CONSERVATION AREA UNVEILED
Site honours memory of Jim Prentice
The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the province unveiled the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor on Friday, honouring the memory of the late former Alberta premier.
The five-kilometre corridor, which will link natural areas in an effort to re-establish connectivity for wildlife in the interior of the Rockies, is located in the Crowsnest Pass, between Crowsnest Lake and the town of Coleman.
It will connect Crown forest reserve lands in the north to the Castle parks network, as well as to Waterton Lakes National Park and Glacier National Park to the south.
“In a sense, this is Jim Prentice’s gift to nature,” said Larry Simpson, the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s associate vice-president for the Alberta region.
“Trying to connect the big walks of habitat that remain in the Rocky Mountains is really key, and the valleys that humans use to make their highway corridors often times create significant blockage for wildlife movement who want to go maybe north and south.”
The conservancy announced Friday it had secured a 55-hectare property, along with a commitment from the provincial government to ensure that seven sections of Crown land in the corridor will remain undeveloped, contributing to the larger conservation landscape. The province also kicked in $1 million toward the project.
Its completion will set the stage for future wildlife-crossing options, such as overpasses and fencing that will guide animals away from traffic and allow them to safely cross Highway 3, according to the conservancy, which is looking to raise an additional $5 million to secure the remaining private lands in the corridor.
“If you went back to 1870, the prairie region right from Banff through to Winnipeg had wildlife, lots of wildlife,” Simpson said. “But by the turn of the century, we were now working toward modern agriculture. Bison and bulls and bears and cougars were mostly pushed back into the foothills.
“Between the highway and the human activity … all these physical and human impediments have made it very difficult to sustain crossing in the interior of the Rockies of southwest Alberta across Highway 3.”
He said the Conservancy’s efforts to re-establish wildlife connectivity in the region began two decades ago, when it started investing in and acquiring lands along the corridor.
“When we take the province’s land and we add it in, and then we start talking to private landowners, over time we’re hopeful that this will be the place that we can re-establish connectivity in the interior of the Rockies for wildlife,” Simpson said.
The Crowsnest Pass was a special place for Prentice and his family, according to the conservancy, which said the region fostered “his love and respect for nature.”
“We are strongly behind this legacy project and cannot think of a better fit with what was important to Jim in his lifetime,” Prentice’s widow, Karen, said at the unveiling.
“It not only aligns with his past contributions to conservation initiatives, but it will have longlasting future impacts.”
She said that when the conservancy approached her about creating the corridor in Prentice’s name, she “immediately knew this was something Jim would have wanted to see happen.”
“I believe the first time I came to this beautiful part of Alberta was about 36 years ago,” Karen said.
“Jim brought me here not only to meet his parents, family members and friends, but to show me the magnificent place that he loved and felt connected to. Jim loved nature and he believed strongly in conservation.”
Prentice served as premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015 and previously held roles in former prime minister Stephen Harper’s federal cabinet, including as environment minister.
He and three others were killed in a B.C. plane crash in October 2016.
“Mr. Prentice loved his province. In the true spirit and commitment of public service, he worked tirelessly to protect it for the people of this province,” Premier Rachel Notley said. “All Albertans will benefit from this beautiful natural space, forever protected in his name.”