BOW VALLEY – A regional approach to addressing tourism in the Bow Valley could be in the cards.
Banff’s governance and finance committee directed Town staff to investigate the creation of a destination stewardship council to examine a regional visitor use management in the Bow Valley.
Town staff are directed to return by the end of the third quarter of 2025 with potential terms of references, a list of possible partners and budget implications.
“The intent of this destination stewardship council is to open communication channels so everyone can be informed and make public policy decisions based on the entirety of information available and look beyond our specific borders and boundaries. Let’s get out of our silos,” Coun. Grant Canning, who brought forward the motion, said.
“This is not new. This is not Earth-shattering. This is not threatening. This is not telling each other what to do. It is collaboration. It is information sharing. It is good public policy, good decision making and good governance.”
The stewardship council’s intent would be a regional collaboration between multiple jurisdictions and levels of government to create goals and objectives in addressing common issues faced by all involved.
The motion was linked to a separate one brought forward by Canning earlier in the meeting, where establishing a human use framework would be looked at for long-term goals and objectives in balancing visitor and resident experience in the townsite. Town staff are expected to return in the third quarter of 2025 with more information in creating an outline and with budget implications.
Canning said he’s had discussions with some people throughout the valley to gauge interest and heard positive responses, so when the time comes to further explore the next step his hope is others step forward.
“This isn’t about one person telling another person what to do. It’s rooted in sharing of information they’re already doing. I think that’s something I can’t stress enough. It’s about information sharing. It’s about talking with one another. … This is the type of format where that information can be shared. That is the hope. That is the intention. That is the direction where I hope this will go.”
Canning said a destination stewardship council is in areas of the United States such as Northern Colorado or called NoCo Places – a group of nine county, state and federal agencies – that meet monthly.
The region features Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and several ski resorts as well as being near a major city in Denver. The area takes on a similar shape to the Bow Valley, but with nearby populations about four times that locally.
A collaborative effort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming led by the superintendent of Grand Teton National Park has an advisory committee that meets monthly to discuss goals and issues. The Jackson Hole sustainable destination management plan indicates long-term goals for the region.
The Zion Regional Collaborative in southwestern Utah includes Zion National Park and neighbouring communities, which established visitor shuttles to help move visitors in and out of the national park.
“They all realize they have a greater chance of success when they work together,” Canning said.
“This regional collaborative approach is being done effectively in other areas that have similar issues to us. It can work for us as well.”
Though he highlighted it was key in working together, Canning emphasized one jurisdiction shouldn’t have a greater say than another in dictating terms.
“This is not about one partner telling another partner what to do. This is about open communication and sharing of ideas,” he said.
“We are all independent. But in an environment like ours, when decisions are made by one entity, it will have an impact on everyone else.”
Canning noted a Bow Valley interagency wildfire committee was established as a way to have multiple agencies and municipalities have regional planning and dialogue when it comes to wildfire risk.
He added a human-wildlife co-existence committee has existed for several years and similarly has multiple partners to work on concerns to mitigate impacts.
Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert said the concept is an interesting one that could benefit both the municipality, residents and regional partners, particularly when it comes to both short- and long-term collaboration.
“It’s very interesting. I think Canmore would be inclined to explore this idea as it’s fundamentally good for all stakeholders in the Bow Valley to understand what each other is doing and how it may impact each other. When we all operate from a common understanding, we’ll be better able to coordinate the implementation of various projects within our jurisdictions.”
Mayor Corrie DiManno highlighted Canning's examples where regional partners work with one another and how this could be a similar practice.
“I think this is another area where we obviously have a lot in common where we are impacting each other, so it makes sense to come together with an approach like this,” she said “It helps us look at the bigger picture in a couple of ways. One, that we look at human use management throughout the whole Bow Valley. Two, it sets up for success when we need to have those crunchier conversations and you’re not just coming forward with whatever the topic of the day may be.
“You’ve built in the framework to have that conversation. This sets us up for success in a number of ways.”
Coun. Chip Olver remembered a former regional transportation initiative that was an “incubator of ideas” and helped establish Roam. She further brought up working groups with wildlife corridors that led to greater emphasis on wildlife co-existence.
“I see these as incubator ideas and we’ll see very interesting and wonderful things in the future,” Olver said.
Coun. Kaylee Ram noted how council will frequently ask Town staff about information they’ve heard from other regional partners on certain issues. She added information and data is consistently being collected throughout the region, so another line of dialogue would be beneficial both in the short- and long-term.
“Assuming this all goes well, I think this is one of those times in 20 years where we think, ‘how did we not have this before?’,” she said.
Coun. Hugh Pettigrew asked Canning more specific information such as who may be involved and the level of council involvement, but Canning noted the first step was to gain more information first and then proceed.
He said Town staff can research how other destination stewardship council’s have been established and move forward in identifying partners, terms of reference and budget implications.
“The intention is to see if there’s an interest to moving this to the next step and in that next step is when that conversation would be had,” he said.
He highlighted the incorporation agreement between the Town and Parks Canada, emphasizing the townsite’s role of being a “centre for visitors to the park and to provide such visitors with accommodation and other goods and services.”
There are also shared agencies in the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission, Bow Valley Regional Housing and Bow Valley Waste Management Commission.
Krausert, who sits on the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission, highlighted the benefit such an organization has had for the four partners of the Town of Canmore, Town of Banff, Improvement District No. 9 and Parks Canada.
“Collaboration between neighbouring municipalities and other stakeholders is essential in getting best value for taxpayers," he said. "We see that in organizations such as Roam. There we have three municipalities along with Parks Canada working together to implement transit to the benefit of the entire region while sharing administrative costs.”
Canning added while municipal, provincial and federal borders exist for jurisdictional purposes, travellers to the region rarely distinguish the lines drawn on a map.
“Visitor movement does not distinguish between the Town of Banff and Banff National Park or even the communities outside the park,” he said.
He used a metaphor of a balloon in comparing visitation that if one point is pinched, it will go elsewhere.
“If you squeeze the balloon at one end, the balloon doesn’t deflate, the balloon bulges somewhere else,” Canning said.
He gave the example of potential changes to Lake Minnewanka loop having an impact on the Town of Banff, Canmore continuing to grow with development having an impact on Banff and the potential Banff to Calgary rail line impacting several communities in between.
In neighbouring Canmore, it often faces the unique crunch of being next to protected national and provincial parks. If people want to live on the Alberta side of the Rocky Mountains, Canmore serves as the main population centre.
With a need to reside dictating who can live in Banff, it means large amounts of the workforce for the visitor areas turn to Canmore. Additionally, Canmore has seen a spike in second homeownership – estimated to be about 26 per cent of residential homes – due to its proximity to the mountains that has exacerbated affordability and housing issues in the community.
“The Town of Canmore in many ways is a gateway community to Banff National Park. Many visitors stay in Canmore and travel into the national park,” Canning said. “This phenomenon will continue in greater numbers as our commercial development cap has been reached, visitation to the park increases, and Canmore continues to grow.”
Though a significant amount of work would have to take place in the coming years, Canning said the promise of what it could attain is worth exploring for improved regional partnerships.
“I think it’s a significant directional shift as we move forward on this,” Canning said.
