#Fight For Your Parks

Yesterday, October 14, was the CPAWS day of action to stop commercial projects in Banff and Jasper National Parks. Once they're developed there is no going back.

A group of individuals, scientists, business owners, First Nations, environmental organizations & former parks staff have rallied. To learn how you can still take part visit http://www.fightforyourparks.ca/


National park supporters hold day of action against commercialization
 
by Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald, October 14, 2015

BANFF — A national day of action in the Fight for Your Parks campaign featured a rally of a couple dozen supporters in Banff on Wednesday.

The campaign, which was launched in Banff about a month ago, is designed to get Canadians to stand up against commercialization in Canada’s national parks — particularly in Banff and Jasper.

“Today marks a day of action where people across Canada can stand up and say enough is enough,” said Anne-Marie Syslak, executive director for the southern Alberta chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

It came after a report from CPAWS suggested national parks are under siege with the approvals of developments such as Maligne Lake in Jasper and the future expansion of the Lake Louise ski area in Banff.

Read more here: http://calgaryherald.com/…/national-park-supporters-hold-da…

‪#‎fightforyourpaks‬ | ‪#‎bowriver‬ | ‪#‎flyfishing‬ | ‪#‎yyc‬ | CPAWS Southern Alberta |

Commercial development causing a 'crisis' in national parks, says CPAWS

Commercial development causing a 'crisis' in national parks, says CPAWS

by Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald, September 10, 2015

A new report (http://cpaws.org/…/cpaws-special-report-on-commercial-devel…) suggests there’s a crisis in Canada’s national parks, calling on Canadians to stand up against commercial developments such as an expansion plan at Lake Louise ski area in Banff and the proposed Maligne Lake resort in Jasper.

The report by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society suggests national parks are under a growing threat.

“Canada’s national parks are part of the heart and soul of this country,” said Alison Woodley, national director of the CPAWS parks program. “They are our natural treasures and they belong to each and every one of us as Canadians, but private commercial development is putting our most special protected areas at risk.

“There’s a crisis in our national parks.”

Read more here: http://calgaryherald.com/…/commercial-development-causing-c…

‪#‎bowriver‬ | ‪#‎flyfishing‬ | ‪#‎yyc‬ | CPAWS Southern Alberta | CPAWS

Alberta not protecting Castle Special Place

Alberta not protecting Castle Special Place

By Lethbridge Herald, Opinon on December 3, 2013.

Katie Morrison

CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, CANADIAN PARKS AND WILDERNESS SOCIETY – SOUTHERN ALBERTA CPAWS Southern Alberta

The Castle Special Place provides clean water for communities and farms downstream, is home to at-risk species such as grizzly bear and bull trout, and offers world-class recreational opportunities. For more than 20 years, Alberta communities, conservation organizations, recreationalist and local businesses have been calling for legislated protection of the Castle Special Place.

Yet the draft South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, released in October, recommends protecting only the Castle’s rocky mountain tops as a Wildland Park and proposes to designate a few of its valleys as ill-defined Conservation Management Areas. The rest of this iconic landscape, including its headwaters, is left unprotected and is slated for forestry and road-building.

Read article here: http://bit.ly/1dRi3SM

More info here: http://cpaws-southernalberta.org/campaigns/castle

The spectacular north! - May 09, 2013

The spectacular north!
 

A special evening presentation

Coming to Calgary, May 9th, 7:00 PM

CPAWS and the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation invite you to an unforgettable presentation about protecting part of their territory around and beyond the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories. 

Special guest appearance by Olympian Clara Hughes! 

Join us on this evening journey to Thaidene Nene, the “Land of the Ancestors” – soon to be a new protected area in partnership with Parks Canada – where dramatic cliffs towering over Great Slave Lake give way to boreal forest, rushing rivers and tundra. The Lutsel K’e Dene remain closely connected to their homeland, where caribou and muskoxen still roam one of the largest road-less landscapes on the continent.

May 9th, 2013
Doors @ 7:00PM, Presentation starts @ 7:30PM, reception to follow
Location: Calgary Zoo in the Esso Auditorium

Members: Admission by donation
Non-Members: $10 Admission OR become a CPAWS member for $20

Contact ksemrau@cpaws.org with any questions

Visit www.landoftheancestors.ca to learn more about Thaidene Nene

For updates, visit http://cpaws-southernalberta.org/events/thaidene-nene or like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/cpawssab

Why is CPAWS speaking out? Reason No. 1: We support healthy ecosystems.

No matter how you frame it, we’re all connected to our natural surroundings – this has always been the case and always will be. We can’t afford to look at our ecosystems as stand-alone entities – they’re all intricately connected components of a global system. What affects one component of this global system will undoubtedly affect another.

Changes to federal environmental legislation being rolled into Bill C-38, the omnibus budget bill which is passing through Parliament this month, will make it harder to assess the full impacts of new development projects on nature. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the federal law that ensures that the environmental consequences of development proposals are carefully considered, will be replaced by much weaker legislation. The number of projects that are evaluated will drop dramatically; Cabinet and the Minister will have discretion to decide which projects will be assessed; binding timeframes of one or two years will be imposed on all federal review processes, regardless of scope; there will be less opportunity for public input; and many projects currently requiring a federal review will become the responsibility of provincial and territorial governments. All in all, a dramatic weakening of one of our key federal tools to protect the environment.

We believe that economic development and environmental protection are connected and that the long term health of our economy relies on assuring a healthy environment for the future. If Canada takes shortcuts and a piecemeal approach to assessing the impacts of economic development projects on environmental health in favour of fast-tracking new development projects, we run a great risk of tipping the balance in the wrong direction.

We believe healthy ecosystems are the foundation of a healthy economy, and not an obstacle to be overcome. On June 4th, we will be speaking out on behalf of strong laws to protect nature. We ask you to join us in sending the message to our government.

Visit www.blackoutspeakout.ca for more information and to join us in speaking out.

LINK: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society