Environmental groups were crowing Wednesday as Parks Canada rolled up the proposed $80-plus-million Icefields Trail and shelved it.
The money set aside in the 2016 budget for a 109-kilometre biking and walking trail running following Highway 93 south from Jasper will be reallocated to other agency priorities, according to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
“The Government of Canada is helping preserve our national parks for generations to come,” Minister Catherine McKenna said in a press release. “We will keep listening to Canadians, and working with them to protect our natural heritage across the country.”
Preliminary feedback from the consultation process expressed concerns over the potential environmental impact and high cost associated with the project, the press release read. Details on where the money would land will come "in the near future."
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) applauded the decision.
“Today the minister has shown that she is taking her government’s commitment to limit inappropriate development in national parks seriously and is listening to Canadians who consistently ask that our national parks be treated with respect and given the protection they deserve,” Kecia Kerr, executive director of CPAWS Northern Alberta chapter said. “We applaud the minister’s decision not to proceed with this new paved trail, which would have cost endangered wildlife like caribou their homes, and Canadians over $100 million dollars.”
CPAWS argued from the beginning the trail corridor would fragment and destroy critical habitat for endangered caribou and other species-at-risk like grizzly bears and migratory birds contravening Parks Canada’s legal obligation to protect at-risk species.
“The trail proposal was inconsistent with the federal government’s promise to limit development in our national parks, and their legal obligation to prioritize ecological integrity above all else in national park management.”
Alberta Wildlife Association conservation specialist Ian Urquhart congratulated Parks.
“We hope this announcement signals a shift from Parks Canada to seriously refocus on its mandate within the national parks, which is to enhance and maintain ecological integrity,” he said, adding the trail budget should be instead spent on improving Jasper’s ecological integrity, “devoting these funds to strengthen conservation, scientific research, backcountry trail maintenance and interpretive services.”
