Introduction

The Cardinal Divide area is adjacent to the eastern side of Jasper National Park, southeast of the town of Hinton. The area spans the continental divide; one side drains to the Arctic Ocean and the other to the Hudson’s Bay. Resource extraction in the Cardinal Divide area is jeopardizing a refugium that is home to incredible biological diversity.  High elevations of the Cardinal Divide are thought to have been a ‘nunatak,’ an area that remained ice-free during the last period of glaciation.  This attribute would explain the diverse and unique population of plant and insect species found there.

Vision:

• Preservation of the entire area (including Folding Mountain, Red Cap and Cardinal River Headwaters, Cheviot Mine site) through a 430 km² addition to Whitehorse Wildland Park.
• Inclusion of the entire area within World heritage Site designation for contiguous Canadian Rocky Mountain national parks (Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay) and B.C. provincial parks.
  

Status: 

Whitehorse Wildland Provincial Park currently occupies an area of 174 km². AWA would like to see 430 km² of surrounding area added to the park.