Documents

[DATE]

[NAME]

[MAILING ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[TEL]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes to Bow Valley Wildland PP & existing ones to Castle Mtn PP, Fortress & Nakiska          

Minister Boitchenko:

I am writing to vehemently oppose any adjustment to the boundary of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and any subsequent land use redesignation that might be needed to accommodate a proposed gondola development. This is completely unacceptable.

In your online questionnaire, several questions are asked, among them:

Is an All-Season Resort Area designation appropriate in this location? No, such a designation is completely inappropriate for many reasons, including…

1.        Loss of rapidly vanishing and life-sustaining wildlife habitat for bears, bighorn sheep, cougar, elk, wolves, pine martens and an endless list of other fauna and flora.

2.        The cumulative impact of multiple large and concurrent developments in the area is already pressuring the landscape to the breaking point.

3.        Because the proposed gondola line is to transect an active wildlife corridor, reduced connectivity between Banff Nat’l Park & K-Country will result.

4.        There are already three other gondolas nearby in Banff, Sunshine Village & Lake Louise Ski Resort.

5.        It represents a precedent-setting risk to all Alberta Parks because it could foretell other protected land losses to come.

6.        It will increase traffic, parking issues, noise, waste & other visitor-volume-related ill effects in an area already stressed by over-tourism.

7.        It could result in municipal property tax increases because of higher infrastructure costs.

8.        Albertans have already made it clear that they oppose development in their parks & on protected lands. If these lands are not protected, they are unprotected. There is no, in between, no middle ground. If conservation is compromised & boundaries are altered, the lives of all the wildlife & flora are compromised even more. There is a knock-on, compound effect that is rarely considered.

9.        Up to 300,000 annual gondola users could violate a fragile mountain environment.

10.     The gondola’s infrastructure – 15 towers supporting a 3-km-long cable rising 3,000 vertical feet to a day lodge, trail networks, viewing platforms & even a suspension bridge will have a devastating impact on this already fragile ecosystem that so far has largely only been frequented on foot.

Adding additional land to the park will do nothing to prevent the permanent damage that will be done to the area’s wildlife, fauna and landscape if such a project proceeds. I would not support such an empty compromise.

Other options your government could explore to create more balance would be to recognize that the 5MM visitors to K-Country in 2025 have already put the area out of balance. This could result in daily visitation restrictions like those already being implemented in and around Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and Lake Minnewanka.

If the boundary to BVWPP is moved, the equivalent of 17 football fields of park land could be redesignated to allow for the gondola by using the government’s ASRA. I find this deeply disturbing. It flies in the face of the former Alberta Parks Act but the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan remains in place.

I urge the gov’t to abandon this initiative, not only in Canmore but in and/or around Castle Mtn PP, Fortress Mtn & Nakiska. Provincial parks are a promise a government makes that there will be no commercial development on park land. I find any suggestion that such a commitment can be compromised to accommodate “amenities” like gondolas, lift-accessed sightseeing, zip lines, alpine rollercoasters, via ferrata routes or “glamping” shameful.

Is this government upholding a promise to protect the priceless or turning our parks into amusement parks, and our protected lands into Disneyland? Nature is what visitors come to see and experience – the silence, solace and sanctuary and most importantly, the wildlife. Visitors don’t come to our parks to get more of what they left behind elsewhere, e.g. crowds, traffic, noise, and litter. Everyday “amenities” can be found almost anywhere in the developed world. They are not unique.

If you value your life legacy, consider assigning an actual dollar value to wild spaces, not wild rides. Its value will be exponentially greater than that of any human-made attraction designed to draw yet more visitors.

Let’s not kill the goose that has laid our golden eggs. Let’s protect our parks and protected areas with everything we have. Most of all, the government needs to keep its promises.

Yours,

[SIGNATURE]

cc:     Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

Subject: Proposed boundary & land use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, the Castle area south of Pincher Creek and two other places along Hwy. 40 as well as precedent-setting risk to all Alberta Parks.  

Dear Minister Boitchenko:

What’s this about a possible boundary adjustment and land-use change being considered for Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park using your government’s All-Season Resorts Act (ASRA)? Same for what’s apparently already happened in the Castle area and two other places along Hwy. 40 not far south of the TCH. As I’m sure you know, what may follow is yet another gondola in the Bow Valley to compete with the ones in Banff, at Sunshine Village and on the ski hill in Lake Louise. Besides being redundant and unnecessary, I find even the contemplation of any boundary adjustment or land-use change on Mt. Lady Macdonald or anywhere else in Alberta profoundly disturbing.

The ASRA was designed to streamline approval processes and increase investor confidence in tourism developments. However, its application to lands currently within or adjacent to protected areas introduces a significant policy risk, to say nothing of the risk to the wildlife and flora within its boundaries. If protected or ecologically sensitive lands can be redesignated to accommodate resort development at will, it weakens the integrity of Alberta’s entire park system and, indeed, its whole land-use framework. This includes the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, which is intended to provide long-term, stable direction for land management. Policy consistency is critically important to achieving successful outcomes environmentally and economically. Once exceptions are made, they create a crack in the wall. It can therefore start us down a risky and precedent-setting slippery slope on which all Provincial Parks, Wildland Provincial Parks and even Provincial Recreation Areas can be similarly threatened.

Needless to say, this is not something any government would wish to have on their historical record. It shows an unsettling disconnect between well-researched, thoughtful land management plans and actual government action. It reveals an administration that has lost touch with the values fundamental to sustaining wild lands that are immeasurably important to its citizens.

Carefully consider the long-term implications that this development decision could have across Alberta’s entire park system and land-use planning framework. No doubt you remember what happened in 2020 when a previous UCP government tried to eliminate over 175 park areas in a cost-cutting attempt. That initiative led to a virtual tsunami of public backlash that generated more than 24,000 letters opposing the move. Wisely, that government backed down. In my opinion, this government would be equally wise to do the same in this case. It must not approve changing the location of the boundary to Bow Valley Wildland PP or the redesignation of a sizeable portion of its park land for the potential construction of a gondola because I’m no fool. I know that that could simply be the thin edge of the wedge. And, that edge will be sharp, cut deep and leave a lasting scar, not only on the landscape but on the legacy of this government. I believe that this government could be playing with fire. Put it out – immediately!

[NAME]

cc: Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[TEL]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland PP & others in Castle Mtn PP & K-Country

Minister Boitchenko,

I am writing to vigorously oppose the proposed boundary adjustments to Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park (BVWPP) to enable a potential land use redesignation for the planned construction of a 3-kilometre-long gondola up Mt. Lady Macdonald. The All-Season Resorts Act may enable resort development, but its use for the proposed project is in direct conflict with the whole purpose of a Wildland Provincial Park – whether that’s the removal of more than 17 football fields of land being contemplated, or any portion of the park’s entire 37,500 hectares.

I also wish to say that I am also fervidly against the already appalling assault on park lands in Castle Mtn PP and in two other locations in K-Country. Collectively, these three apparently “done deals” and the prospect of even more to come lead me to believe that using the shrewd ASRA, this government could conceivably expropriate any portion of all of our 460 parks and protected areas provincewide. This is completely unacceptable. In fact, it’s unnerving to me. What is going on?  

Protected areas are established through painstaking long-term planning to preserve and protect ecological integrity. BVWPP was designated to protect wildlife habitat, movement corridors and natural landscapes in what has since become one of the most developmentally pressured tracts of land in the province. The lower benches of Mt. Lady Mac already cradle more than a dozen upscale residential neighbourhoods and a sprawling golf course. These are already encroaching on a vitally important wildlife corridor.

Removing approximately 14 hectares of land from a protected area to enable commercial development represents a fundamental shift in land-use policy that goes against reams of scientific data stretching back decades. A potential reduction of the park boundary signals that protected status is no longer protected in the province but discretionary based on dollars. If this government does it, what’s to stop the next one from “adjusting” the boundaries inwards again? And, what could come of that? Most likely answer: more loss of wildlife and flora until potentially, all that’s left is what so many other countries have – a pretty landscape but not many animals besides livestock and the odd squirrel. If we choose to move a boundary, we risk crossing a much larger and more dangerous one. It is the difference between repeating the same mistakes that leaders have made for decades or having the courage and vision to look forward into the future and see beyond the ordinary.

Our parks and protected areas are jewels on the landscape, not parcels whose borders can be compromised at will for the sake of monetary gain. The borders of our wild spaces are not all that dissimilar from international borders. They must be defended, respected and upheld. If they become malleable for money, we do not understand their value. It isn’t measured in dollars but in extraordinary life experiences interacting with nature. In Alberta we have the rarest of treasures – wildlife, forests, stunning mountains and breathtaking vistas. Our natural spaces are worth more than any potential tax-revenue-generating gondola. Putting a gondola up Mt. Lady Mac would be like transforming a provincial park into an amusement park; park land into Disneyland. This land is invaluable. Yet the potential cost of violating it would be inestimable ‒ and permanent.

I demand that you maintain the existing park boundary and reject any thought of a potential redesignation of any portion of BVWPP or any other park in the province. Please put an end to this nonsense. Moving a park boundary is crossing the line and changing a land-use designation just to permit commercial development is wrong. I expect better from this government. If you want my vote in the next election, prove to me that you and your government are better than promoting profits at the expense of our precious parks and protected areas. That’s the real bottom line and the only one you and your colleagues should be watching.

Sincerely,

SIGNATURE]

cc:   Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park & Provincewide Development in all Alberta Parks & Public Lands, most recently in Castle Mtn. Prov. Park and Kananaskis Country south of the TCH.

Minister Boitchenko,

I am writing to oppose the potential movement of the boundary around Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and the possible redesignation of what amounts to over 17 football fields of land there using the All-Season Resorts Act. Apparently, the ASRA has already been used to excise portions of Castle Mountain Provincial Park and Fortress Mountain and Nakiska in Kananaskis Country. I regard this as an abomination of that which most Albertans hold dear – the sanctity and sanctuary of our parks and protected areas. It is completely inexcusable and unacceptable. I’ve had enough. 

Beyond the specifics of this project – which I personally find highly objectionable ‒ there is a broader and well-documented pattern of Albertans expressing clear opposition to expanded development in our parks and on our public lands and protected areas. No doubt you remember the opposition that Jason Kenney’s government faced when it proposed to delist 175 parks of all sizes and status in 2020. It generated a staggering 24,000 pieces of correspondence in opposition to the idea. Premier Kenney and his colleagues quickly cancelled the idea.

In recent years, public response to proposed changes affecting protected areas has been both strong and consistent. For example, proposals to rescind coal policy protections on Alberta’s eastern slopes have prompted widespread public backlash. This has led to public consultations that also drew tens of thousands of responses ‒ overwhelmingly in their opposition. Similarly, past discussions about development pressures in provincial parks have repeatedly highlighted Albertans’ deep attachment to preserving these priceless landscapes for conservation and low-impact recreation. Instead, in this case, what is envisioned is a deeply invasive, 3-km-long gondola rising 3,000 vertical feet up Mt. Lady Macdonald in Canmore.

The All-Season Resorts Act gives your government sweeping powers that could allow boundary adjustments to Provincial Recreation Areas, Wildland Provincial Parks and even potentially Provincial Parks to accommodate large-scale resort developments. These developments could include hotels, condominiums, restaurants, retail spaces, vacation homes, event venues and even, heaven forbid, mountain rollercoasters. Such changes risk fundamentally altering the purpose and character of protected lands and contravene the Alberta Parks Act. 

Albertans have consistently demonstrated that they value ecological integrity, wildlife protection, and public access over commercial development in these areas. Proceeding with a proposed change in the boundary of provincial parks across the province and redesignation of any parcel of provincial park land of any kind risks undermining public trust and disregards the clearly expressed will of Albertans.

I urge you to recognize the strong precedent of public opposition and I demand that decisions affecting Alberta’s parks reflect the long-standing values of conservation and stewardship held by the citizens of this province. If you genuinely care about us and what we have clearly shown, we deserve to have our wishes honoured and respected. At the next election, your decisions relative to this proposed boundary adjustment and land use redesignation and those changes already made in three areas of southern Alberta will determine my vote and that of many of my neighbours, family members, friends and their friends and family members provincewide. I recommend you not take that possibility lightly. It could weigh heavily on your conscience for years to come because, quite frankly, it is just not right.

Sincerely,

[NAME]

cc:     Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353       

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[MAILING]

[EMAIL]

[TEL]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland PP, existing changes in Castle Mtn PP and K-Country & visitors violating fragile alpine environments

Minister Boitchenko,

As you know, your government has asked for public feedback on the proposed adjustment to the boundary of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and a possible subsequent land use redesignation of the severed land to accommodate a potential gondola development. If the government goes ahead with these changes, it will have crossed a line for me.

As I see it, a park is a promise. It is a promise that the park land will remain free of significant commercial development; a pact between a government and its people to preserve and protect that which is priceless. Therefore, the next decision this government makes on this issue could have serious and potentially irreversible environmental impacts on a highly fragile alpine environment, its wildlife and its flora. If you decide to approve moving the boundary and redesignating the land as an All-Season Resort, I will be deeply disappointed. Such a decision will not only adversely affect a delicate and highly vulnerable ecosystem but politically, it could reflect poorly on the integrity of your administration and on yourself as Minister of Tourism & Sport. Judging by what I’ve read about similar boundary and land use changes in and around Castle Mountain Provincial Park and in Kananaskis Country, it behooves me to speak up.

I strongly object to the creation and use of the All-Season Resorts Act. It simply isn’t acceptable to create a new piece of legislation to overrule the longstanding Alberta Parks Act so your administration can take out a knife and slice off pieces of multiple parks for commercial development. In my opinion, developers have no business ‒ whether literally or figuratively ‒ being granted access to provincial parks and protected areas in the pursuit of profit. It shows a complete disregard for something Albertans have made very clear – that they don’t want development in our parks and protected areas. Our parks are best left alone. They have more value to the province by leaving them as they are than by violating them with gondolas, lift-accessed sightseeing, zip lines, via ferrata routes, alpine “coasters” and serviced glampgrounds. The former is an act of preservation while the latter could be seen as an act of perversion.

As you know, if this boundary adjustment and land use changes come to pass, what could follow is the potential removal of the equivalent of over 17 football fields (13.9 hectares) of park land. This excised area is then planned to feature a 3-kilometre-long gondola with 15 towers supporting a steel cable rising 3,000 feet up the mountain through a mid- and ultimately an upper station, a day lodge, viewing platforms, a suspension bridge and expanded trail networks. Just as alarmingly, the proposed development is to transect a long-established and important wildlife corridor between Banff National Park and Kananaskis Country. That entire ribbon of land supports uber-sensitive flora and fauna, including grizzly bears, big horn sheep, wolves, elk, cougars and a host of other iconic species.

I understand that such a gondola could also deliver up to a staggering 300,000 visitors annually into the upper alpine zone. This would put immense pressure on an environment that is extremely slow to recover from disturbance. 

It is essential that we prioritize the protection of Alberta’s fragile alpine ecosystems like the one near the summit of Mt. Lady Macdonald and its wildlife corridor below. I therefore strongly urge you to reject even the contemplation of a park boundary adjustment and land use change. I ask instead that your government take bold new steps to reinstate the preservation and protection of this land as it was originally intended almost a century ago with the passage of The Provincial Parks and Protected Areas Act in 1930. The worth of wilderness has not diminished a dollar in that 96-year period. In fact, its value has exponentially increased as its supply is gradually eroded by human development. The true value of the land on Lady Mac is far more than any amount of tax revenue that a gondola could possibly generate. And, that value will increase more and more each year if we just leave it alone, just as nature intended. In this way, the peace of this place can continue to quietly touch the souls of generations to come simply with its presence.

Thank you.

[DIGITAL OR TRUE SIGNATURE]

cc:    Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353   

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, and existing ones in Castle Mountain Provincial Park, Fortress and Nakiska & Reduced Connectivity in an Active Wildlife Corridor   

Minister Boitchenko:

I wish to strongly intensely oppose any boundary adjustment or land-use redesignation proposed for Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, as well as those that have apparently already been made in southern Alberta and K-Country under your government’s All-Season Resorts Act. I consider all of them to be ill-conceived, unwise and unacceptable.

The Bow Valley provides one of the most important wildlife connectivity corridors in Alberta, and indeed in North America. It links Banff National Park to Kananaskis Country and south to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. This connection supports genetic exchange and long-term population viability for a wide-ranging species of wildlife, including bears, elk, cougars, wolves and more. Scientific studies have shown that when connectivity is reduced ‒ even slightly ‒ wildlife populations become more isolated, leading to decreased genetic diversity and increased vulnerability to environmental stressors.

The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan explicitly recognizes the importance of maintaining these ecological connections. Redesignating land within this corridor for resort use introduces fragmentation of a system that is already under tremendous pressure from highways, rail lines and rapidly expanding human development.

You must do everything in your power to maintain uninterrupted wildlife connectivity in this area. Without it, any gondola users will progressively see less and less wildlife until eventually, the animals could disappear altogether. That is not mere hyperbole. It is a well-established scientific fact about what happens to species when they are prevented from fluid natural movement across a landscape. Why should you and your government care? Because wildlife is the very thing visitors come to see. 

Thank you.

[NAME]

cc: Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, those that may have already happened in or around Castle Mtn. PP, Fortress Mtn, Nakiska & Loss of Critical Wildlife Habitat        

Minister Boitchenko:

In the strongest possible way, I wish to oppose any adjustment to the boundary of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park in Canmore and any potentially subsequent land use redesignation that might result in an invasive potential gondola development proceeding. This is completely unacceptable. As I understand it, if the boundary is moved, the equivalent of 17 football fields of land in the park could be redesignated to make way for the 3-kilometre-long gondola by using your government’s All-Season Resorts Act. I find this deeply disturbing because it flies in the face of the long and previously established Alberta Parks Act (whether superseded or not), as well as the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan.

The Bow Valley is one of the most intensively studied wildlife corridors in North America. Research has consistently shown that large mammals ‒ particularly grizzly bears and bighorn sheep ‒ are highly sensitive to human disturbance, with avoidance thresholds beginning at relatively low levels of human use and development. Habitat loss from the valley-bottom to at or below treeline is especially critical, because these areas provide essential forage, movement routes and seasonal habitat. In the summer, herds of bighorn sheep are regularly seen in the lush green meadow on the northeast side of Mt. Lady Macdonald, just below the location of the former tea house and heli landing platform. If the proposed development proceeds, there is a very real possibility that no one will ever see bighorn sheep there again, especially if gondola riders invade the space by the hundreds of thousands every year.

The Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park was established specifically to protect essential ecological areas. Changing the park’s boundary to enable resort designation for a gondola would remove protected habitat in a landscape in which over 80% of the habitat has already been altered or fragmented. Enough is enough.

The All-Season Resorts Act is designed to facilitate tourism investment, but it must not supersede the ecological purpose of long-protected natural areas. These areas and their wild inhabitants are the very things that visitors come to see. Once habitat is removed or fragmented, the adverse effects on wildlife, such as reduced reproductive success, increased mortality risk and long-term population decline, are not easily reversible, if at all. This will put you and your government on the wrong side of history and see our province’s priceless image devalued. It is time to stop seeing this province’s natural spaces and their irreplaceable wildlife and flora as cash cows. The First Nations who have been stewarding these lands for millennia will likely join in strong opposition.

What your government may believe is an “innovative” response to fiscal management at the expense of that which is priceless, is fundamentally flawed. While it may generate short-term revenue, it will result in the long-term degradation and loss of the very thing that visitors come here to see – pristine natural spaces and the places where wildlife can move freely. On top of that, your government’s use of the ASRA draws attention away from the heart of the problem. Bears, bighorn sheep and mountain goats are not to be used as scapegoats for your administration’s fiscal imbalance. Tourism revenue can be increased without messing with park and protected area boundaries and land use designations that excise the invaluable and risk turning provincial parks into amusement parks. If visitors truly want that kind of experience, Calaway Park in Calgary is much closer. It is open from mid-May to early September and the midway is open during The Calgary Stampede. Failing that, there is always Disneyland. It’s open year-round.

Let’s get serious because playing with park boundaries or changing land use designations to permit development is a very serious issue. As one writer summarized in a recent edition of the Bow River valley’s weekly newspaper, The Rocky Mountain Outlook, “Respect our boundaries! Leave the line exactly where it is.”

Sincerely,

[NAME]

cc:     Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

             Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

SUBJECT: Boundary/Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, Castle Mountain Provincial Park, Fortress Mountain and Nakiska + Redundant Development.

Minister Boitchenko,

As I understand it, the currently proposed gondola development in Canmore under the All-Season Resorts Act is focused on whether the boundary of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park should be changed and the severed area redesignated as a resort ‒ not whether the project is ecologically sound or even fiscally responsible. To keep wild parks from becoming amusement parks, it is essential that the long-standing wildlife corridor in the BVWPP be maintained and the park’s boundaries staunchly protected. It would seem that this didn’t happen in and around Castle Mountain Provincial Park and in Kananaskis Country at Fortress Mountain and Nakiska. That is both repugnant and redundant. There are already three other gondolas in the immediate vicinity, two within a 30-minute drive of Canmore ‒ the Banff Gondola and another one at Sunshine Ski Resort. As you likely know, the third is located at the ski resort in Lake Louise. Your government has gone too far. It now appears to be applying its cunning ASRA with increasing arrogance and disrespect for our hallowed parks and protected areas. I find that disgraceful.

Visitors come to see the wildlife, feel the peace and hear the silence. They don’t come to be surrounded by the very thing most of them come here to escape – more people, traffic, noise, litter and crowds. They come to connect with nature, not just look at the view. It doesn’t make sense to adjust the boundary of a provincial park and redesignate the lost land just so a developer can cut a 20-to-80-metre wide swath of trees 3,000 metres long and 3,000 feet high straight up the side of a mountain and terminate it in an upper station at treeline, in immeasurably fragile wildlife habitat. In other words, even the thought of constructing a gondola runs contrary to making Canmore, the Bow Valley and the province’s mountain parks stand out in the eyes of our visitors. The real value for our province lies in recognizing the worth of wilderness. We don’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg by slaughtering it with up to 300,000 annual gondola riders besieging a highly fragile alpine environment simply by buying a ticket. As near as I can see, that’s a ticket to environmental disaster and in the long, a tourism turnoff. Please tell me how it makes any sense, or cents/dollars in a large enough quantity to have the end justify the means. From where I sit, it simply doesn’t.

Sincerely,

[NAME]

cc:     Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353       

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, existing changes to Castle Mtn. Prov. Park, Fortress Mountain and Nakiska Ski Resort & the Cumulative Impact of Large and Concurrent Developments in the Bow Valley

Hello Minister Boitchenko,

I am writing in support of the Canmore community and many other Albertans provincewide in fervently opposing any adjustment to the boundaries of our parks and protected areas and changing land-use designations to permit commercial development. The potential boundary adjustment and land use redesignation in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park is the most egregious recent example. It, as you know, has been preceded by equally audacious ones your government has made in and around Castle Mountain Provincial Park, Fortress Mountain and Nakiska ski area in Kananaskis Country using the All-Season Resorts Act.

I wish to hotly contest any potential boundary or land use changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park or anywhere else in Alberta. Enough is enough! These kinds of actions are unbecoming of any citizen-respecting government that proports to care about our natural spaces. It is also completely unacceptable to me, my family and to many of our neighbours and friends all across the province. We are fed up with this perversion of our parks and protected areas. It is not only wrong, it is immoral. Your government should be ashamed of itself. Our wild spaces are sacred places not mere play pieces that can be trimmed and “adjusted” to fit some dollar-driven plan to turn them into profit centres. That’s ridiculous.

In addition, I am also writing to express my growing concerns about the cumulative environmental impacts of large and concurrent developments in the Bow Valley, especially the proposed 3-kilometre-long gondola on Mt. Lady Macdonald.

The Bow Valley is already experiencing significant development pressure, including additional transportation infrastructure, residential expansion, and increasing tourism-related use. Each individual project may appear manageable in isolation, but the combined impact of multiple developments has measurable ecological consequences. Cumulative effects are a recognized concern in Alberta’s land-use planning framework, including the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan. These effects include habitat fragmentation, reduced wildlife movement, increased human-wildlife conflict and the long-term degradation of fragile ecosystems.

Scientific research shows that ecosystems have thresholds. Once these thresholds are exceeded, the impacts become exponential and often irreversible. In the Bow Valley, many indicators such as reduced habitat for large carnivores and increasing human presence in valley-bottom areas suggest that these limits are already being approached. Approving additional development through the All-Season Resorts Act, without a comprehensive cumulative effects assessment, risks pushing the region beyond sustainable ecological limits. This is not simply a question of one proposed gondola project. It is about the combined and compounding impact of multiple developments on a constrained and already highly stressed ecosystem.

It is essential that you and your government take a very precautionary approach and carefully consider the cumulative effects of development before even contemplating any further boundary or land-use changes in the Bow Valley or anywhere in the province for that matter. Quite frankly, I am both anxious and angry about where this is all going – and it’s not going up, except in intensity and severity with every passing year. It must stop.                        

Sincerely,

[NAME]

cc.      Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary adjustment & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, in and around Castle Mtn. PP, Fortress Mt. and Nakiska ski area & Over-Tourism in the Bow Valley                          

Hello Minister Boitchenko:

Although I am aware that there is still a long exploratory road ahead, if the proposed boundary adjustment to Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and land-use redesignation could result in a gondola development in Canmore eventually being granted All-Season Resort status, I wish to intensely and categorically push back against any such idea. I also wish to oppose any similar changes that may have already taken place in and/or in the area of Castle Mountain Provincial Park, Fortress Mountain and Nakiska ski area.

I also wish to point out that if this adjustment and redesignation take place so that a three-km-long gondola is actually built, such a development will significantly increase visitation to an area already under tremendous stress by over-tourism. Increased human use is strongly correlated with higher levels of wildlife disturbance, habitat degradation and environmental stress. Research in mountain environments shows that increased trail density, noise, and human presence can displace wildlife from preferred habitat, particularly during critical feeding and breeding periods. Additionally, increased visitation places tremendous pressure on local municipal infrastructure, including roads, parking, emergency services and waste management systems ‒issues already being acutely felt in the Canmore region. This situation is made all that more objectionable as a result of the province repeatedly denying resort status to Banff, Jasper and Canmore, which bear the greatest share of the tourism load and the increased expenses that go with it.

Changing the boundary of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park to enable resort designation for a gondola would remove yet more protected habitat in a landscape in which over 80% of the habitat has already been altered or fragmented. Thus, these outcomes are trending in the wrong direction and are becoming more and more substantial every year. The consequences of ever-greater visitation should be considered at the land-use designation stage, not kicked down the road for the next government to cope with – especially municipal governments. If the residents of a municipality or area are threatened by failing infrastructure due to over-tourism, it won’t matter how well a gondola operates if the toilets don’t flush or the wastewater treatment system cannot handle the volume in the valley-bottom.

This redesignation and boundary decision isn’t just about a single development. It is about whether you are comfortable with acting on behalf of all Albertans to further reduce already scarce wildlife habitat in one of the most developmentally pressured ecosystems in the province. I believe that it’s time to redo the cost/benefit analysis.

I ask you to reject this potential land-use change and maintain the integrity of the long-established boundary of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park. Its value goes far beyond taxes derived from catering to the desires of transient tourists who will come and go. If you proceed with ultimately approving this boundary change and land use redesignation and the proposed development you will, in essence, be threatening the true full-time residents of the Bow Valley. Please listen, show that you genuinely care and that you understand what it is you and your government are actually proposing to do in the interest of generating revenue. It would seem that someone has not done the existential arithmetic.

Consider these permanent environmental and financial consequences before enabling further development. The collective lives of thousands of animals and the integrity of the ecosystem are at stake as is the financial sustainability of an entire town at the point of service delivery to visitors – not at the top of a mountain, but down on its town streets. Over-tourism is over the limit environmentally and municipally already. Please don’t push it to the breaking point. Albertans deserve better, no matter where they live. 

Respectfully,

[NAME]

cc: Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.c

[DATE]

[NAME]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL]

[PHONE]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Boundary & Land Use designation changes in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and in the Castle and Kananaskis areas. Municipal tax increases caused by the All-Season Resorts Act.

Minister Boitchenko,

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the potential boundary adjustment and redesignation of over 17 football fields of land in Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park under the All-Seasons Resorts Act. Same goes for the similar atrocities apparently already committed in Castle Mountain Provincial and up Hwy. 40.

Speaking only about BVWPP, these potential changes could ultimately result in significant increases in municipal taxes here in Canmore as a result of increased visitation. While economic development is important, the downstream financial implications for the Town of Canmore seem to have been overlooked, particularly the risk of increased municipal infrastructure costs and ultimately, the genuine possibility of higher property taxes for thousands of town residents. While that may not concern you at the provincial level, if I understand things properly, the ASRA might be able to be used to cut into just about any park or protected area in the province. That is a provincial issue and I am not happy with it in the least. Nor, I should say are tens of thousands of other Albertans who hold our parks and protected areas in high esteem, close to their hearts.

Tourism already places a substantial and inequitable financial burden on mountain communities like Canmore, Banff and Jasper. In fact, a 2022 report highlighted that the Town of Banff spent an astonishing 43% of its total annual municipal budget on services to support visitors. These include road and sidewalk upkeep, public transit, policing, waste management and emergency services. Canmore faces similar pressures, and the addition of up to 300,000 annual gondola users on Mt. Lady Macdonald would significantly intensify them.

Increased visitation typically drives the need for more and more parking infrastructure, bylaw enforcement, water and wastewater processing capacity. All of these services carry real, recurring and ever-increasing costs. Over time, even a modest increase in annual infrastructure spending, such as just 5 to 10%, could translate into millions of dollars of added costs, costs that are often borne by local taxpayers like myself and my neighbours rather than by passing visitors or even your government.

Without a clear and enforceable funding model that ensures visitors and developers fully cover these added costs, local residents may face higher property taxes to subsidize infrastructure demands driven by tourism growth. If you carefully consider these serious fiscal impacts on municipalities and prioritize sustainable, community-supported development that does not disproportionately burden local taxpayers, you may win re-election. If you don’t, well…I’m sure you can connect the dots. Rural voters also value their parks and protected areas. As you know, that’s the UCP’s primary voter base. They probably care more about nature than anyone because they rely on it for their livelihoods. I apologize if this comes across as disrespectful but I think you should respect that too.

Yours,

[NAME]

cc:     Hon. Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks, fp.minister@gov.ab.ca, 780-644-7353       

Premier Danielle Smith, premier@gov.ab.ca, 780-427-2251

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

~ Personalized Letter Template ~

[DATE]

[NAME]

[MAILING]

[EMAIL]

[TEL]

Hon. Andrew Boitchenko

Minister of Tourism & Sport

402 Legislature Building

10800 - 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, T5K 1B6

ts.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-427-3070

RE: Proposed Boundary & Land Use designation changes to Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park as well as in and/or around Castle Mtn PP and Fortress Mtn and Nakiska ski area in Kananaskis Country.

Minister Boitchenko,

[Insert the body paragraphs you wish to write, here (usually organized into the introduction (your reason for writing); the details (your supporting information); and the conclusion (next steps or a closing thought).]

[When you’ve said your piece, insert the closing phrase of your choice, e.g. "Sincerely," or "Respectfully," at your discretion, followed by a comma, here]

[If yours is a letter to be mailed, insert your handwritten signature here, or a digital signature if you are sending an electronic correspondence, here]

[If yours is a letter to be mailed, insert your typed name &/or title (if you have one) below your signature, here]

[***VERY IMPORTANT: Please also send a duplicate copy of your correspondence to

Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry & Parks; Premier Danielle Smith; and Sarah Elmeligi, MLA for the provincial riding of Banff-Kananaskis. Here is their contact information. Thanks!]

cc:  

Hon. Todd Loewen

Minister of Forestry & Parks

fp.minister@gov.ab.ca

780-644-7353             

323, 10800 – 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, AB, T5K 2B6

Premier Danielle Smith

premier@gov.ab.ca

780-427-2251

307, 10800 – 97 Avenue NW

Edmonton, AB, T5K 2B6

Sarah Elmeligi, MLA, Banff-Kananaskis

Banff.Kananaskis@assembly.ab.ca

403-609-4509

P.O. Box 8781

Canmore AB, T1W 0C1