Reconnection and reconciliation in Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks: Jasper National Park, Canada

Abstract

The cultural importance of a remarkable landscape Jasper National Park is the largest of Canada's southern mountain national parks at 11,228 km 2 and part of the UNESCO Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage site. It supports Rocky Mountain mammals, including caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, bighorn sheep and mountain goats. It protects the headwaters of several major rivers including the Athabasca, a Canadian Heritage River. It exemplifies the outstanding physical and biological features of the Rocky Mountain Biogeographical Province. The Burgess Shale Cambrian fossil site in Yoho National Park and the Precambrian fossil sites in Mount Robson Provincial Park contribute important information about the Earth's evolutionary history. Classic illustrations of glacial geological processes are evident throughout the site, including ice fields, remnant valley glaciers and exceptional examples of associated erosion and deposition features. The Canadian Rocky Mountains are renowned for their scenic splendour, which includes striking mountain vistas, glacial lakes, alpine meadows, vibrant local mountain culture and diverse sightseeing and recreational opportunities. More than 95 per cent of the site remains as undisturbed natural wilderness and there is a high measure of ecological integrity throughout, with strong legal protection, which contrasts significantly with the modified landscapes in other parts of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Jasper National Park hosts 2 million visitors annually. Jasper's Athabasca Valley bears evidence of 9,000 years of human use. Archaeology and oral histories confirm that the lands that are now Jasper National Park were crossroads and ‘commons’ shared by people of the forests, plains and mountains.