Rocky Mountain parks receive large funding boost

The federal government announced new funding for initiatives in the Rocky Mountain national parks designed to improve environmental protection and visitor safety.

On Friday (Jan. 29) during a press conference held at The Juniper Hotel & Bistro, Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who is also responsible for Parks Canada, said $21.2 million has been earmarked for forest and aquatic restoration and highway work, including bridge and pavement repairs on the Bow Valley and Icefields Parkway and the Trans-Canada Highway.

“This is a demonstrable commitment to dealing with what is a considerable public safety issue in the park and what has been a wildlife issue as well and something of a concern to all Albertans and Canadians,” Prentice said.

“We are making investments in Banff and the other national parks that are historic in nature to make these parks a better place for Canadians for many years to come.”

As part of the funding announcement, Parks will invest $8.45 million on prescribed fire work to help Parks restore the role of fire in forests in the Rocky Mountain region.

“By reintroducing the ecological role of fire through the use of prescribed or controlled burns we are able to remove non-native plant species and reduce the spread of infestations such as the mountain pine beetle.

“Through this measure, Parks Canada will restore diverse and resilient plants and forest communities to the mountain parks and at the same time reduce the overall risk of catastrophic fire occurrence,” Prentice said.

Omar McDadi, a Parks Canada fire communication officer, said the money would be used to help Parks meet its fire management objectives in Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks.

“A big part of our prescribed fire program is to help minimize the threat of uncontrolled wildfires, to protect communities, people, national historic sites, even sensitive natural resources, and in turn this will help benefit a lot of our wildlife,” McDadi said.

“We are trying to slowly and safely bring the flame back,” he said.

Parks will also invest $945,000, as part of the Action on the Ground program implemented in 2008, to improve water culverts to give fish better access to the creeks that are crossed by roads in Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, Jasper and Mt. Revelstoke, Glacier and Waterton Lakes national parks.

“For example, on Oct. 3 2009, at the Taylor Creek culvert, just weeks after this was replaced, Parks Canada researchers discovered the presence of whitefish just upstream of the replaced culvert.

“These are the kinds of success stories we are pleased to announce today,” Prentice said.

Shelley Humphries, aquatic specialist for the Lake Louise-Yoho-Kootenay Field Unit, said Parks has identified about 15 culverts that require work as they act as a barrier to fish.

Modifying the culverts is a better option, Humphries said, as replacing a single culvert in a highway can cost roughly $1 million.

Along with the fire and aquatics work, Parks is planning to spend $5.1 million on repairs to the North Saskatchewan Bridge, $5 million on repairs to Kilometre 23 Bridge on the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park and $1.7 million on pavement repairs on the Bow Valley Parkway. The bridgework will include repairs to concrete pier caps, bridge decks and replacement of bridge bearings and joints.

The work began in 2009 and will continue into 2010.

Also, while not part of Friday’s announcement, Prentice said a $22.1 million contract was awarded recently to Graham Design Builders of Calgary for design and construction of the Trans-Canada Highway and Icefields Parkway interchange, as part of the Trans-Canada Highway twinning project, which is being used to increase motorist and wildlife safety.

According to Prentice, the contract for the interchange is part of the $230 million the federal government has provided for the twinning work.