The Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve is a tract of land owned by the government of Canadian province of Alberta (called "
Crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...
") along the eastern slopes and
foothills
Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...
of the
Albertan section of the
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...
. It is a long strip of land just east of the more famous
Canadian Rocky Mountain parks
The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site is located in the Canadian Rockies. It consists of seven contiguous parks including four national parks:
* Banff
*Jasper
* Kootenay
* Yoho
and three British Columbia provincial parks:
* Hamb ...
, which is managed for industrial and economic goals, rather than aesthetic and conservation goals as in the parks.
The area had been recommended for protection as early as 1896 when
S. Dennis, the chief inspector of surveys for
Department of the Interior, wrote a letter to the secretary of the department, stating that "the permanency of our water supply is largely dependent upon the preservation of the forests at present covering the watershed, and this protection can only be secured by prohibiting the cutting of the timber."
Surveyor
William Pearce was an early and influential advocate of preserving the region, and convinced the government to set aside a large part of the region from the agricultural settlement occurring elsewhere in the Canadian West. His continued efforts persuade the Canadian government, in 1902, to enlarge adjacent Rocky Mountain Park (later Banff National Park) to twice its modern size. The Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve was first created in 1910 by the federal government of Canada by
privy council order #939
to protect the
headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
of the rivers which supply most of the
Canadian prairies
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...
with fresh water. Since its inception the area has always been managed to allow industrial activity, particularly logging and mining, with must less importance placed on recreational or conservation uses, in contrast to the neighbouring national parks. Nevertheless, water has been a recurring theme, with the protection of the headwaters always being the stated priority of government agencies. A 1911 report on the area by the Department of the Interior describes it as
The size and shape of the reserve changed repeatedly and dramatically in its early years. In its original configuration in 1910 the forest reserve constituted two disconnected pieces of land, neither of which are part of the modern reserve: the more northerly part was north of
Jasper National Park
Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...
(today the Willmore Wilderness) and the southerly section was between Jasper Park and Rocky Mountain Park (today the northern third of
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...
). In 1911, Jasper and Rocky Mountain parks were reduced in size and the land transferred to the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve. The reserve was expanded eastwards in 1913. In 1917 Rocky Mountain Park and in 1927 Jasper Park were greatly expanded at the expense of the reserve. In 1929 and 1930, the park boundaries were adjusted slightly giving the
Kananaskis valley back to the reserve. With the passage of the ''
Alberta Natural Resources Act, 1930
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territ ...
'' management of the parks and reserve became separated as all public lands (outside of national parks and military bases) in Alberta were transferred from the federal to the provincial government, including the reserve.
Water management was still a shared responsibility until the 1970s, however.
In 1948, the province designated all of its forested lands the "Green Area", including the eastern slopes.
The provincial government did not enact legislation to formalize its management of the region as a forest reserve until the ''Forest Reserves Act'' of 1964, which provides "for the maintenance of water supply and the conservation of forests and other vegetation."
Since the provincial government acquired the reserve, its area has slowly been reduced as other land-use regimes have been established in various smaller parcels of the land, such as the
Willmore Wilderness Park
Willmore Wilderness Park, located in Alberta, Canada, is a wilderness area adjacent to Jasper National Park. It is lesser known and less visited than Jasper National Park. There are no public roads, bridges or buildings. There are, however, seve ...
established 1950s, the three strict wilderness areas (Ghost River, Siffleur, and White Goat) established in the 1960s, the
Kananaskis Country
Kananaskis Country is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The area is named for the Kananaskis River, which was named by John Palliser in 1858 after a Cree acquaintance. Cove ...
parks system established in the 1970s, and the numerous small parks and recreation areas along the
David Thompson corridor established over several decades. In 1979 the
McLean Creek watershed, along with the Ghost–Waiparous farther north, were designated Forest Land-Use Zones (FLUZes) where
off-road vehicles
An off-road vehicle, sometimes referred to as an overland or adventure vehicle, is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of off-roading, driving on and off Pavement (material), paved or gravel surface. It is generally characteri ...
(ORVs) are permitted, and since that time ORV use in the area has expanded dramatically, causing groups such as the Ghost River Watershed Alliance and the public at large to express concern about stream-bed erosion and other disturbances.
References
{{Reflist
Alberta's Rockies
Forests of the Rocky Mountains
Forests of Alberta
Land management
Hills of Alberta
Government of Alberta
Protected areas of the Rocky Mountains
Forest conservation
Protected areas of Alberta