Alberta
Parks Canada says decision to restrict private vehicles at Moraine Lake necessary
Lake Louise – A decision to restrict personal vehicles at one of the most popular tourist destinations in Banff National Park was required to balance the growing number of visitors with protecting the environment, says a Parks Canada official.
The federal agency announced Friday that it was closing the Moraine Lake road to most personal vehicles and would require visitors to take its shuttles, local transit or commercial vehicles to visit the iconic blue alpine lake and its nearby climbing routes and hiking trails.
Environmental groups said it’s a good start to protect the ecological integrity of the national park, while some — including an Alberta politician — said it could reduce visitor access to the popular tourist area.
“Alberta’s parks — both provincial and national — are jewels of the province, and Albertans and visitors alike deserve to have full access to enjoy their benefits,” Todd Loewen, minister of forestry, parks and tourism, said in a letter posted on social media Monday. “Parks Canada’s decision to block personal vehicles at Moraine Lake means fewer visitors to this important part of the province.”
Jed Cochrane, Parks Canada’s visitor experience manager for the Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit, said the move is an attempt to improve access to the area.
“Moraine Lake is one of the most sought-after, if not the most sought-after, destination to visit in Banff National Park. It’s really busy.” Cochrane said in an interview Monday.
“We just want to be clear with visitors that it is very hard — and it was very, very hard last summer — to access Moraine Lake by private vehicle and we heard from visitors that they were very frustrated.”
Cochrane said the parking lot at the end of the narrow 12-kilometre road only has room for about 100 vehicles at a time.
“We would allow about 900 cars a day up to Moraine Lake and we carefully managed that to make sure the parking lot wasn’t over capacity and that emergency vehicles could get in.”
Visitors, he said, would now be guaranteed access if they book the Parks Canada shuttle or use a commercial operator. People with a disability hang a tag on their vehicle and those who want to bike, including electric bikes, will still be allowed to drive up the road.
The move isn’t unprecedented as parks across North America try to find ways to balance the number of visitors in popular areas with safety and environmental concerns.
Lake O’Hara, a pristine alpine area across the British Columbia boundary in Yoho National Park, has long restricted private vehicles on its access road and has a reservation system for day use and camping that can only be booked by winning a lottery.
BC Parks also brought in a day-use pass program in June 2022 to visit three popular provincial parks — Golden Ears, Joffre Lake and three trailheads at Garibaldi — during peak hours.
Some parks in the United States, such as Zion National Park, only allow access by shuttle bus or by special permit for people with certain medical needs.
Cochrane said Parks Canada has talked to officials at Zion and BC Parks about those moves. The agency also had an expert panel look at the best way to get the more than four million visitors who visit Banff National Park annually around in a sustainable way and it recommended the move.
“They have a suite of other considerations for us to think about,” he said, explaining other measures are still being considered.
“At the end of the day, we really just want to improve visitor experience and balance our mandate between ecological integrity and visitor experience.”
Cochrane said the road to Moraine Lake runs across a major wildlife corridor for grizzly bears and elk.
“When we remove 900 cars a day, we are improving wildlife’s ability to move back and forth across,” he said. “By encouraging visitors to use mass transit and to come in a more efficient way, we think that will improve wildlife movement.”
Katie Morrison, executive director of southern Alberta chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said it’s a good decision.
“In all the Rocky Mountain national parks, but especially Banff, we’ve seen huge increases in visitor use over the past several years,” she said. “We know this can have an effect both on people’s experience in the park but also things like wildlife and wildlife movement.”
Morrison said the organization has long asked Parks Canada to address the massive increase in visitors.
“Someone doesn’t want to go to Banff and drive around in circles all day,” she said. “So, giving some certainty of … how people are going to arrive at places like Moraine Lake is a really positive thing.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2023.
— By Colette Derworiz in Calgary.
Airtankers work on a wildfire near Edson, Alta., in a Friday, June 9, 2023, handout photo. The town was evacuated Friday night due to an out-of-control wildfire. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of Alberta Fire Service
Edson
A town in western Alberta was under an evacuation order late Friday due to an out-of-control wildfire — its second such order this spring.
Local officials issued the evacuation for Edson and parts of Yellowhead County.
“We’re still evacuating the community and evacuating the hospital,” said Edson mayor Kevin Zahara.
“All things considered, so far so good — but the next 72 hours are going to be critical for us. We have a lot of warm temperatures in the forecast and it’s windy here right now.
“It’s going to be dependent on those winds and the weather on how this fire behaves.”
Alberta government officials said the fire burning near the community of about 8,400 jumped fire guards and moved closer to populated areas, including the town. They warned that there could be impacts to roads and highways if the fire crossed the guards and blocks evacuation routes.
“Because that fire is so out of control, some of the forestry crews have had to back off,” said Luc Mercier, chief administrative officer for Yellowhead County, in a video statement on one of the town’s Facebook pages. “They can’t fight that fire.”
Mercier said the fire could threaten Highway 16, the main east-west route in the area.
“We have significant concerns with egress along Highway 16 in the coming days,” he said. “The next 36 hours will be paramount with the winds coming forward.”
An update issued at 11 p.m. said live embers and flames were seen in Willmore Park, meaning the fire had crossed the river. The notice said if people had not left the area yet, “now is the time.” Officials said emergency crews were busy with fire operations and would not be able to respond if people needed help.
The Edson area, about 190 kilometres west of Edmonton, saw four new fire starts on Friday, said Mercier.
An unprecedented start to the wildfire season led Alberta to bring in a provincewide state of emergency on May 6. At one point, about 29,000 people were out of their homes in various communities.
The state of emergency was lifted last week.
On Friday afternoon, before the evacuation order was issued for Edson and the surrounding area, about 3,500 Albertans remained out of their homes.
Evacuation buses were leaving from three points in Yellowhead County and five in Edson. An evacuation centre was being set up in Edmonton’s Expo Centre.
Zahara said there had been little threat in the area as recently as four days ago. Hot weather and high winds put a stop to that.
“This fire has flared back up,” Zahara said.
“It’s really important people adhere to the evacuation order.”
He said no services, including fire and medical, would be available in Edson until further notice.
Edson was evacuated for three days in early May by another wildfire.
Zahara said at the time that he thought there was a good chance the town would be lost to the flames.
That evacuation took a heavy financial toll on townspeople through loss of income and unexpected expenses such as hotel rooms, he said.
— By Bob Weber in Edmonton
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2023.
Premier Danielle Smith introduced her cabinet Friday, the second one since taking over as United Conservative Party leader in October. Here are the changes at a glance:
Second in command: Mike Ellis retains his Public Safety and Emergency Services portfolio but is also now deputy premier.
Big promotions: Mickey Amery moves from Children’s Services to Justice; Nate Horner moves from Agriculture and Irrigation to Finance; Adriana LaGrange already had a heavyweight title in Education but now takes on enormous responsibilities in Health.
New faces: RJ Sigurdson joins cabinet for the first time in Agriculture and Irrigation; Searle Turton is new in Children and Family Services; Dan Williams gets his first cabinet seat in Mental Health and Addiction.
Returning vets: Jason Nixon, the environment minister and government house leader under former premier Jason Kenney, is back in cabinet handling the Seniors, Community and Social Services post. Ric McIver, dropped from Smith’s first cabinet, returns in his old job of Municipal Affairs. Muhammad Yaseen, a former associate minister of immigration, now has full cabinet rank as minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism; Tanya Fir, former economic development minster under Kenney, is back in Arts, Culture and Status of Women portfolio.
Same faces, new jobs: Rebecca Schulz (Environment and Protected Areas), Brian Jean (Energy and Minerals), Nathan Neudorf (Affordability and Utilities), Joseph Schow (Tourism and Sport), Demetrios Nicolaides (Education), Rajan Sawhney (Advanced Education), Matt Jones (Jobs, Economy and Trade), Peter Guthrie (Infrastructure).
Same faces, same jobs: Nate Glubish (Technology and Innovation), Dale Nally (Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction), Devin Dreeshen (Transportation and Economic Corridors), Todd Loewen (Forestry and Parks).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2023.
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