Wilderness Defenders: OHVs and the Castle Parks – Are They In or Out?

July 20, 2016

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• Action Alerts
• Castle

Dear Wilderness Defender,

The Government of Alberta announced that it intended to protect the Castle Wilderness in the form of a Provincial Park and Wildland Provincial Park on September 4, 2015.The public has been increasingly concerned about the plan to allow activities such as motorized recreation in the new provincial park and wildland provincial park. If destruction from motorized use is allowed to continue, we may lose this irreplaceable part of Alberta’s wilderness forever.

Below is a recent News Release regarding a newly-obtained document on what Alberta Environment and Parks expects in a draft management plan for the Castle Parks. Sadly, despite public outcry and substantial consultation, the recommended management intentions outlined in the document – allowing Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs), recreational hunting, and cattle grazing in the parks – have barely changed compared  to what the department proposed more than 10 months ago.

We need your help. Without your voice speaking up for full protection of the Castle Wilderness, these planned activities could be approved.

Please contact Premier Notley at premier@gov.ab.ca and copy in the Minister of Environment and Parks, the Honourable Minister Phillips at aep.minister@gov.ab.ca and let them know what you would like to see in the Castle. As always, we appreciate receiving a copy of any letters you write, please copy me in at jskrajny@abwild.ca.

– Joanna Skrajny, AWA Conservation Specialist

OHVs and the Castle Parks: Are They In or Out?

That’s the crucial conservation question left begging in a newly-released document on what Alberta Environment and Parks expects in a draft management plan for the Castle Parks. Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) and the Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition (CCWC) would like the Minister to answer the question definitively and commit unequivocally to the management plan’s vision: “Conservation of nature will be the primary, overriding objective of both parks.”

“On the one hand, the proposal contains a number of encouraging statements,” says Joanna Skrajny, AWA Conservation Specialist. “For example, conservation and headwaters protection are intended to be the top two management priorities; they animate the stress placed in the document on protecting critical westslope cutthroat trout habitat.” Environmental leadership and evidence based decision-making are admirably placed at the top of the list of principles intended to guide the plan. “But, these positive elements,” she adds, “are fundamentally irreconcilable with the document’s later suggestion that off-highway vehicles should be allowed in both parks. You cannot seriously prioritize conservation and headwaters protection if you allow motorized recreation in the Castle.”

The CCWC, a local, grassroots organization that has been fighting for protection of the Castle Wilderness for decades, joins AWA in this call. “Eighty-six percent of Albertans prioritize non-motorized recreation and the majority of the public believes that OHVs have no place in provincial parks. It pushes out other users and harms wildlife,” adds Peter Lee of the CCWC. “Considering that Waterton and all of our mountain parks are bursting at the seams with visitors, it seems like a no-brainer that Albertans are searching for and would be grateful for more of the national park type experience.”

The Castle Provincial Park and Wildland Provincial Park were announced on September 4, 2015 by the Government of Alberta. Sadly, despite public outcry and substantial consultation, the recommended management intentions outlined in the document released today – allowing OHVs, recreational hunting, and cattle grazing in the parks – have barely changed  compared  to what the department proposed more than 10 months ago.

“While this is disappointing and frustrating,” says Dr. Ian Urquhart, editor of AWA’s magazine Wildlands Advocate, “there is promise where this document says the Minister still may decide to modify the recommended management intentions to prohibit OHVs and hunting in the parks. It’s time for the Minister to decide once and for all whether OHVs are in or out of the Castle parks. Conservation and a truly modern view of Alberta parks demand that she rejects the recommendation to allow OHVs in the Castle.”

For more information:
Joanna Skrajny, Alberta Wilderness Association,  403-283-2025
Peter Lee, Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition,      780-914-6241
Ian Urquhart, Alberta Wilderness Association,       780-937-4692

Castle Parks Management Plan Annotated Table of Contents

Background Information:
Reports releated to OHV planning and management in Canada and other regions can be found here

AWA and Timberwolf Wilderness Society News Release on westslope cutthroat trout critical habitat in the proposed Castle Parks

The Eastern Slopes for Tomorrow Campaign – a joint effort between scientists, individuals and conservation organizations to speak up for the need to responsibly manage Alberta’s source headwaters.

Letters to the Government of Alberta on Eastern Slopes Land Use Management, including news items and public opinion surveys

AWA and the Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition issued a News Release on illegal use during the province-wide OHV ban and a request for support to ban OHVs in the newly designated Castle Parks.