An outdoor education teacher is concerned parts of his program — and his family’s lifestyle — will be compromised with the UCP’s government’s announcement of the closure or partial closure of provincial parks and the elimination of maintaining cross-country ski trails in parts of Kananaskis Country.
“It is unfortunate because people had the foresight to put in infrastructure for Albertans to recreate in the mountains and that has been available for a long time,” said Steven Kotowich, Westmount School Outdoor Education instructor. “Now the current government is looking to have some cost cutting measures. It is going to impact a lot of people.”
The provincial government announced last week, 10 provincial parks will face partial closing in September (partial closing is park areas will be open to public access, but un-serviced). Another 10 provincial parks will be entirely closed to public access. As well cross-country ski trails will no longer be maintained at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Mount Shark Trail and the Kananaskis Village area.
The Westmount School outdoor program held an overnight cross-country ski trip in the Kananaskis Village area in 2019 — the future of such student excursions is in jeopardy.
“If they don’t have that groomed, I will have to look at another venue or else I am going to have to go out there and trail-blaze with the kids,” Kotowich said. “Now that it isn’t going to be groomed I am not sure what we are going to do.”
He said he moved to Alberta — from Manitoba — more than a decade ago because of the recreation opportunities in the Kananaskis natural playground for him and his family.
He questioned whether the government has looked at the long-term health benefits for Albertans by maintaining the parks and services.
Kotowich said rather than shut down grooming of trails and parks, an option may be to offer a seasonal pass for the facilities, such as what is done at national parks and the Canmore Nordic Centre.
He said he would be willing to pay a fee — but such a scenario would be an expense for the outdoor program.
In addition to the 20 closure or partial closures, the government wants to discontinue operation of 164 of the 473 provincial parks, opening the chance for them to be open to a third-party organization.
Some of the sites near the Okotoks area under consideration for a third-party partnership include Cataract Creek Provincial Recreation Area and Etherington Creek Provincial Recreation Area west of Longview. As well as Indian Graves Provincial Recreation Area south Of Longview.
Highwood MLA RJ Sigurdson said he has received emails concerning the park closures and the plan the UCP has moving forward.
“(But) we can’t ignore the fiscal situation that was left to us by the NDP government,” Sigurdson said. “Running a $60-billion debt with a $2-billion a year in debt servicing cost, makes it impossible for us to continue to have sustainable system within our government, including parks.
“Right now, we are trying to make changes that are as thoughtful and prudent as possible… divesting some of these parks and campgrounds is a reasonable approach to move forward and brings things more in line.”
The cost saving measures for the parks will save the government approximately $5-million. Alberta passed a $56-billion budget in late February.
“Any time you look at just one area it does look like a drop in the bucket,” Sigurdson said. “These changes, then you look across the board at all 21 different ministries, they all add up to a very large dollar amount in total.
“A very important key part to provide the services that we have today for future generations is to ensure we balance the budget by 2023. That means looking government wide that we are spending taxpayers’ dollars in the most efficient way possible.”
He stressed while some areas are being closed, the area represents just .3 per cent of the entire Alberta park system land base.
“We still do have a lot of areas, hiking trails, parking and camping, even more than B.C.” he said.
Matt Zazula, president of the Okotoks Fish and Game Association, said he was initially alarmed when Chain Lakes was on the list for partial closures — where the association holds many events.
Turns out it was the Chain Lakes Recreation Area near Athabasca, not the one south of Longview.
He said on second thought the association can understand the government’s action.
“I don’t know if it is a bad thing in theory,” Zazula said. “The 20 that they are closing and the 164 sites where the management of them might be turned over to other groups, a lot of them are such under utilized little sites, that maybe it doesn’t make sense for government to operate them. Maybe there is opportunity for someone else to take care of them on a more cost effective basis.”
However, the association does have some concerns.
“One is that public land remains public lands, that none of these sites are sold off to a private entity of any kind,” Zazula said. “That public lands remain public for all Albertans to enjoy.”
A second concern is that the facilities remain affordable. He would not like to see any day fees issued.
To see a list of the parks proposed to be closed and those being considered for third-party management go to https://albertaparks.ca/media/6496183/parks-impacted-list.pdf
