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Park Information The first national parks in Canada were established primarily as money-making enterprises. The parks and their spectacular natural settings were seen as lures to the rich that would increase use of the passenger trains and inspire economic development in the farthest reaches of a young, growing nation. Mining and Forestry were the primary economic resource targets and competing Canadian rail lines sought to be the vehicles which would bring those resources to market in Eastern Canada. Thus, on Sept. 14, 1907, the Jasper Forest Reserve of 13,000 km2 was born "... for the preservation of forest trees on the crests and slopes of the Rocky Mountains and for the proper maintenance throughout the year of the volume of water in the rivers and streams that have their source in the mountains and traverse the province of Alberta." However, the park was soon on the verge of being dramatically downsized to 2,590 km2. The original legislation establishing the park was repealed and newly drawn boundaries left out Maligne Lake, Mt. Edith Cavell, and the Athabasca and Sunwapta watersheds. Much protest ensued and the boundaries were redrawn to include 11,396 km2, which was most of the park's former range. In 1909, when word reached Ottawa that hot springs had been found in the Fiddle Valley not far from the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway main line, tourism regained centre stage. Visions of a 'northern Banff', Canada's First National Park, prompted federal officials to begin planning for the reserve's development. In 1930 the National Parks Act was proclaimed. The act contained new measures to protect natural resources in the parks. It was a significant change in the philosophy used to manage national parks in Canada and it meant that coal mining, logging and other such activities would no longer have a place. Considered far-sighted for its time, the Act led the way to the implementation of new approaches and policies that would ensure long-term resource protection while providing for public education, benefit and enjoyment of the parklands. By the late 1930s the park's direction was well entrenched. Visitor use and benefit, to which the park was given over in earlier days, had been painted in a conservationist hue. Canadians were not to hunt, log, mine, or build dams in their parks. Neither were they to own property or erect 'private monuments' to themselves. But they could develop a tourism industry. However, periodically after that time, there have been attempts to open both Jasper and Banff parks to forest harvesting and both townsites have been subject to intensive tourism resourt development. Additionally, the development of roads through the parks has created a hazard for wildlife and the intensive development in areas surrounding the parks such as the townsite of Canmore and the mining operations near Hinton have created threats to the wildlife populations, particularly Wolves and Grizzlys. In the 1990s there were attempts to change the National Parks Act to emphasize "Sustainable Development" as a mandate. After much protest, the notion of sustainable development, which would have taken the parks in a direction other than conservation and tourism, was left out of the revisions. Development attempts continue to be made in these parks with one Jasper Warden estimating that as many as 30 development applications cross his desk per year. Of course, such pressure is natural -- every entrepreneur would like a piece of this scenic resource, which was meant for the enjoyment of all. Is it only through the dilligence of conservation groups such as the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society that such pressures have been and will continue to be successfully resisted. Information Sources: The Canadian Parks Jasper National Park Web Site, Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society Memoirs. Comments are welcome and should be directed to web designer and photographer Ray Rasmussen. |