Parks brace for surge in tourism
EDMONTON — Parks Canada is preparing for an increase in visitors this year as people across the country and around the world request free annual passes to explore the nation’s natural treasures as part of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebration.
Conservationists say it is important for people to connect with nature, but there are concerns about how more tourists may affect the ecological integrity of some of the more popular parks.
Ben Gadd, a retired nature guide and author of “Handbook of the Canadian Rockies,” said he is worried about increased vehicle traffic.
“When you have that situation and animals trying to cross there are going to be more accidents, more animals killed.”
Gadd said he is also concerned about crowded attractions, trash and people feeding or getting too close to wildlife.
According to Parks Canada, more than 900,000 people ordered a free Discovery Pass in the first two weeks after they became available last month.
The government predicts visits to national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas will top last year’s attendance of about 24.5 million.
Eric Hebert-Daly, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, said the Parks Canada plan is a good idea in principle, but there are some dangers.
Some parks such as Banff, Jasper and the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario are already very busy. Adding more people could take away from their grandeur, he said.
“This may be the year where we realize just how overstretched some of these places are,” Hebert-Daly said.
On Dec. 1 so many people jumped online to get a free annual pass that the department’s computer system slowed to a crawl.
Ed Jager with Parks Canada said staff know they are in for a busy year.
Parks Canada is trying to take some heat off of more popular parks by promoting other, less-visited destinations.
The department has released a list of “ten hidden gems” across Canada for people to explore including the Mingan Archipelago National Park reserve in Quebec, L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site in Newfoundland and Labrador and Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan.
“We can’t actually love our parks to death — I think the death of our parks is when nobody wants to come to them and when they don’t care about them anymore,” he said.
While annual park passes are free in 2017, there are still fees for campsites, firewood and backcountry passes.