Connecting Past and Present: Banff National Parks and Urbanization
November 21, 2022 By: Vanessa Butler
How Banff National Park is Once Again Catering to Tourists:
In the article ‘Climate action a priority for new Banff National Park plan’ Parks Canada, which was born from the Department of the Interior, is once again looking for ways to better help tourists navigate Banff National park. This is part of a management plan which will help to determine the direction of the park for the next 10 years. Conservation was originally created with the intention to make the best economic use of resources and to make sure there are resources for future generations. This article states, “Each maintains a commitment to protect the parks for future generations and has a new focus on climate change and Indigenous relations.” Although the idea of conserving the park for future generations is similar to that which was originally promoted by Gifford Sifton, this plan will be different in that it seeks to improve Indigenous Relations. This is in contrast to forcibly removing aboriginal people from the park in the name of conservation, as was outlined in the article “‘Let the line be drawn now’: Wilderness, Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada.” It is interesting to see how the management of Canada’s national parks has changed over the last 100 years.
Read the full article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/banff-national-park-climate-plan-1.6564407
How Urbanization Impacts Health and Cleanliness:
People living in urban cities in the mid 1800’s delt with roads that were covered in feces, manure, and garbage. The garbage provided food for hogs, which in turn provided food for humans. In addition, the manure and feces were sold to local farms, which became fertilizer for food for the people who lived in the cities. Although there were some benefits, some people complained of the health and cleanliness of the cities. People are once again having to consider the impacts of our refuse, and the impacts it has on people and the environment. In the article ‘B.C.’s 2021 floods a ‘toxic soup’ of fecal coliform, fuel and cocaine’, it highlights some of the toxic chemicals that now cover the ground after an atmospheric river and burst dykes flooded the Sumas Prairie in November of 2021. The chemicals include fecal coliform bacteria, pesticides, and illicit drugs, which raises concerns over what people are leaving on the ground and how this might affect humans, animals, and marine ecosystems.
Read the full article here: https://www.delta-optimist.com/local-news/bc-november-floods-toxic-contaminants-found-floodwater-6120026
Hi
Baff Park – Comment
Totally agree – tourism is a huge cash cow that is part of the service industry. Unfortunately not every tourist is environmentally conscientious and that is the rub…
Health and Cleanliness
We have forgotten the past and are doomed to repeat it ( George Santanya – intellectual, poet , philosopher etc. he is known for his critical realism and one of his greatest lines ( Those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it ). We all now trudge through dog feces that are NOT fertilizer !
Hi Vanessa,
Your post made me think of the swill children in our text book’s account of garbage problems in cities – would they become drug dealers in the modern age? But more seriously, I think your article makes one think of the impact on nature with human development; or should I say “should make one think”. We need to change how we use nature, to how we co-exist with nature. Respect counts and humanity is smart enough to co-exist if we only became more aware of our current impact.
Also, it would be good if the government did a follow up study on this new analysis. It found nothing untoward immediately after the flood, so why not follow through on this new research. It would be good if Optimist asked for a comment from government authorities and let its readers know.
Thanks for provoking my thoughts,
Richard
Hi Vanessa,
We had similar articles regarding National Parks in Canada. I too wrote about Banff and what is being doing to protect it, which for now is limiting the number of cars allowed in Moraine Lake. Your article about conserving and protecting the park for future generations is very relevant.
Being from BC, my heart sank when I heard of the floods of 2021. Aside from the immediate damage done, there are long term impacts from the floods like your 2nd article mentioned. It just goes to show that although we have vastly improved our technology, sanitation etc from the 19th and 20th centuries, we are not immune to mother nature.
Thank you Vanessa for your post and links to the articles. I enjoyed reading your thoughts and your connections to the Banff National Parks and Urbanization. I think it is interesting for many places that rely on tourism as the area’s main source of income as tourists typically don’t treat vacation places with as much respect as they do if they were full-time residents, and the land was their home. Regarding the Banff article, I agree with you that it is interesting to be able to see how the management of Canada’s national parks has changed over the last 100 years. Your topic of how urbanization impacts health and cleanliness made me think about the recent health issues with the waters in Vancouver, BC. Last summer when I was visiting with friends many of the beaches were closed off or had warnings of E. coli bacteria. It’s crazy to think that we have evolved so much as a society to have better working roads and infrastructure, but we cannot get a handle on the human side of contaminating our waterways. Your comments also make me think about my hometown which is basically surrounded by dikes if there was ever a burst or if the water levels continued to rise, I wonder what they would find people left on the ground and how that would also negatively be affecting us humans, animals and the local marine ecosystems.
Hi Vanessa,
I agree with your posting in regards to Banff Park. The current approach to conserve the park and protect them for future generations, whilst also taking into consideration climate change and indigenous relations, to me sounds like a positive shift towards more inclusivity and sustainable practices which differs from the past where such parks were focused on economic gain. Overall, this is the positive shift I like to see!
Rosie.