New park OK'd north of Waterton

A new provincial park will be established next to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, the government announced on Friday, adding another 250,000 acres to the Crown of the Continent’s protected areas.

The Castle Provincial Park is located north of Waterton Lakes in Alberta, covering the frontcountry of the already-protected Castle Wildland.

The official designation will take place this fall.

James Tweedie, president of the Castle-Crown Coalition, said Friday that the designation will protect a number of endangered species and the highest density of plant species found anywhere in Alberta.

“The north-to-south and east-to-west climate ecosystems make it a real hotspot,” Tweedie said. “That’s been identified since 1974, when it was recommended on the basis of its unique characteristics.”

Local landowners, businesses and the conservation community have been working on the designation for more than 40 years, according to Katie Morrison, conservation director for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

“It’s been a really long time coming, and is a really exciting announcement for that part of the world,” she said.

The existing wildland designation applies primarily to the high-elevation parts of the Castle area, and Morrison said the provincial park designation will drastically increase protected habitat for grizzly bears, bull trout, cutthroat trout and other threatened species.

“What the government has done today is to extend that protection to the important lowland areas, wetlands and riparian areas that are the most important for wildlife species and for water conservation,” Morrison said.

Tweedie said that previously, the government had designated the area a “special land use zone,” but Tweedie said it was effectively business as usual.

“There were wildlife protection and critical wildlife areas, but those had basically become permeable in the sense that nobody acknowledged them or used them as guidelines,” he said. “When we had oil and gas going into the prime protection, that basically made a complete fool of the designation.”

Canadian provincial parks differ from national parks, and Tweedie said the provinces will be able to allow certain uses — such as four-wheeler and snowmobile access — that would be out of the question in a national park.

The province is currently consulting with different groups and the public to determine rules for those uses. Motorized access may only be allowed on designated trails.

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached 758-4407 and swilson@dailyinterlake.com.