A new plan for Kootenay National Park calls for improvements to picnic spots, new trails and a new day-use area at the park’s northern entrance to encourage drivers travelling between Alberta and B.C to stop and take in the park.
Parks Canada officials say the draft Kootenay Area Plan has been developed to address ecological issues, visitor experience and education opportunities from the Continental Divide to Sinclair Pass.
“We did want to look at how to improve the experience for visitors, recognizing the highway was designed and built in a time when patterns of use were quite a bit different,” said Todd Keith, land use specialist for Kootenay National Park.
“Traffic volumes have gone up substantially and there’s a large component of fairly regular traffic back and forth from Alberta to the Columbia Valley. Is there a way to try and encourage some of that traffic to slow down, stop and connect with the park?”
Highway 93 South, a 104 kilometre, two-lane scenic highway stretching from Castle Junction to Radium Hot Springs, is a major transportation link between Alberta and the Columbia Valley.
The draft plan proposes development of a small new day use area on the west side of the highway near the B.C.-Alberta border to provide a sense of arrival for visitors entering the park from Alberta.
This site will include welcome and orientation information, interpretive exhibits and photo opportunities at the British Columbia and Kootenay National Park welcome signs.
Other recommendations in the plan include:
• Relocate Sir George Simpson Monument and the Wardle Creek Picnic site to the Simpson River trailhead, where a short strolling opportunity along the river is also proposed.
• Decommission the Dolly Varden day-use area, and create a new day-use area at Crooks Meadows that will provide a trailhead for the Dolly Varden trail and new interpretation on road ecology, terrestrial and aquatic habitat connectivity, and wildlife mortality mitigation efforts.
• Relocate the McLeod Meadows picnic site and Dog Lake trailhead to the McLeod Meadows campground, where a formal river access for paddlers is also proposed.
• Relocate the James B. Harkin plaque to the Kootenay River day use area, where a formal river access for paddlers and a short strolling trail to the Nixon Creek aquatic restoration site are also on the discussion table.
• Improve the Kootenay Crossing day-use area to provide a more welcoming trailhead with greater separation from the Parks Canada operations base. The nearby exhibit on the construction history of the Banff-Windermere Highway will also be relocated to this facility.
Keith said there is not a specific pot of money attached to this plan.
“It provides an integrated picture of what we can do and then we will tackle it in pieces as resources permit,” he said. “We would assess on an annual basis when we’re doing the work plan for the park and see what we could accomplish for the plan.”
Aquatic restoration is part of the long-term plan, particularly making sure fish can get through culverts under the highway. Controlling invasive noxious weeds is also to be addressed.
A key part of the plan also addresses the ecological effects of the highway which, with 5,000 vehicles a day passing through on a typical summer day, sees an average of about 50 animals killed each year.
From 2001 to 2010, 494 animals were killed on the deadly stretch of highway in Kootenay, but Parks Canada says many more animals are struck by vehicles and never found.
The death toll over the last decade includes 14 black bears, two grizzlies, 12 coyotes, 361 deer, 15 elk, two mountain goats, one lynx, 68 moose, one red fox, 13 bighorn sheep and five wolves.
Initially, Parks plans were to construct about three kilometres of fencing in a wildlife mortality hotspot north of Dolly Varden and build at least one, perhaps two, underpasses to allow animals safe passage across the road.
Two years ago, the federal government announced $5.1 million in funding for the project and, while $450,000 worth of preliminary work has been done, the project is on hold this year because of budget constraints.
The bulk of the funding, $4.6 million, is now slated for 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 for engineering and construction, vegetation management, wildlife monitoring, environmental and archaeological assessments.
Monica Andreeff, executive director for the Association for Mountain Parks Protection and Enjoyment (AMPPE), said, in general, she supports the area plan, including improving facilities.
However, she said, it’s a shame the plan fails to talk about private-public partnerships, whereby volunteers such as hiking or biking clubs could adopt a day-use area.
“Because of fiscal restraint, Parks Canada has said they want to identify more opportunities for public-private partnerships and this is a great opportunity to engage with people, but I don’t see that in the plan,” she said.
“I’m not saying getting involved cleaning toilets or stacking firewood… but a public-private partnership where they’re engaging volunteers to be ambassadors or guardians.”
Andreeff said there also needs to be clearer timelines and deadlines for implementing the plan.
“It says as resources permit. What does that mean? Ten years or five years?” she said.
“Let’s stop talking about visitor experience and do something about it that visitors can notice. In general terms, we like the direction, but where is the delivery?”
To provide comments, contact Keith at 250-343-6101 or email [email protected]
