Lake Louise

“We focused on the fulsome definition of sustainability in this project, thinking about social wellbeing, economic prosperity, and the protection of nature and environment,” said BLLT president and CEO Leslie Bruce during an open house at Banff Park Lodge Nov. 21.

“We heard very clearly from our Indigenous partners that Banff National Park in particular, being this iconic place that resonates across the country, has a responsibility to lead the way on this front,” said park superintendent Salman Rasheed.

Conditions are golden and preparations on schedule for the 2022 Lake Louise Alpine World Cup next week.

“Rescue is a partnership and we have a really healthy partnership in the national parks where we can lean on EMS and bring them into the response if needed. It’s not always possible, like if there’s very technical terrain or if there’s hazards present that we don’t feel we can manage to an acceptable level, we won’t.”

“They appear to have adapted quickly to the mountain habitat, and they remained, for the most part, within the park."

When we have more and more people in close access to our protected areas, whether Kananaskis or Banff or elsewhere – with good intent to home in on those locations – and if they’re not necessary experienced with interacting with wildlife it could lead to some unnecessary disturbance."

"When we start to see pressures then we need to act. It’s a case-by-case basis and it’s not going to get triggered at the same time at all places and the response is not going to be the same at all places."