Ongoing debate over commercial development and conservation in Banff National Park continues almost 20 years after a two-year, $2 million Banff-Bow Valley study concluded unchecked development and use would irreparably harm the park and its wildlife.
A federal standing committee on the environment and sustainable development has wrapped up public consultation on protected areas and national parks, which included submissions from local businesses calling for more development and conservation groups voicing concern about the effects of increasing visitor numbers and development on the park and its wildlife.
Cynara Corbin, clerk of the standing committee on environment and sustainable development committee, said the committee is scheduled to meet this week to provide drafting instructions to analysts for the drafting of a report on this study.
“It is expected the committee will begin reviewing the report in December,” Corbin said, noting it is not known yet when a final report will be tabled.
Some local submissions voiced concerns about Parks Canada’s mandate to increase visitation and concerns about the effects of visitor growth on ecological integrity, with some residents calling for a quota.
Other submissions called for a boost to Parks Canada’s budget and staffing levels to deal with rising wildlife conflicts, while business groups called for additional development to meet the needs of increasing visitor numbers.
Peter Poole, a local Banff businessman and conservationist, calls for a dramatic increase in budget and personnel for resource conservation and visitor management.
Specifically, he suggests a five-person team of wildlife managers in Lake Louise in bear season, and a similar team in Banff, at a total cost of about $500,000, and another two or three teams in Banff and Lake Louise for trailhead education and visitor interaction.
“This will bring a much-needed renewed focus on resource conservation – both to enhance the experience for park visitors and lessen the potential for human-wildlife conflicts,” he said.
With increasing visitation and free entry to all national parks in 2017, Poole said the congestion, long lineups, inaccessible attractions, full campgrounds and disappointed international visitors of 2016 will only worsen in 2017.
He said this puts the park on a collision course with grizzly bears.
“Sooner or later, this situation may result in the injury or death of a human being, and the shooting of a bear, possibly in an area crowded with tourists,” Poole said.
“Events like these – and the killing of two wolves that had become dangerously comfortable around humans in the summer of 2016 – were predicted by the Banff-Bow Valley task force 20 years ago.”
Owners of Lake Louise ski hill also met with committee members when they were in Banff and sent a followup written submission.
Ski hill officials say the long-range planning process they are now engaged in includes the removal of 50 per cent of the area of a long-standing leasehold – Purple and Wolverine bowls – and setting a permanent development cap.
“These back bowls did represent the heart of our original plans, and were the ski area’s first choice for future ski development,” said Charlie Locke, owner of Lake Louise ski resort.
Locke said much of the future development they want is less about expanding capacity than it is about undertaking overdue investments in day lodges, lifts and infrastructure to restore the ski area’s ‘resort balance.’
“The absence of effective planning leaves the Lake Louise ski area in a deficit position, with many lifts and commercial services not in balance with the up to 7,000 visitors per day during Christmas holidays and on busy weekend days in February and March,” he said.
“We hope to be able to correct this imbalance within the scope of the first long range plan and, as we bring additional ski terrain into use, to increase the ski area’s balanced daily capacity to be able to comfortably accommodate up to 11,500 visitors.”
In the next three to five years, the ski hill wants to pursue relocation of its summer use operations, moving interpretive exhibits and guided walks to a new ridgetop lodge they say is an area not as often frequented by grizzly bears.
“We hope to be able to improve our lift and the capacity of our facilities to be able to welcome a larger number of national park visitors each summer,” Locke said.
The standing committee also received a submission from Bow Valley Naturalists, a group that says commercial use, large special events and overcrowding due to visitation targets are all threatening ecological integrity and the visitor experience.
BVN says Parks Canada has become preoccupied with increasing visitation to national parks with complete disregard for complex ecosystem management challenges this creates and to the frustrations of visitors who deal with big crowds and leave disappointed and with a bad impression.
Peter Duck, BVN president, said the objective of increasing visitor numbers in Banff has not included any meaningful monitoring of the ecological effects or a comprehensive plan for how to handle these visitors as evidenced by recurring transportation gridlock in the Lake Louise area.
“To be very clear, the Bow Valley Naturalists is not against visitors enjoying their national parks,” said Peter Duck, BVN president. “We are very concerned about how, where and when these visits occur and their effects on ecological integrity.”
Duck said the Bow Valley is being exposed to increased ecological stressors 20 years after the renowned Banff-Bow Valley Study sought to address the cumulative effects of too many people and too much infrastructure.
“Stresses include the introduction of whirling disease into Banff National Park aquatic ecosystems, recent unprecedented episodes of Parks staff killing wolves that inevitably come into close contact and conflict with human activity, ongoing bear mortality and increasing levels of both trail and off-trail use that fragments and alienates habitat,” he wrote.
The Association for Mountain Parks Protection and Enjoyment (AMPPE) also sent off a letter to the standing committee.
AMPPE proposed several options, including mass transit solutions, bike trails to reduce the number of vehicles and providing environmentally friendly access, education and interpretation programs on ecological integrity.
The group also calls for sustainable development to engage with guests and enhance visitor experience.
Casey Peirce, AMPPE’s executive director, said AMPPE works hard to strive for a balance of responsible tourism, an industry that accounts for up to 89 per cent of the contribution to the local GDP in Canmore, Banff and Jasper.
“Statistics show that visitation is increasing and we can expect this trend to continue with the celebration of our 150th anniversary in 2017 with free access to our national parks,” she said.
