Discovery Walk needs support
Editor:
The proposed Brewster Glacier Discovery Walk will consist of a 400-metre walkway and a glass-floored observation platform extending 30 metres over the dramatic Sunwapta Valley in Jasper National Park.
The draft environmental assessment has been released for public comment until Dec. 16, and it concludes that environmental impacts will be minimal, since this is a previously disturbed site within the right-of-way of an existing highway, and the impact to wildlife (bighorn sheep and mountain goats) will be ‘negligible and short term.’
The Glacier Discovery Walk will provide a unique visitor experience and education: a state-of-the-art, fully wheelchair accessible, exciting viewing experience that is expected to attract more than 100,000 additional visitors to the area each year.
It will be a guided interpretive walk focusing on the ecology, geology, glaciology, aboriginal history, social history and the unique ecosystem of the Columbia Icefield area. Its sleek design won a global architectural award for revolutionary environmental design that will allow it to integrate into the natural surroundings.
The proposed redesign of the existing public viewing area will improve traffic safety, eliminate blind corners and reduce the number of vehicle collisions. There have been 65 accidents over the last 15 years, along with a number of human and animal fatalities.
With 1.6 million people driving the Icefields Parkway each year, the Glacier Discovery Walk will help create a collection of visitor experiences along the parkway that will draw local, regional and international visitors. Brewster Travel Canada wants to get them out of their cars and educate them with a jaw-dropping view of the glaciers so that they might form some meaningful connections with national parks.
The creation of a guided interpretive walk meets Parks Canada’s stated goal for more front-country experiences, the quintessential ‘View From The Edge.’ It will help connect Canadians to their national parks, in particular new Canadians, the elderly, urbanites and people who are unable or unwilling to venture onto backcountry trails.
Parks Canada has set a goal of increasing visitation to national parks by two per cent annually in order to strengthen and improve those connections and to help parks remain relevant in a rapidly-changing world.
So if your core values match the Association for Mountain Parks, Protection & Enjoyment (AMPPE): a balance between sustainable tourism, ecological integrity, quality visitor experience and education; then you should enthusiastically support this project. Take a close look at the draft environmental assessment at www.glacierdiscoverywalk.ca and submit your response to Parks Canada.
As Canadians, residents of the national parks, and concerned taxpayers, we all have a voice in these issues. Let’s hope Ottawa will listen.
Monica Andreeff,
executive director, AMPPE
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Comments
The "Vision", as stated by Parks, "to connect them (citizens) to the Park", would at least reflect what was learned in the Parks own 2009 Intercept Survey.
In this document the number ONE comment found from users of the Ice-Fields Highway, paid for with our taxes, was the "access to the viewpoints,(which
was/were Free then) "for the spectacular vistas that were easily accessible by vehicle. Along with other direct Quotes like: "Beauty, scenery, wildness, QUIET and peacefulness of the area that attracts them to the IP", Unquote.
Seems strange that an unbiased Social Science based study on the public's perception of the Parkway was usurped by a commercial interest?
So the question I guess becomes one of where does the real public need or "Vision", as Parks states, really come into play?
Kudos to the public expression and the hard working Parks Front line staff that actually hear what the public want so... why does it all get lost as
soon as it hits management?
If Parks management does not listen to the science of unbiased social surveys that they have initiated to be better informed and paid for with
taxpayers dollars then why bother to engage Canadians at all, in any meaningful way, to ask their opinion?
No wonder the on line Petition has gone viral with 155,000 respondents saying NO to the proposed Brewster commercialization.
The message in my simple mind seems loud and clear.
Do NOT mess with our Parks, OUR Icons!
My bet is with the people, cheers, Art in Jasper.
Source: 2009 Ice-fields Parkway Intercept Camper Survey by Michael den Otter, Social Science Unit, Western and Northern Service Centre, Parks
Canada, released 2010.
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message ID: 334408
Post On: January 20, 2012
Posted by User #: Alpine Art
Posted by IP:
message:
It always amazing when some companies have their hands out for more $ from the public how quickly the real Canadian voice is forgotten, so Chris I have just added to your news item by releasing a public, unbiased survey result from Parks own files...enjoy the read AMPPE and take off the blinders, Canadians are not stupid as is evident by the 155,000 saying NO to Brewster
The "Vision", as stated by Parks, "to connect them (citizens) to the Park", would at least reflect what was learned in the Parks own 2009 Intercept Survey.
In this document the number ONE comment found from users of the Ice-Fields Highway, paid for with our taxes, was the "access to the viewpoints,(which
was/were Free then) "for the spectacular vistas that were easily accessible by vehicle. Along with other direct Quotes like: "Beauty, scenery, wildness, QUIET and peacefulness of the area that attracts them to the IP", Unquote.
Seems strange that an unbiased Social Science based study on the public's perception of the Parkway was usurped by a commercial interest?
So the question I guess becomes one of where does the real public need or "Vision", as Parks states, really come into play?
Kudos to the public expression and the hard working Parks Front line staff that actually hear what the public want so... why does it all get lost as
soon as it hits management?
If Parks management does not listen to the science of unbiased social surveys that they have initiated to be better informed and paid for with
taxpayers dollars then why bother to engage Canadians at all, in any meaningful way, to ask their opinion?
No wonder the on line Petition has gone viral with 155,000 respondents saying NO to the proposed Brewster commercialization.
The message in my simple mind seems loud and clear.
Do NOT mess with our Parks, OUR Icons!
My bet is with the people, cheers, Art in Jasper.
Source: 2009 Ice-fields Parkway Intercept Camper Survey by Michael den Otter, Social Science Unit, Western and Northern Service Centre, Parks
Canada, released 2010.
It states.....
AFTER REVIEWING THE PROPOSAL, CPAWS IS OPPOSED TO THE GLACIER DISCOVERY WALK FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
It would set a dangerous precedent for renewed commercial development in our mountain national parks. If this goes ahead, what will be next?
The long term impact on wildlife, including mountain goats and big horn sheep, cannot be predicted with confidence: there just isn’t enough data.
It would contravene Parks Canada’s own policy that says that “Only outdoor activities which promote the appreciation of a park's purpose and objectives, which respect the integrity of the ecosystem, and which call for a minimum of built facilities will be permitted.”(Parks Canada Guiding Principles and Operational Policy, section 4.1.3).
There is no evidence that this would meet the objective of connecting Canadians with the natural heritage in their national parks.
There is little evidence that this infrastructure-focused development is what Canadians want for their national parks. The survey the company conducted was not representative of the views of all Canadians, but focused primarily on bus tour customers.
As Canadians, residents of the national parks, and concerned taxpayers, we all have a voice in these issues. Let’s hope Ottawa will listen.
Friday December 16, 2011 is the last day for public comment on the Environmental Assessment
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2463/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8991
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Category 2:
Category 3:
message ID: 334083
Post On: December 15, 2011
Posted by User #: Chris Conway
Posted by IP:
message:
Monica's letter is a verbatim copy and paste from Brewster's website. It seems only fair to copy and paste the reasons to not support the walkway from the CPAWS website.
It states.....
AFTER REVIEWING THE PROPOSAL, CPAWS IS OPPOSED TO THE GLACIER DISCOVERY WALK FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
It would set a dangerous precedent for renewed commercial development in our mountain national parks. If this goes ahead, what will be next?
The long term impact on wildlife, including mountain goats and big horn sheep, cannot be predicted with confidence: there just isn’t enough data.
It would contravene Parks Canada’s own policy that says that “Only outdoor activities which promote the appreciation of a park's purpose and objectives, which respect the integrity of the ecosystem, and which call for a minimum of built facilities will be permitted.”(Parks Canada Guiding Principles and Operational Policy, section 4.1.3).
There is no evidence that this would meet the objective of connecting Canadians with the natural heritage in their national parks.
There is little evidence that this infrastructure-focused development is what Canadians want for their national parks. The survey the company conducted was not representative of the views of all Canadians, but focused primarily on bus tour customers.
As Canadians, residents of the national parks, and concerned taxpayers, we all have a voice in these issues. Let’s hope Ottawa will listen.
Friday December 16, 2011 is the last day for public comment on the Environmental Assessment
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2463/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8991