KANANASKIS COUNTRY – The premier’s latest mandate letter to the minister in charge of forestry and parks in Alberta is heavy on expansion in Kananaskis Country and other natural areas, but lean on environmental strategy, say local experts.
In the letter, Premier Danielle Smith calls on Minister Todd Loewen to develop more campsites and trails, expand Crown land recreation access, enable public land use opportunities by Alberta entrepreneurs and other organizations, and shorten timelines for “permit and licence approvals in all areas of the ministry,” while protecting natural spaces in the province.
Devon Earl, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, said she hoped to see more of a focus on environment and prioritizing conservation within the ministry.
“What we saw instead was a big focus on expansion of trails, expansion of campgrounds and cutting red tape, with environmental conservation being sort of an afterthought,” said Earl.
Smith’s letter, issued July 20, tasks the ministry to create 900 new campsites and many more comfort camping locations within the next 10 years, and to allocate $5 million for trail upgrades in Kananaskis, as well as for new trail and campground builds across the province.
The letter lacks mention of further land-use planning, which Earl stressed must occur for responsible and sustainable expansion of trail networks and campgrounds. Land use plans aim to balance environmental, economic, and cultural well-being within the regional landscape.
“That would tell us where we can expand trails and sustainably, and where – in some areas – we might have to reclaim certain trails that are negatively impacting the environment,” said Earl.
Marching orders for reviewing and establishing new land-use plans were not included in the forestry and parks mandate, but the premier directed Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Shulz to establish new and review existing land-use plans to ensure alignment with government environmental and economic policy, with relevant ministries.
Prior to October 2022, parks and environment were managed under one ministry. Much to the criticism of environmental experts, the departments were split in October 2022 to become Forestry, Parks and Tourism, and Environment and Protected Areas. In June, tourism was also moved to a new ministry including sport.
Smith’s forestry and parks letter directs the minister to regularly reach out to ministry-related stakeholders for feedback on issues of importance to them, including finding ways the province can “reduce burdensome and unnecessary red tape and barriers” for them to grow the economy.
Earl said that statement, combined with a lack of direction on land use planning and conservation efforts, is troubling.
“These points are concerning to me because they could result in fewer opportunities for public input in decision-making when it comes to parks and forestry operations, and also fewer environment considerations,” she said.
“Unfortunately, things like looking at the environmental impacts of forestry, doing public participation processes and Indigenous consultation … those things can be viewed by industry as burdensome and unnecessary red tape – to quote the mandate letter – but they’re so important to protect the environment and values of the public.”
In response to Smith’s letter, in a media release, Loewen said he is “privileged to lead” and provide responsible stewardship for the healthy future of Alberta’s Crown lands and forests.
“Alberta has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. Ensuring safe, reliable and broad access to our parks and public lands for work and recreation will allow everyone to continue to enjoy Alberta’s unique backyard,” he said.
“Forestry and Parks will continue to care for the places Albertans and our neighbours enjoy most.”
Banff-Kananaskis NDP MLA Sarah Elmeligi said while the letter references K-Country twice, it fails to address issues associated with visitation in one of the province’s most visited places.
“The biggest thing I find missing is any kind of strategic vision that actually gets at the heart of some of the challenges that we have in these really busy landscapes, around the volume of people coming and what a visitor use management strategy could actually look like,” said Elmeligi, who has an extensive background in conservation, wildlife biology and park planning.
Elmeligi said the letter overlooks crucial concerns impacting Kananaskis and other heavily visited areas.
“It’s kind of piecemeal, with a few little things here and there. I kind of expect mandate letters to be more forward-thinking and innovative and strategic over the long-term,” she said.
The MLA would have liked to see the ministry directed to take a closer look at issues such as vehicle congestion in Kananaskis, associated with the average four million visitors it sees annually.
“We know that Kananaskis Country is experiencing very high levels of visitation and a lot of that is associated with traffic,” said Elmeligi. “But there’s nothing in here to address the volume of traffic, there’s no programs in here to address the volume of cars on the road, but we know that’s one of the biggest challenges from an environmental but also a visitor experience perspective.”
One item in the letter the MLA said she will be keeping an eye on is the development of a Crown lands recreation and conservation strategy aimed at enhancing public access while preserving natural areas.
“I’ll be watching that very closely to see if that strategy does what it says it’s going to do, because the other bullets on the mandate letter are not strategic and don’t actually reflect direction that addresses the root of some of the problems, I think,” she said.
“What I would love to see is a bullet point that states something like ‘create a state of Kananaskis report and consult with stakeholders around a landscape plan for Kananaskis that addresses conservation and visitor use requirements and management.’”
The letter does not mention the Kananaskis Conservation Pass, which collected about $11 million in 2022 and $12 million in 2021, according to Alberta Parks.
Part of the NDP’s platform in the recent provincial election was to scrap the controversial pass if the party came into power. Elmeligi said that while the pass remains, more transparency is needed on where revenue is spent and what conservation efforts it supports, including from third-party trail groups and other organizations that receive funding from the pass.
“There is very little transparency and accountability around those dollars and how grants from the pass are distributed to groups and what objectives or reporting groups are required to meet when they receive that money. That’s all part of transparency and accountability, not just the government reporting on what they do with taxpayer dollars,” she said.
“If [the government] is granting hundreds of thousands of dollars to third parties, then those third parties should also be reporting on how they spend people’s tax dollars, and there’s no requirements for that.”
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
