Editor: The other day I skied the Pipestone loop in Lake Louise. After 90 minutes on this trail I had counted 67 people plus various dogs, of which some were on, but many off, leash.
Along the way, dozens of new random snowshoe trails were branching away from the main trail. A couple of days later I skied into Skoki Lodge with a friend. For the first time we watched five kite skiers carving the frozen and snowy surface of Ptarmigan Lake for the entire afternoon. This scene reminded me of so many mountain resorts in my native Switzerland, rather than the backcountry of Banff National Park.
We humans are an amazingly talented species. Our creativity knows almost no bounds. Yet there is one thing we terribly suck at: that is setting limits to our own activities and behaviour – not even in our sacred national parks, supposedly the only safe haven for our four-legged friends.
Daily we set limits worldwide to the number and behaviour of all the “others.” Even here in Banff, we have limits and we control and monitor all sorts of wildlife with radio collars, fences, barbed wire, camera traps, even culls and other scientific work. Yet people remain largely unchecked (and sadly, uncollard).
We marvel at the news that from a mere 60 grizzly bears in the national park none got killed last year (Yeah. As if it was due to any conservation strategy.) and at the same time allow 3.5 million tourists to flock to Banff; and not even that is enough. We want more.
In 2017 there will be no national park fees so that more of us can help celebrate our ecological jewel, while creating an even narrower bottleneck out of Banff, as part of the Y2Y region.
Both the Pipestone and the Ptarmigan Lake area are home to highly sensitive wolverine and lynx of which there are very few. One thing is certain. On the days I skied the above mentioned trails, there would have been no additional room in these wilderness areas for wolverine nor lynx, which are not recreating, but are trying to survive.
Especially because they’re trying to do this in a Canadian national park, we must stop allowing this to happen by setting limits now and not by inviting more humans to come. Please don’t forget, setting limits does not mean no. It simply means less.
When will our Parks Canada authorities finally put their creativity to good use and start protecting the wildlife they are responsible for safeguarding? I would be happy to abide by any restrictions or limits Parks Canada would put in place in order to protect the wildness of Banff National Park.
Reno Sommerhalder,
Banff
