The Mikisew Cree First Nation says Parks Canada must share some of the blame for low water levels inside Wood Buffalo National Park.

The First Nations community based in Fort Chipewyan, Alta. said the federal agency has sat by while the park dries out.

"If nothing is going to be done about it, maybe it's time Parks Canada give the land back to the people," said Steve Courtoreille, chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation.

Mikisew Cree Chief Steve Courtoreille (David Thurton/ CBC News)

Concern about low water levels prompted a rare UNESCO mission into the park in October. This mission could lead to the United Nations classifying the World Heritage site as being in danger.

The Mikisew and other First Nations groups depend on the park's fish, moose, birds and plants for subsistence in communities where high food prices are the norm.

"We're not being supported by Canada through Wood Buffalo National Park," Courtoreille said.

Fort Chipewyan sits on the outskirts of Wood Buffalo National Park. The park is home to the "largest self-regulating bison herd in the world," according to Parks Canada (Mikisew Cree First Nation/ Submitted)

The Mikisew Cree First Nation's petition to the World Heritage Committee in 2014 said Parks Canada's management of the nation's largest park "is not adequate to ensure its safeguarding."

It says Parks Canada's 2010 management plan doesn't adequately address the "the dangers of upstream activities and climate change."

"The plan only briefly mentions that 'the impacts of external stressors and climate change on water quantity and quality are of concern' without mentioning what those external stressors are, how they are affecting the park, and how they should be addressed," reads the petition.

Parks Canada defends itself

Parks Canada, which participated in the World Heritage mission, argues it has spoken against outside development that's affecting the health of its park.

"Parks Canada does take part in the upstream major environmental assessments," said Jonah Mitchell, the field unit superintendent in charge of Wood Buffalo National Park.

"Much as Mikisew Cree does, we're often at the same table expressing similar concerns on those environmental assessment processes."

Jonah Mitchell is Parks Canada's Southwest NWT Field Unit Superintendent. (David Thurton/ CBC News)

Parks Canada voiced its worries about the construction of B.C.'s Site C dam during the environmental assessment in 2013.

It argued the environmental review needed to better understand how construction of the dam impacted downstream river flow

Parks Canada said it has no regulatory authority meaning it can only voice its concerns about water levels. It cannot force project proponents to do anything.