We need to remind ourselves sometimes, especially when we think that all the chips are down, that it isn’t over until it’s over. Not every environmental cause is a lost one, especially one worth fighting for. And most of them are. You can’t win ‘em all, as the saying goes, but you do win some.
I reminded a friend of this in a discussion we were having about the proposal to put overnight accommodation at Maligne Lake in Jasper National Park. It’s clearly not in the park’s best interests but like the Glacier Discovery Walk before it, the prevailing view seems to be that it will probably go ahead despite the protests of ordinary Canadians.
After all, money talks.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Some years ago we were involved in a concerted effort to put an end to the last major logging operation in a national park. Timber Berth 408 in Wood Buffalo National Park was a holdover from the 1950’s and Prime Minister John Diefenbaker’s Road to Resources Program. In the late 1980’s it was still going strong, devastating some of the largest white spruce forests remaining in Alberta.
Clearcut logging in Wood Buffalo National Park.
It did not take a rocket scientist to conclude that there was something incredibly perverse about this occurring in a national park. The timber berth was a legacy of an outdated agreement but it was lucrative for the company involved, which was reluctant to give up its “rights” to log in the park.
Ultimately the issue began to get media attention which sparked the interest of the general public and environmental groups.
In the end, the company relinquished its rights to the timber berth and left Wood Buffalo.
Increasing the human footprint within the Maligne Valley of Jasper National Park at a time when woodland caribou, a species at risk, is on the verge of disappearing from the area is as perverse a proposal as logging old growth in a national park.
The cumulative effects of human activity is widely recognized as a key factor impacting caribou populations and despite living within the boundaries of a protected area, Jasper’s herds are no different. In the southern portion of Jasper National Park, caribou are relegated to less than ideal habitat which is further compromised by year-round human activity and the associated impacts of improved winter access.
Adding to this by adding more people, including more people at critical times of the year, just doesn’t jive with the park’s primary mandate of protecting ecological integrity.
Caribou herd near Maligne Pass in Jasper National Park.
Stopping further development in the Maligne Valley would be a small victory for woodland caribou conservation and send a larger message that some activities are just not suited for a national park.
It’s time for Parks Canada to demonstrate leadership similar to that which it showed by ending logging in Wood Buffalo.
There should be no need for long winded processes or deliberations.
It’s just the right thing to do.