Introduction

The South Ghost is a rugged, majestic wilderness area in the robust Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. It is located approximately 70 kilometres west of the City of Calgary, bordered by Banff National Park to the west and the Stoney Indian Reserve to the east. The name “Ghost”, first recorded by Dr. Hector of the Palliser expedition, originates from a Stoney legend in which ghosts were seen along the river picking up skulls of warriors killed in battle against the Cree.

The name “Ghost” is also attached to a number of areas adjacent to AWA’s South Ghost Area of Concern:

• The Ghost River Wilderness to the north is one of Alberta’s three large Wilderness Areas, managed principally to maintain its wilderness qualities.
• The Ghost Waiparous area to the northeast is well known as a multiple-use area; in recent years, management changes have been attempting to regulate a region where unplanned motorized access had been allowed to severely degrade the ecosystem over a number of years.
  
  

The South Ghost area is an important natural area, particularly because it is a “critical sub-basin of a small and shrinking watershed that is being called on to supply an ever increasing downstream population.” This is a wilderness area, known for its raw beauty.

Status

• With a total area of approximately 262 km², around two thirds of the South Ghost is protected.
• The area includes most of the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, and part of the Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park.
• The Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park, a collection of ten separate islands of protected land, and the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park were protected by the Alberta government in 2001.

Vision

The South Ghost must be a wilderness area, sensitively managed according to the original intent of 1977 “prime protection” and “critical wildlife” zoning under the Eastern Slopes Policy. Wilderness values including wildlife habitat, production of a clean, healthy water supply, and minimum impact recreation, are paramount. The entire South Ghost area will be protected with the expansion of the Bow Valley Wildland and Don Getty Wildland to complete the protection of this wild and free area.

AWA is grateful for the support of Calgary Foundation for community work being carried out in the Ghost watershed, in cooperation with the Ghost Watershed Alliance Society.