Good morning. It’s James Keller in Calgary.
Western Canada’s mountain national parks could see significant changes to address climate change and traffic congestion under new management plans released by the federal government.
Parks Canada released new plans this week that cover Yoho, Kootenay, Mount Revelstoke, Jasper, Banff, Waterton national parks, as well as the Rogers Pass national historic site. The plans are reviewed every decade.
The new plans deal with climate change, transportation and Indigenous relations. Overall, the plans seek to balance the growing number of visitors to the parks with the impact on sensitive ecosystems and wildlife, as well as carbon emissions.
Visitors could face a reduction in the number of trails and limits on parking. Parks Canada wants to increase green transportation in a bid to reduce car traffic – a constant problem in places like Banff, where local officials have described chaos from worsening congestion. That will include improved public transit options, more bike parking and electric-vehicle charging stations.
In Banff, for example, roughly 8.3 million vehicles travel in the park each year, with about half of these carrying passengers visiting the park and the other half driving through. Parks Canada says the number of vehicles and visitors in Banff National Park have both increased by about 30 per cent over the past decade, with Banff accounting for about a quarter of visitors to all of the country’s 47 national parks.
The transit operator for the Bow Valley region is already seeking to improve service in the area and increase the adoption of electric vehicles. Local officials and Parks Canada have encouraged visitors to consider transit options to get around to the various sites within the park, even if they arrive by vehicle.
The management plans for Banff, Yoho National Park and Kootenay National Park call for officials to identify each area’s respective carbon sequestration capacity by 2023. A number of the plans also demand Parks Canada’s light-duty vehicle fleet purchases shift to zero-emission or hybrid vehicles. The proponents of a proposed train from Calgary to Banff have cited those same climate and transportation issues to argue for the project, though its future is uncertain after the provincial government raised concerns about the cost and financing.
Parks Canada said it engaged with more than 30 Indigenous organizations during the three months the draft plans were posted for review. Some of the plans include incorporating Indigenous knowledge into strategies for prescribed burns, which help prevent wildfires from mowing down mountain forests, and cataloguing culturally significant sites.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.
Wendy Cox
James Keller