AWA’s Bighorn Backcountry Report
July 31, 2023
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AWA’s Bighorn Backcountry Report
Alberta Wilderness Association has produced an important report that reveals there has been severe damage to the trails and the surrounding landscape of central Alberta’s Bighorn backcountry as a result of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.
The Bighorn Backcountry is a large and important wilderness area within the Rocky Mountains and the Foothills in a gap between Banff and Jasper National Parks.
“Off-highway vehicle use in the Bighorn Backcountry damages soil and vegetation, reduces water quality in the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan River, and destroys and degrades fish habitat,” says Devon Earl, AWA conservation specialist.
The report is based on AWA’s 15-year study of OHV trails in the Bighorn Backcountry. The damage includes large-scale erosion on the trails themselves and other areas where OHVs are not permitted.
The Bighorn Backcountry was first identified as a provincially significant wilderness area in the 1970s. For nearly 50 years, AWA has sought protected area designation for the Bighorn Backcountry. Following a 2002 decision by the Government of Alberta to allow OHVs to drive on designated trails in the Bighorn, AWA carried out rigorous on-the-ground research and monitoring between 2004 and 2017 to determine the extent of the damage to the trails and the surrounding landscape caused by OHVs.
“During my 15 years as volunteer monitor for AWA I have seen the increasingly severe degradation of the Canary and Hummingbird Creeks’ stream beds and beautiful wet meadows because of the improper location of the designated OHV trails,” observes Heinz Unger, a professional civil engineer.
AWA urges the Government of Alberta to restrict motorized access in the Prime Protection Zone of the Bighorn Backcountry to trails that can support it, and to increase enforcement of rules governing OHV use. These steps are necessary to prevent further and possibly irreversible damage to this important wilderness area.
Click here to read AWA’s Bighorn Backcountry Report.
For more information:
- Devon Earl (dearl@abwild.ca, 403-283-2025)
- Heinz Unger (unger.heinz@gmail.com, 403-615-7364)
