To Protect for All Time:
The first national parks policy, produced in 1964, drew attention to the importance of protecting natural resources in the parks. The current Guiding Principles and Operational Policies emphasize that, in order to protect resources, natural ecological processes must be allowed to function in parks with minimal interference from people. The policy also provides a framework for the long-range planning of new parks and for the provision of quality visitor services and appropriate recreational opportunities. In 1986, a separate policy for national marine parks was approved. National parks are protected by federal legislation from all forms of extractive resource use such as mining, forestry, agriculture and sport hunting. Only activities consistent with the protection of park resources are allowed. Efforts are directed at maintaining the physical environment in as natural a state as possible. If this can be done by allowing natural ecological processes to function with minimal interference, the perpetuation of naturally evolving land and water environments and their associated species is assured. Under certain conditions, however, active manipulation of natural ecological processes does take place. Active manipulation is necessary if the balance of park ecosystems has been so altered by human activities that a natural environment cannot be restored through natural ecological processes, or if park visitors, facilities or neighboring lands are threatened. If active interference becomes necessary, techniques duplicate natural processes as closely as possible. Sport hunting is prohibited in national parks, but in most parks, sportfishing is permitted in designated areas. Many national parks, particularly in the north, are in areas in which First Nations continue to rely on natural resources and in which native cultures reflect a close relationship to the land. Traditional subsistence-level harvesting by First Nations continues in many national parks, subject to conservation of the resource and co-operative management approaches through management boards with strong representation by First Nations. The effective protection and management of national parks requires an intimate understanding of park resources, the ecological processes controlling and influencing them and the human impact influencing change in natural processes. Parks Canada has developed several tools to help achieve this understanding ? eg, the natural resource management process, the basic component of which is a comprehensive natural resources database, regularly updated for all parks. This information allows a park’s capabilities and limitations for visitor use to be evaluated, problems identified and specific plans for the protection of fragile resources or features made. National parks are also protected through the Environmental Impact Assessment and review process, which ensures that all the possible adverse effects of any project or activity proposed for lands or waters in national parks are identified and evaluated. Measures that can be taken to reduce impacts are identified or the project may be canceled if its impacts are deemed unacceptable.
Establishing New National Parks:
By 1970, 20 national parks had either been established or agreements leading towards their establishments had been signed. Up to that time, the national parks system was not developed in any systematic way; rather, it represented a collection of special places, created in some cases by political opportunism, accidents of geography or heroic efforts of dedicated citizens. They were also created for a variety of purposes (eg, to protect outstanding scenic areas, to provide regional recreation areas, to create wildlife sanctuaries, or to stimulate flagging economies in areas of chronic underemployment). There was no vision or long-term goal. This vision was provided in the early 1970s by the National Park System Plan. This document provided a guide to the development of a finite system of national parks using the principle of “representativeness.” It divides Canada into 39 national park natural regions. A natural region is an area containing a unique set of geological, biological and ecological characteristics. If you were blindfolded and kidnapped and taken away in an airplane and then set down somewhere in Canada, you should be able to tell which region you are in by the physiography of the land and the vegetation. The goal is to represent each natural region in the national parks system. By mid-1997, 24 natural regions were represented by the 38 national parks and national parks reserves (some natural regions include more than one park). Clearly, the park system is far from complete. Identifying, selecting and establishing new national parks can be a long and complex process. It involves 1) identifying areas that best represent a natural region; 2) selecting potential national park areas from this list; 3) assessing the feasibility of park establishment through consultation with the provincial or territorial government, local communities, First Nations, nongovernmental organizations, relevant industries, other federal government departments, the interested public and other stakeholders; 4) negotiating a new park agreement, and; 5) establishing a new park in legislation. Since 1985, the centennial of national parks in Canada, the following new national parks or national park reserves have been created: Ellesmere Island (reserve) (NWT), Vuntut (YT), Gwaii Haanas (BC), Aulavik (NWT), Bruce Peninsula (Ontario) and most recently, Wapsuk (Manitoba) and Tuktut Nogait (NWT). Lands have been set aside for the following future national parks: the east arm of Great Slave Lake (NWT) and Northern Baffin Island (NWT).
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11/13/99 The Economist OF FISH, TREES–AND NATIVES. Dateline: MONTREAL AND VANCOUVER.
First Nations in British Columbia: Introduction British Columbia Archives, Province of British Columbia.
MONTE HUMMEL, Environmental and Conservation Movements. , The 1998 Canadian Encyclopedia, 09-06-1997.
Marilyn Wood, Bill McRae, Herbert Bailey Livesey, Wayne Curtis, Anistatia R. Miller, Jared M. Brown, Introducing Canada: A Confederation of Provinces. , Frommer’s Canada, 01-01-1998.
Author not available, MULTICULTURALISM — BACKGROUND. , Canada and the World Backgrounder, 01-01-1998.
Parks, National (The 1998 Canadian Encyclopedia) MAX FINKELSTEIN; 09-06-1997.
MICHAEL S. SERRILL ALTON Reported by Lois Gilman,, SPECIAL REPORT: BY ALMOST ANY MEASURE, CANada is a fortunate country. With a huge. , Time International, 12-14-1992.
Author not available, CANADA’S NATIVES WIN ON LAND RIGHTS. , Xinhua News Agency, 12-12-1997.