Former Chief Parks Warden addresses the Castle Crown
By Geoff Morgan Friday June 05, 2009
The Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition hosted its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, May 23, at the Libel Mansion in Pincher Creek. On hand for the event was Bill Dolan, who had previously served as the Chief Parks Warden for Waterton Lakes National Park.
Following 31 years of service with Parks Canada, including 19 years in Waterton, Dolan took on a new role with Alberta Parks. Dolan now acts as the Land and Resource Management Coordinator for the South Area of Alberta Parks.
Dolan acted as the guest speaker at the coalition’s AGM, and gave an informative presentation on the province’s Plan for Parks, Land Use Framework and the process for establishing a park space in the Castle Special Place area. The Castle area exhibits the highest biodiversity in Alberta outside of Waterton Lakes.
The stated goal of the coalition is to establish a wilderness area or park space in the Castle region. The coalition believes that establishing a park in the area immediately north of Waterton is the most effective way to preserve the “unique landscape” of “front range canyons” in that region. Disagreements with other user groups, including proponents of off-highway vehicles in the region, have come to the fore in recent months.
The Management Plan for Waterton Lakes National Park is currently under a scheduled 10-year review. Dolan played a key-role 10 years ago in the park’s previous Management Plan. As a result of his efforts and contribution to that plan, a zoning map for Waterton Lakes National Park established zoned wilderness areas within the park space. In other words, Dolan’s work under the previous management plan created specific wilderness zones for the national park.
Wilderness zoning is a complex process, as Dolan explained, which required the context of the park’s management plan, and a consideration of existing roads and services.
Non-wilderness areas were zoned according to the accessibility of cars, boats and dwellings. By way of example, the Akamina Parkway was zoned as non-wilderness since the road allows vehicular access. If you walk 100m away from the parkway however, you will enter land zoned as wilderness.
A further example: certain water bodies in the park can be accessed by motorboat, others cannot. The water bodies accessible by motorboat were zoned non-wilderness, whereas those that cannot be accessed by motorboat were zoned wilderness.
The implications of this zoning serve on the one hand to protect wildlife and ecosystems in the park, and on the other hand to restrict some human activities. After the wilderness zoning took effect, a telecommunications company proposed establishing a cell-phone tower at the top of Crandell Mountain, said Dolan.
However, Crandel Mountain’s peak was zoned wilderness. The answer was clear, said Dolan, that cell-phone tower would not be placed on Crandell, given the context established by wilderness zoning.
Dolan’s presentation further illustrated the framework under which the wilderness coalition must act if it wants to establish wilderness regions and park space in the Castle. His speech included an overview of the Alberta government’s Plan for Parks, Land and Resource Management Plan and Land Use Framework.
He also touched on the Alberta Land Stewardship Act in connection with the Land Use Framework and its subsequent connection with parks. Dolan expressed his excitement that 2009 marked the first time Alberta had established a Plan for Parks, but tempered that declaration by admitting the Special Places legislation in 2000, bore some resemblance to a parks plan.
Dolan further provided information on declared wilderness areas and national parks. He explained that extensive public consultation was required, including consultation with First Nations and Metis stakeholders. The Governor General in Council may declare any area that exists in a natural state, or that may return to a natural state, to be a wilderness area, explained Dolan.
Areas described as having significant conservation value are eligible to be considered a park, he said. A classification system for proposed parks requires that inclusion strategies be implemented and that recreation opportunities be provided, explained Dolan.
The AGM provided a lunch, more business, and was followed by a hike.
Staff at the coalition coordinate hikes every Saturday throughout the summer, in addition to providing educational programming on wildlife in the Castle region. The coalition also assembles data on the Castle ecosystem.
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