Environmental groups are wary of a provincial plan to overhaul Alberta's parks system.
Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation announced Wednesday that it was working on its first big changes to the park system since 1983. The changes, part of the province's new Plan for Parks, have been posted for public comment on the department's website.
The current parks system is confusing to many, says Archie Landals, director of the Parks Resource Management Co-ordination Branch and planner for Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park, as it involves four different laws and seven classes of park, each with its own set of rules.
The new system would reduce the number of park classes from seven to two: heritage rangelands and provincial parks. Heritage rangelands would emphasize conservation and have little recreational use. Provincial parks would cover everything else and would be zoned according to use: conservation, recreation or both.
"For the most part, I don't think we're trying to change what people can and can't do on the [park] grounds," he says. "We're simply trying to consolidate it and make it easier to understand."
The province's proposed categories are pretty vague, said Dave Burkhart, a member of the Big Lake Environment Support Society, and they could be open to abuse. "It doesn't bode well for conservation."
Simpler system
Alberta's parks system evolved over the years, Landals says, and has some huge inconsistencies. You can camp anywhere in a wildland park, for example, but only in certain parts of a provincial park. You can camp anywhere in a natural area, but you need permission to do so if there's a lease on it, as is the case with River Lot 56.
Nor is it very transparent. The parks department now has total control over what goes into a park, Landals says. If someone lobbied the province to add a golf course to a park, the department could allow that addition without any public consultation. "We could almost sneak that in the back door and change it."
The new parks law, which is still being drafted, would require 60 days of public consultation before any change to a park's boundaries or zoning, Landals says. "We'll indicate the intent of what we want to do to the public and let the public react as well."
Park regions would be zoned according to purpose, according to the province — "Park Viewpoint," for example, or "Day-Use Area." Lois Hole Park would likely have an open-use zone around its parking lot, Landals says as an example, and a restricted-access conservation zone around any bird breeding grounds. Fragile sites, such as Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, might be zoned entirely for conservation with little access to the public.
The new law would also create a Parks Conservation Foundation and advisory council to collect donations for the parks system. This foundation would be able to promote parks in ways the province cannot, Landals says. The Harvie Conservancy Foundation, for example, has been able to raise funds for Lois Hole Park and lobby landowners to expand its borders.
Skeptical eyes
While the parks system does need to be simplified, Anne-Marie Syslak of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's southern Alberta chapter was concerned this might be going too far. Lumping all parks together could undermine their ecological integrity, as there would no longer be a specific category for highly sensitive areas. It could also confuse park users by putting new restrictions on what can be done where.
The province needs to clearly define its rules for zoning parks, Burkhart says. "If they're going to designate an area as strict conservation, what would change to open it up to recreation?"
The province is asking residents to comment on the proposal through an online survey before July 17. A draft of the law will likely be ready this fall.
Details on the law and the survey can be found at www.albertaparks.ca/legislation.
