| Planning
for the Future
The current emphasis in Kananaskis Country planning is the preparation
of management plans for various protected areas. These include the
Provincial Recreation Areas in the Jumpingpound, Elbow, Highwood
valleys, as well as the Ghost area. A management plan is also in
preparation for Bragg Creek Provincial Park.
Plans for the Sheep
Valley Parks, Peter Lougheed/Spray Valley Provincial Parks, the
Evan-Thomas Provincial Recreation Area and the Bow Valley Protected
Areas (includes Bow Valley Provincial Park, Bow Valley Wildland
Park and Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park), Elbow-Sheep Wildland
Park, and Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve have been completed.
These plans are prepared by Alberta Government staff in consultation
with First Nations, stakeholder groups and the general public.
Park management plans:
- Describe protected areas, and the surrounding environment
and community
- Identify government goals for the park or protected areas,
and how they will be achieved
- Provide objectives and guideines on how a site's natural and
cultural heritage will be preserved
- Detail the type and extent of recreation, heritage appreciation
and tourism opportunities that will be supported in an area,
and how they will meet the needs of the community
- Provide opportunities for ongoing review and public consultation
on park management.
Developing management plans for Alberta's provincial parks and
recreation areas are part of Premier Ed Stelmach's plan to secure
Alberta's future by building communities, greening our growth and
creating opportunity. The Government of Alberta is committed to
developing management plans for all protected areas in Alberta to
determine how they are managed in the future.
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Current Plans
Kananaskis Country
Provincial Recreation Areas & Bragg Creek Provincial Park
Attention users: high speed internet access is required.
Public review and comment were encouraged on these plans from June
20, 2008 to September 30, 2008. Thank you to all who provided comments
on the draft management plans for these parks. The comments received
are currently being reviewed and the final drafts of the management
plans are being prepared. While the public comment period has ended,
copies of the draft management plans are still available here.
Once approved, the final management plans for the Kananaskis Country
Provincial Recreation Areas and Bragg Creek Provincial Park will
be posted on this website.
Last November 2007, the draft Terms of Reference for these management
plans were made available at two open houses and consultations with
First Nations stakeholders. The final Terms of Reference are now
complete (see
below).
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Bragg Creek
Provincial Park — Draft Management
Plan
Attention users: high speed internet access is required.
Kananaskis
Country Provincial Recreation Areas Final Terms of Reference
(PDF® letter-size | 13 pages | 8 MB)
These Final Terms of Reference were approved in March 2008 following
public review and comment in November 2007. They have guided the
preparation of the Draft Plans for the Provincial Recreation Areas
and Bragg Creek Provincial Park.
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Sheep
River Provincial Park & Bluerock Wildland Park
Attention users: high speed internet access is required
or call (toll free in Alberta) 310-0000
or (403) 678-5508 to request your copy.
[
ISBN # 978-0-7785-7415-6 ]
(Do you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
This plan will:
• Help to ensure maintenance or enhancement of important
watershed values in this portion of the
headwaters of the Sheep River.
• Guide facility expansion at Sandy McNabb and Sheep Falls
and address congestion at Junction Creek.
• Guide changes to the trail system to better serve recreation
needs and be more sustainable.
• Lead to permanent closure and partial reclamation of the
middle portion of the Gorge Creek Road.
• Identify how government commitment to honor grazing rights
and encourage research will be implemented.
• Identify how Parks staff and First Nations will work together
in the future.
• Guide minor boundary adjustments.
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Peter Lougheed/Spray Valley Provincial
Parks Area
Attention users: high speed internet access is required
or call (toll free in Alberta) 310-0000
or (403) 678-5508 to request your copy.
[
ISBN # 0-7785-4894-5 ]
(Do you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
Friday, June 23, 2006: Management
Plan Release
Information bulletin excerpts:
New plan balances recreation and preservation of Peter Lougheed
and Spray Valley provincial parks
..."These popular parks, located along the Continental Divide,
offer visitors opportunities for recreation and a chance to connect
with our natural heritage in a spectacular landscape," said
Denis Ducharme, Minister of Alberta Community Development. "This
management plan strikes a balance between providing tourism and
recreation opportunities while ensuring the ongoing preservation
of these parks."...
...
Highlights of the plan include:
A new "Wildland" zone has been identified to accommodate
extensive backcountry recreation.
Guidelines addressing off-trail use in "preservation"
zones have been made flexible except where monitoring indicates
such use to be an environmental concern.
The existing Mount Engadine Lodge is allowed to expand up to a total
of 1400 square metres (15,000 square feet) of building floor space
on three hectares (7.4 acres) of leased land.
"This management plan reflects appropriate and effective solutions
for our community, tourists and visitors, wildlife and the environment,"
said Janis Tarchuk, MLA for Banff-Cochrane.
...
Peter Lougheed and Spray Valley provincial parks cover 76,740 hectares
(189,622 acres) of provincial crown land in the Bow River watershed
approximately 120 kilometers west of Calgary. Peter Lougheed Provincial
Park was established in 1977 and Spray Valley Provincial Park was
designated in 2000. These protected areas occupy a significant portion
of the Upper Kananaskis, Smith-Dorrien and Spray Valleys, and have
high ecological, scenic and recreational values.
...
(Do you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
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here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
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Evan
Thomas Provincial Recreation Area
Attention users: high speed internet access is required
or call (toll free in Alberta) 310-0000
or (403) 678-5508 to request your copy.
[
ISBN # 0-7785-3349-2 ]
For a map of this area please contact (toll free) 310-0000 or (403)
678-5508.
(Do you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
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Bow
Valley Protected Areas
Attention users: high speed internet access is required
or call (toll free in Alberta) 310-0000
or (403) 678-5508 to request your copy of the final plan.
(Do you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
Most remaining public lands in the Bow Valley were designated as
protected areas by Environmental Protection Minister Ty Lund in
December 1998. This followed closely the recommendations of a volunteer
Local Committee composed of a wide range of stakeholders. These
protected areas include:
- Bow Valley Wildland Park ( including
former Wind Valley, Bow Flats and Yamnuska Natural Areas)
- Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park
- Additions to Bow Valley Provincial
Park
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Page
Elbow Sheep Wildland
Park
Attention users: high speed
internet access is required
or call (toll free in Alberta) 310-0000
or (403) 678-5508 to request your copy of the final plan.
(Do
you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park was formally designated under
Alberta's Special Places program in 1996, adding 79 200 hectares
(195 700 acres) to the province's expanding network of protected
areas.
"The management plan for this magnificent Wildland Park
in the heart of Kananaskis Country retains 195,000 acres in a natural
state, with opportunities for backcountry recreation and low impact
tourism." Ty Lund, Minister of Environmental Protection
Special Places Plan Preserves Huge Elbow Sheep Wildland Provincial
Park in Kananaskis Country
Canmore - A detailed management plan based on public input has been
approved for the Elbow Sheep Wildland Park in Kananaskis Country.
The management plan insures that the Park's rugged mountains and
valleys will remain protected as a natural heritage legacy for future
generations.
The Elbow Sheep area was nominated in 1995 under the Special Places
program by the Minister of Environmental Protection, Ty Lund, and
was legislated as a Wildland Park in January, 1996.
"Preservation and heritage appreciation are the key goals for
the Elbow Sheep Wildland Park," said Lund. "The Park will
also contribute to Special Places' recreation and tourism goals
by continuing to allow a variety of low impact recreation opportunities
such as hiking, backcountry camping, hunting, fishing, guiding and
commercial trail riding."
The 195,000 acre park, located to the east of highway 40 within
Kananaskis Country, contains critical wildlife habitat and represents
the sub-alpine sub-region of the Rocky Mountain Natural Region.
The scenic Elbow and Sheep River valleys dominate the natural landscape.
The Park is popular with visitors seeking a backcountry or wilderness
experience.Facility development is minimal and is limited to 75
km of non-motorized trails, two backcountry campsites, and one snowmobile
loop trail.
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Plateau
Mountain Ecological Reserve
The final version of the management plan is now available. For copies,
call our Canmore office at 678-5508 or toll-free in Alberta 310-0000.
(Do you have the
Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions or comments on the above plans or planning
in general, please contact:
Joey Young, Planner,
Tourism, Parks, and Recreation
Suite #201, Provincial Building
800 Railway Avenue
Canmore, Alberta. T1W 1P1
Email:
Joey.Young@gov.ab.ca
Telephone: (403) 678-5508
Fax: (403) 678-5505
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Kananaskis Country Recreation Policy review was initiated
by Government of Alberta to ensure that Kananaskis Country continues
to be managed with Albertans' guidance. In the late 1990s, an extensive
public consultation process was conducted to update the original
20-year-old policies. The Recreation Policy, released in May 18,
1999 is available below as a .pdf file.
(Do you have the Acrobat® Reader®?
Click
here to download the Adobe's FREE Acrobat® Reader® plug-in
to open, view and print these PDF documents).
Page updated Monday, July 6, 2009-CH |
