[4] Polar Bear Pass is one of the largest National Wildlife Areas in Canada and is located between Graham Moore Bay and Queens Channel in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

These hills, which can be described as long ridges and folds, are the result of an east-west thrust fault composing the geologic body of Polar Bear Pass.

[6] In the south, the Caledonian River flows north into the National Wildlife Area and then west into the Arctic Ocean.

[8] Due to the sparse precipitation, Bathurst Island has a "polar desert" environment; yet, a combination of factors have led to a more productive ecology.

Additional key factors in the growth of this biological oasis include the poor drainage in the lowlands, the persistence of moisture well after snowfall, the absorption of nutrients with runoff from the nearby hills, and the underlying marine sediments.

[11] May sees the first above-freezing temperatures, and summertime averages are around 4° C. Early in July, river ice begins to break up, then larger ponds and lakes.

[12] Methods of oral tradition, where stories of the past, present, and future are told to each generation, preserve the history and culture of the Inuit.

Bathurst Island, home of Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area, is part of the Arctic Archipelago and the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut.

[14] As the community of Inuit peoples expanded their land use, development of new knowledge, skills, and technology on hunting marine animals took place during the winter, when the water in the north would become frozen over.

[15] Some of the mammals include lemmings, muskoxen, Peary caribou, walrus, polar bear, and ringed seal.

Polar bears have been assessed as a species of special concern since 1991 by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).

[20] Peary Caribou was assessed as threatened because of loss of sea ice, in respect to climate change and a large die-off in the 1990’s related to severe weather.

[21] The first area singled out for environmental protections was the Bracerbridge-Goodsir Inlet in the 1970’s under the International Biological Program (IBP).

Further environmental significance was given to the Polar Bear Pass in 1982, when the Ramsar Convention indicated that the area was distinguished as a Wetland of International Importance.

[15] In 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was created and signed, which set in stone the cultural importance of the area, solidifying even more the environmental protections of the park.