Spending on conservation initiatives in Canada’s national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas was $31.4 million lower than planned in 2013-14.
According to Parks Canada, this primarily relates to delays in implementing projects associated with the federal agency’s conservation and restoration plan, the federal contaminated sites action plan and a smaller than average fire season.
The spending for Parks Canada’s heritage resources conservation portfolio was outlined in its 2013-14 departmental performance report.
“Multiple factors can produce less spending than budgeted, for example, a smaller than average fire season this year,” said Parks Canada spokesperson Christina Tricomi in an email. “These funds will continue to be available for use in 2014-15.”
The heritage resources conservation program includes maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity in national parks, protection and management of cultural resources, commemorative integrity of national historic sites and ecological sustainability of marine conservation areas.
The program also includes fulfilling legal responsibilities assigned to Parks Canada by the Species At Risk Act (SARA) and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
As part of the heritage resources conservation program, actual spending for national parks conservation across the country was $25.9 million lower than the $119,925,551 planned spending for 2013-14.
Some of the spending went towards construction of wildlife underpasses and highway fencing to decrease wildlife mortality in Kootenay National Park, eradication of rats in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, increasing savannah ecosystems in Point Pelee National Park and planting rare pines to increase forest regeneration in Waterton Lakes National Park.
“Parks Canada continued to reintroduce fire as a natural process in support of the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity, with 14 prescribed burns carried out in eight national parks,” states the report.
“In addition, the agency coordinated suppression efforts for 96 wildfires affecting 15 national parks to ensure public safety and to protect infrastructure in and around national parks.”
Spending for Species At Risk was $2 million lower than planned for 2013-14. Planned spending was to be $12,196,000 and it ended up being $10,191,679.
“Changes in staffing levels and variances agency-wide affected the agency’s ability to spend dedicated SARA resources and resulted in projects having to be delayed,” according to the report. “Any unspent monies will be invested in the SARA program in subsequent years.”
In Banff National Park, the total investment in heritage resource conservation was $11,394,707 in 2012-13 and $7,798,049 in 2013-14.
However, the Cave and Basin National Historic Site was undergoing a major $5.5 million redevelopment in 2012-13 and this is included in the 2012-13 total.
“When you factor that out, you’ll see investment in heritage conservation is actually higher than it was in previous years,” said Dave McDonough, superintendent of Banff National Park.
“When you look at investment in science activities and ecological management activities, it’s been the same or in fact increasing in the last few years.”
In 2013-14, Banff National Park spent its allocated heritage resource conservation budget on developing and using non-chemical methods to remove non-native fish from lakes and streams, and upgrading the Bath Creek culvert under the Trans-Canada Highway to reconnect three native fish species – mountain whitefish, westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout – to habitat that had been previously inaccessible.
Parks also worked with the Town of Banff to remove part of the Forty Mile Creek concrete dam to restore connectivity to over 25 kilometres of spawning habitat upstream from the Bow River for the first time in over 70 years, for native fish such as bull trout.
Other spending was on prescribed burns in the Sawback area along Bow Valley Parkway to provide better habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, cougars and elk, and working with the Alpine Club of Canada to give the 92-year old Swiss-designed Abbot Hut, a national historic site honouring the early days of our mountaineering legacy, a facelift.
McDonough said the budget also includes work with the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and Canadian Pacific Railway to identify solutions to prevent bear mortalities on the railway line.
“Everything from prescribed fires to aquatics work to wildlife management, these are all good examples of what is being spent for resource conservation,” McDonough said.
Across the country, Parks Canada saw a decrease of 339 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to 3,939 over planned FTEs of 4,278 in 2013-14.
Parks Canada was one of the hardest hit federal departments in the Harper government’s 2012 budget cuts. The department had to eliminate about 638 positions.
In the heritage resources conservation resources program, the number of FTEs was planned to be 990 FTEs, but was cut by 111 to 879 in 2013-14.
“The reduction in FTEs is mainly a result of achieving streamlining and efficiency measures one year sooner,” said Tricomi.
