It all started with the idea to build a road between the town of Banff in Alberta and Windermere in British Columbia.
Officials with the Canadian Pacific Railway and the province of B.C. began advocating for a road to link the Columbia Valley with Calgary in 1910. The deal between the federal government and the province was that each would construct the portion of the new highway up to the Alberta-B.C. border.
The work proceeded on either side, however in 1913 the B.C. government suspended its work on the highway due to it going over budget. The section through Banff National Park, on the other hand, was completed in 1914.
The solution to the stalled efforts led to the creation of Kootenay Dominion Park – now Kootenay National Park. Banff was already established and quite popular – leading the federal government at the time to commit to finishing the route and by order of council on March 12, 1920 the park was established.
Public relations and communications officer for Kootenay National Park Lindsey Mcpherson said while the planned celebrations of the centennial did not happen as a result of COVID-19, Parks Canada has still put together several fun activities for visitors to mark the special occasion.
"Parks Canada is still really excited to celebrate the centennial and showcase Kootenay National Park," Mcpherson said. "We did have to adapt a little given the COVID-19 situation, but we currently have five programs to help support and celebrate this."
The activities range from online participation to actually getting outside in the park to explore its natural history and ecology.
Kootenay Then and Now provides visitors with a set of historic photos taken in the park and a map of where they were taken from. Visitors can then recreate the photo themselves.
There is also a self-guided interpretive hike that explores the ecological role of wildfire on the landscape, starting at the Continental Divide in the north or Redstreak Restoration Area in the south. Sandwich boards with maps are set up to help get visitors started on this educational journey.
Parks has organized the 100 Challenge to challenge visitors – either solo or as a group. The challenge has three options. The first involves indentifying 100 species using the free iNaturalist app. Go to iNaturalist.org to download it for iPhone or Android.
Visitors can also hike, bike or paddle 100 kilometres in the park – all activities welcome. Or if there is someone who wishes to celebrate their 100th birthday in Kootenay National Park this year – that counts too.
Finally, for those who may not be able to make it to the park, there is Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants – Burgess Shale edition. Available on YouTube, this video explores the Burgess Shale fossil beds located in the park. These fossils date back half a billion years and tell the tale of a very different landscape at the time – at the bottom of an ocean.
"Visitors can login and experience this from the comfort of their own home," Mcpherson said. "If they are not able to visit the park in person, they can still enjoy the wonders of the Burgess Shale."
Go to Parks Canada's website for more details.
Summer Explorer is an in-paper feature section produced by the Rocky Mountain Outlook, Cochrane Eagle, Airdrie City View and Okotoks Western Wheel.
