Outdoor Recreation

Recreational Users and Conservationists Come Together to Protect Tonquin Caribou in Jasper National Park

EDMONTON, AB – Caribou in Jasper National Park are on the brink of extinction. Backcountry and conservation groups are calling on Parks Canada to reduce human access impacts to the Tonquin caribou, the largest herd left. The Alpine Club of Canada (ACC), Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA), Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Northern Alberta Chapter, David Suzuki Foundation and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) are urging Parks Canada to: Read More

Cancelling Leases, Pausing Lease Sales in Category 2 Lands – A Good First Step

Yesterday, Energy Minister Sonya Savage delivered a small, but important, reward to the thousands of Albertans and Canadians who have objected to the provincial government’s unilateral decision to revoke the 1976 Coal Policy. She announced that 11 leases sold in December would be cancelled. She also announced a “pause” in offering more lease parcels for sale in the Coal Policy’s Category 2 lands. Read More

Alberta’s Crown Land Vision released, but groups call for more clarity

Last week the Government of Alberta released “Alberta’s Crown Land Vision.” The Alberta Crown Land Vision appears to be a precursor to changes in two key areas of legislation: updating parks and public land legislation, and introducing new recreation legislation (Alberta Trails Act) focused on the creation of a recreation user-based fee framework. Read More

Herd of caribou in Jasper National Park declared extirpated

A herd of caribou in Jasper National Park – the Maligne herd – is now considered locally extinct. Two other caribou herds in the region may be on the same path to extirpation because they don’t have enough breeding females to grow the herds.

AEN member groups are calling for immediate action to halt the decline of caribou populations in the remaining herds. Read More

Government investment in Alberta Parks infrastructure is encouraging, but 175 parks still set to be removed

Calgary – CPAWS Northern and Southern Alberta Chapters are pleased to see the government’s investment in parks infrastructure. However, we are dismayed to hear the Minister continues to move forward with removing 175 parks from the Parks System. The Premier stated in the announcement that “Albertans are a stubborn bunch” and we agree. Albertans from across the province continue to ask for a commitment from this government that all of these parks will remain protected within the parks system. Read More

Losing protection where we need it most

The Government of Alberta’s plan to remove 164 sites from the provincial parks system will take a significant cut out of Alberta’s most endangered and least protected Natural Regions: the Parkland, Grasslands and Foothills. Between these three regions, 85 sites will lose their protected status, resulting in the loss of nearly 9,000 hectares of protection – equivalent to around eight times the size of Ghost Lake or one-half the size of Elk Island National Park. Read More

“Optimizing” Parks… What Happened to the List?

On February 29, 2020 the Government of Alberta published a list of 164 parks and provincial recreation areas it intends to remove from Alberta’s parks system. That list has vanished from the government’s website. Read More

Albertans always care about their parks, not just during a pandemic

Edmonton – 17 of the 20 parks that were slated for closure at the beginning of this summer, will temporarily be operated this camping season, according to the Alberta Parks COVID 19 response page which was quietly updated last week. This is an important step in the right direction that demonstrates that the voices of Albertans, saying how much they value Alberta Parks, are making a difference.  Read More

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