CTV News Calgary has reported:

Alberta’s proposal to reclassify the Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve and combine it with the existing Kootenay Plains Provincial Recreation Area is drawing concern from environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts. The plan would create a new Kootenay Plains Provincial Park, with about 140 hectares of riverbend and shoreline from the ecological reserve added to the park. The province put forward the proposal on Aug. 14, citing high visitation and a need for visitor management tools.

The reserve lies just east of the Banff National Park boundary in a Rocky Mountain landscape with waterfalls and wildlife corridors. It is near the David Thompson Corridor along Highway 11, an area used by equestrian riders and mountain bikers. The Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) says provincial parks have fewer protections than ecological reserves and are more likely to offer visitor recreation experiences.

“There’s less of an intent to protect the ecological values of that area,” said Ruiping Luo, conservation specialist with the AWA. Luo also raised concerns about ungulate mammals that live in the area. “Our concern with this change is that we’re losing protections for an area that’s really valuable.”

Robin Schmidt, director of policy and planning in the parks division of Alberta Forestry and Parks, described the plan as a consolidation of the existing ecological reserve and recreation area into one provincial park. Schmidt said the change is intended to clarify land management, align the designation with current use, and balance conservation, recreation and Indigenous considerations.

“It’s really just around supporting clear land management and aligning a designation with current use in a way that continues to balance conservation and recreation, in Indigenous considerations,” Schmidt said. She added: “This is around aligning the classification both to the uses that happen there now but also ensuring that we have good visitor management use tools under the Provincial Parks Act to manage that high level of visitation that’s coming there now.”

Schmidt said about 5,000 people visited the ecological reserve in 1996; by 2023, more than 34,000 people visited the area. She said Alberta Parks is not looking to add new facilities. Its current intent is to limit facility development to land already within the provincial recreation area.

Schmidt said the Provincial Parks Act provides stronger regulatory tools to address high visitation, including fines for some rule violations. “Under the provincial Parks Act, for example, we have a stronger, regulatory tools focused on high use visitation,” she said. “If someone were to be, let’s say, mountain biking off a trail and they weren’t supposed to, they could be issued a fine.” She contrasted a fine with the court summons a mountain biker would currently face for riding off trail.

The proposal’s notice period ends Oct. 14. The changes are then expected to be brought forward to Cabinet later this fall.