nesting area in Wood Buffalo National Park, the Upper Thelon & the Mackenzie Bison Sanctuary. 

-2003-04: We successfully organized, guided & outfitted Canadian Cinematographer Jeff Turner of River Roads Films, on several expeditions over 2003 and 2004 to gather footage for a major BBC nature documentary called 'Caribou & Wolves - the Deadly Dance' now in the works - that will be aired next year around Mother's day in the US on Animal Planet, and in the UK on BBC2 around the same time on a series called "The Natural World".

-2004:  Great Canadian successfully organized, facilitated & guided Annett Wolf of the Wolf Foundation of Copenhagen, Denmark to the upper Thelon for five weeks, to start her tabletop book leading to a major film production to be titled 'Tears of the Wolf'.  This project will carry into 2007 - stay tuned! 

Now on-line! Conde Nast Traveler controversial 2002 article 'Diamonds in the Wild', about the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary and the potential future effects of diamond and mineral exploration in our last great North American wilderness. Click here!