Editor:
The Bow Valley Parkway is an exceptional place – a low-speed scenic parkway winding along the base of the Sawback Range, overlooking a mosaic of marsh, spruce forest, poplar stands and meadows. Year-round, it offers Banff National Park visitors the chance to experience some of the Rockies’ most productive montane ecosystems.
In early spring, as the sun warms south-facing slopes and montane meadows, the eastern half of the parkway becomes particularly important to wildlife. Winter-weakened elk, deer and bighorn sheep fatten on the new greenery before giving birth to another crop of offspring. Wolves return, cautiously, to denning areas to raise new pups. Grizzly and black bears escape the snowy high country to forage along the roadside and on nearby slopes.
Giving animals peace and security when, and where, they most need it is how Banff keeps its promise to the world: that this national park will always have ecological integrity. That’s why, each year from March 1 through June 25, Parks Canada asks visitors to stay on the Trans-Canada Highway and detour around the eastern portion of the Bow Valley Parkway during the evenings, nights and early mornings. Mid-day travellers, and the many more visitors who explore the Parkway each summer, are assured of being in real nature and having a chance to see even the wariest mountain animals – thanks to those who choose for nature by respecting and promoting this annual spring travel restriction.
There might be a better way to protect this area’s wildlife from disturbance. That’s why the 2010 Banff National Park management plan has provision for a broad range of stakeholders to work towards consensus on an action plan to replace the annual spring voluntary travel restriction with something more effective. A group has been working on that for several months. Although consensus has eluded them, I am told that their determination and hard work has produced some promising ideas. At their invitation, I will meet with them later this month to hear their suggestions. Possibly, a new action plan for the Bow Valley Parkway will emerge. If so, Parks Canada will then work to mobilize the necessary resources to put that new plan into effect for future years.
Until a new action plan is approved, however, the Banff National Park Management Plan specifies that Parks Canada will “…retain the current annual seasonal restriction on motorized vehicles on the Bow Valley Parkway between Johnston Canyon and Fireside in order to minimize displacement or habituation of wildlife during a critical season”.
That is why a voluntary travel restriction came into effect this year, as usual, on March 1. It will be in place until June 25. Please encourage friends, business clients, visitors and others to play their part as stewards of Banff’s wildlife by choosing not to travel on the eastern end of the Bow Valley Parkway after 6 p.m. each day and before 9 a.m. It’s time, again, to give some solitude back to the wildlife we all value.
There are no restrictions west of Johnston Canyon. Visitors are encouraged to take advantage of the quiet and beauty of spring to enjoy the unparalleled scenery and wildlife viewing along the portion of the Bow Valley Parkway between Johnston Canyon and Lake Louise, by accessing the parkway at Castle Junction or at Lake Louise.
Parks Canada will upgrade some of the Bow Valley Parkway travel restriction signs this spring, to help all visitors appreciate the importance of giving wildlife the solitude and security they need, and to invite our guests to be part of one of Banff’s defining stories – the story of ecosystem restoration through citizen stewardship. It’s as simple as choosing to detour for wildlife – and choosing to be proud of it.
Kevin Van Tighem,
Banff Field Unit Superintendent
Parks Canada
