National Park System Plan 39 38 10 9 37 36 26 8 11 15 16 6 7 25 17 24 28 23 5 21 1 12 3 22 35 34 29 c 27 30 32 4 18 20 2 13 14 19 c 33 31 19 a 19 b 29 b 29 a Introduction to Status of Planning for National Park System Plan Natural Regions Canadian HeritagePatrimoine canadien Parks Canada Parcs Canada Canada Introduction To protect for all time representa- The federal government is committed to tive natural areas of Canadian sig- implement the concept of sustainable de- nificance in a system of national parks, velopment. This concept holds that human to encourage public understanding, economic development must be compatible appreciation and enjoyment of this with the long-term maintenance of natural natural heritage so as to leave it ecosystems and life support processes. A unimpaired for future generations. strategy to implement sustainable develop- ment requires not only the careful manage- Parks Canada Objective ment of those lands, waters and resources for National Parks that are exploited to support our economy, but also the protection and presentation of our most important natural and cultural ar- eas. Protected areas contribute directly to the conservation of biological diversity and, therefore, to Canada's national strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Our system of national parks and national historic sites is one of the nation's - indeed the world's - greatest treasures. It also rep- resents a key resource for the tourism in- dustry in Canada, attracting both domestic and foreign visitors. The federal govern- ment is committed to passing on this price- less legacy not only intact, but expanded and improved. Parks Canada is the federal agency, within the Department of Canadian Fundy National Park Heritage, with responsibility for national parks, as well as national historic sites and national marine conservation areas. CANADA'S NATIONAL HERITAGE As Canadians, we are increasingly concerned about the environment that will be inherit- ed by our children. In a world of rapid change, our parks, historic sites and marine conser- vation areas are seen as models of environ- mental stewardship and as an important legacy to be preserved for future generations. They represent one of the most positive, tangible and enduring demonstrations of the federal government's commitment to the environ- ment. Grasslands National Park Introduction OUR NATIONAL PARKS commercial re- source extraction National parks protect natural environments and sport hunting representative of Canada’s natural heritage. are not permitted. These special places are gateways to nature, But these are not to adventure, to discovery, to solitude. They merely nature celebrate the beauty and infinite variety of sanctuaries pre- our country. Protected and preserved for all served and locked Canadians and for the world, each is a away; they are sanctuary in which nature is allowed to evolve places where in its own way, as it has done since the people of all ages dawn of time. Each provides a haven, not are invited to ex- only for plants and animals, but also for the perience the human spirit. A place to wander… to outdoors and to wonder…to discover yourself. learn about the Pacific Rim National Park natural environ- Canada’s first national park was created over ment. 100 years ago at Banff. Our goal is to estab- lish a system of national parks that repre- The vision began, albeit a much different sents each of Canada’s distinct natural re- vision then, in 1885 when the federal gov- gions. This system is just over ernment reserved “from sale or settlement 60% completed. or squatting” 26 square kilometres around the hot mineral springs near what is now The purpose of this report is the town of Banff, Alberta. Two workers to familiarize the reader with constructing the transcontinental railway in the 39 terrestrial national park this area had discovered the hot springs natural regions of Canada flowing from a mountainside near the rail- (Map 1), to identify regions way station. Various conflicting claims were presently represented by na- brought to the attention of the Government tional parks, and to introduce of Canada. Rather than grant the privilege those regions not yet represented by national of developing the hot springs to private in- parks. The overall status of completion of dividuals, the government of Sir John A. the national parks system is shown on Map 2. More detail is provided in the descrip- tions of the natural regions. IT STARTED AT BANFF… National parks are part of a grand vision to preserve examples of the diversity of our land and of the life that is an integral part of it. They are strictly protected areas where Banff National Park, 1887 Introduction tablished, but not according to any real system. They represented, rather, a collec- tion of special places, created in some cases by heroic efforts, accidents of geography or political opportunism that had been set aside for a variety of purposes - to protect scen- ery for national and international tourist resorts, to provide regional recreation ar- eas, to create sanctuaries for wildlife, to stimulate flagging economies in areas of chronic underemployment…. There was no Point Pelee National Park vision or long-term goal for a system of na- MacDonald decided instead to retain the hot tional parks. springs and surrounding lands as a national treasure. The Order-in Council, signed two weeks after the driving of the famous last A SYSTEM PLAN FOR NATIONAL spike that marked the completion of the PARKS Canadian Pacific transcontinental railway, signalled the birth of Banff National Park This vision was provided by a national parks (then known as Rocky Mountains National system plan devised in the early 1970s. Its Park) and what was to become a system of fundamental principle was to protect a rep- national parks across Canada. resentative sample of each of Canada’s landscapes. In order to guide the develop- Two years later, in 1887, the Rocky Moun- ment of a finite system of national parks us- tains Park Act officially set aside the Banff ing this principle of “representativeness”, Hot Springs Reserve, enlarged to 405 square Canada was divided into 39 distinct “Na- kilometres, as a “public park and pleasure ground for the benefit, advantage and en- joyment of the people of Canada.” By 1911, five national parks in the Rocky and Selkirk mountains had been created. Meanwhile, in the east, other parks were being established, again on federal lands. St. Lawrence Islands National Park was created in 1904 with the reservation of nine islands. Point Pelee was established in 1918 and Georgian Bay Islands in 1929. From 1930 to 1970, attention turned to Atlantic Cana- da, where five national parks were estab- lished by agreement with the provinces for the transfer of those lands to the federal government. Up to 1970, 20 national parks had been es- Point Pelee National Park Introduction tional Park Natural Regions” based on (the nada; and when the system is complete they appearance of the land) and vegetation. The will likely cover about 3 percent. Work to- goal of the System Plan is to represent each wards completion of the national parks sys- natural region in the national parks system. tem by the year 2000 continues to be a pri- This approach has provided a policy frame- ority for Parks Canada. This means that by work as well as a the turn of the goal which has century national guided the expan- park agreements sion of the national should be in place parks system since to represent each that time. natural region or, as a minimum, lands When the system is should be set aside complete, future for a future park. generations will be able to experience in National parks are our national parks not the only pro- the biophysical di- tected natural areas versity of Canada - in Canada. They are St.Croix Canadian Heritage River examples of the part of a broader Pacific coast, the Rockies, the prairie grass- family of Canadian heritage lands that in- lands, the boreal plains, the tundra hills, cludes provincial and territorial parks, wil- the Precambrian shield, the Arctic Islands, dlife areas, heritage rivers, regional parks, the Atlantic coast and each of the other dis- ecological reserves and lands under private tinctive natural regions that define our stewardship. The international significance landscape and shape our history. of some of these has been recognised through their designation as World Heritage Sites or To date, 24 natural regions are represented Biosphere Reserves. But national parks oc- by the 38 national parks and national park cupy a special place among our heritage lands reserves in the system (several natural re- as the system protected for the benefit, ed- gions, including the Rocky Mountains, con- ucation and enjoyment of all Canadians un- tain more than one national park). There der legislation of the Parliament of Canada. are also 4 additional natural regions where lands have been reserved specifically for fu- ture national parks. In these reserved ar- HOW ARE NEW NATIONAL PARKS eas, interim protection measures are applied ESTABLISHED? pending the negotiation of final park estab- lishment agreements. National parks are a special type of public lands administered by the federal govern- The gaps in the system are in the North- ment under the provisions of the National west Territories, Quebec, Labrador, Manito- Parks Act. Identifying, selecting and estab- ba and British Columbia. National parks lishing new national parks can be a long currently occupy about 2.25 percent of Ca-