Just east of the Banff National Park boundary is a little-known Rocky Mountain landscape dotted with waterfalls and wildlife corridors known as the Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve. The province wants to reclassify the area as a provincial park, raising concerns among environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts that the change might harm the integrity of the habitat. “There’s less of an intent to protect the ecological values of that area,” said Ruiping Luo, who is a conservation specialist with Alberta Wilderness Association. Consolidation Alberta Parks wants to reclassify the area as a provincial park. “The changes are about taking the existing Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve, along with the existing Kootenay Plains Provincial Recreation Area and consolidating them together into a new Kootenay Plains Provincial Park,” said Robin Schmidt director of policy and planning parks division, Alberta Forestry and Parks. The proposal would take some of the ecological reserve’s riverbend and shore to create the Kootenay Plains Provincial Park. The province put forward the proposal on August 14. “It’s really just around supporting clear land management and aligning a designation with current use in a way that continues to balance conservation and recreation, in Indigenous considerations,” said Schmidt. “This is around aligning the classification both to the uses that happen there now but also ensuring that we have good visitor management use tools under the Provincial Parks Act to manage that high level of visitation that’s coming there now.” According to Schmidt, approximately 5,000 people visited the ecological reserve in 1996. By 2023, more than 34,000 people visited the same area. She also pointed out Alberta Parks would not be looking to add new facilities to the area. Losing protections The area is close to David Thompson Corridor along Highway 11, which attracts equestrian riders and mountain bikers. However, according to the Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve Fact Sheet, the two activities are not actually permitted in the area. The proposal to shift to a provincial park will allow for stronger sanctions for misuse of the area. “Under the Provincial Parks Act, for example, we have a stronger (set of) regulatory tools focused on high use visitation,” said Schmiidt. “If someone were to be, let’s say, mountain biking off a trail and they weren’t supposed to, they could be issued a fine.” She points to the fine as opposed to f a court summons which a biker would currently face. The move has garnered attention from groups like the Alberta Wilderness Association, which points to provincial parks having fewer protections, and likely more visitor recreation experiences compared to an ecological area. Luo fears for ungulate mammals the area is home to. “Our concern with this change is that we’re losing protections for an area that’s really valuable.” Schmidt says Alberta Parks’ current intent is to restrict facility development to the land currently in the provincial recreation area. The notice period for the changes ends October 14, before they are brought forward to cabinet later this fall. In 2018 the NDP government tried to add protections to the area, which was eventually scrapped when the UCP took power. Calgary-Buffalo MLA Joe Ceci, who was out hiking in the Kootenay Plains Ecological Reserve, said he hopes the area can be properly cared for. “It’s really a hidden gem in Alberta,” Ceci said. “The more we do to protect places like this for future generations, the better for Alberta, and Albertans will be.”
