The Role of Banff National Park as a Protected Area in the Yellowstone to Yukon Mountain Corridor of Western North America

Abstract

Banff National Park is a mountainous area of the Canadian Rockies which forms part of the larger ecosystem running from Yellowstone to the Yukon. Recent research has demonstrated that to maintain wide-ranging species like grizzly bears and wolves, a landscape approach must be taken to ensure connections between populations. Like all Western North American national parks, Banff is subject to external stresses in its ecosystem. It is also subjected to internal stresses caused by intensive tourism infrastructure and the national transportation corridors which traverse it. The park’s ecology is now acknowledged by Parks Canada to be impaired. Public controversy over development in Banff National Park has existed for over 25 years. The controversy escalated to an international issue in 1993 when the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, a non-government organization, launched a campaign to halt further development in the park due to the proliferation of commercial development and decline in ecological integrity in Banff Park. The Minister of Canadian Heritage intervened and established a $2 million CAN Banff Bow Valley Study headed by a Task Force independent of Parks Canada. The Task Force was charged with studying the health of the park and finding an honourable solution to the issues facing it. The Task Force used a round table process in an effort to bring together the competing interests. The Banff Bow Valley Study reaffirmed Banff’s role and responsibilities as a national park. The diverse group of interests in the round table process agreed on a common vision for Banff’s Bow Valley. Goals for ecological integrity were agreed to which recognize Banff’s role as a protected area providing source populations of wildlife to the broader Yellowstone to Yukon corridor.