The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the union of

Waterton Lakes National Park Waterton Lakes National Park is a national park located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada. It borders Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Waterton was the fourth Canadian national park, formed in 1895 and named after Waterto ...

in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States. Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site.

History

Formation

The union of the Waterton Lakes National Park and the Glacier National Park is attributed to a number of individuals throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early proponents of a borderless international park include Canadian George "Kootenay" Brown, a long-time settler and first forest ranger-in-charge of Waterton, and American Albert Henry “Death-on-the-Trail” Reynolds, an early ranger of the northern portion of Glacier. The Cardston, Alberta and Montana Rotary Clubs would play a significant role in the Park's establishment, holding a joint meeting at the

Prince of Wales Hotel The Prince of Wales Hotel is a historic hotel located in Waterton, Alberta, Canada. It is situated within Waterton Lakes National Park, overlooking Upper Waterton Lakes. It was designed by and built for the Great Northern Railway company. It is ...

on July 4–5, 1931 which led to a resolution drafted by Samuel H. Middleton, calling on both groups to petition the proper authorities for the establishment of the Peace Park. An agreement was subsequently negotiated by Canadian

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

John Smith Stewart, Member of Parliament for

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

and American

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

from Montana

Scott Leavitt Scott Leavitt (June 16, 1879 – October 19, 1966) was a U.S. Representative from Montana. He served as chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs. Early life Scott Leavitt was born in Elk Rapids, Michigan in 1879 to Roswell Leavitt, a ...

. The

72nd United States Congress The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931 ...

would pass ''An Act to establish Waterton Glacier International Peace Park'' on December 8, 1931, and be approved by the United States Senate in March 1932. The Canadian federal government decided to wait until after the United States government had passed a bill in order to act, and the Canadian bill was further delayed by protests of proponents of the International Peace Garden between Manitoba and North Dakota. Finally, John Stewart's ''Act respecting the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park'' was passed by Parliament, and given Royal Assent on May 26, 1932. The union of the parks was achieved through the efforts of Rotary International members from Alberta and Montana, on June 18, 1932, at

Glacier Park Lodge Glacier Park Lodge is located just outside the boundaries of Glacier National Park in the village of East Glacier Park, Montana, United States. The lodge was built in 1913 by the Glacier Park Company, a subsidiary of the Great Northern Railw ...

. The dedication address was given by Sir

Charles Arthur Mander Sir Charles Arthur Mander, 2nd Baronet JP, DL, TD (25 June 1884 – 25 January 1951) was a public servant, philanthropist, and manufacturer, as managing director of Mander Brothers, the family paint, varnish and inks business established in 1 ...

, 2nd Baronet. The ceremony for the Canadian side would be delayed by the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and would finally take place in July 1936, with Lieutenant Governor of Alberta

William L. Walsh William Legh Walsh (January 28, 1857 – January 13, 1938) was a Canadian lawyer and judge. He served as the List of lieutenant governors of Alberta, fourth lieutenant governor of Alberta from 1931 to 1936. Walsh was born in that portion of th ...

overseeing the ceremony and dedicating a

cairn A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...

for conservation advocate Kootenay Brown.

Later history

The two parks are administered separately and have separate entrance fees. In 2007, the

International Dark-Sky Association The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) is a United States-based non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician/amateur astronomer. The mission of the IDA is " ...

named Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park the International Dark-Sky Park.

Border crossing

The Chief Mountain Border Crossing, reached by

Montana Highway 17 Montana Highway 17 (MT 17) is a highway near the Canada–United States border. The highway begins at the Chief Mountain Border Station and Quarters where it continues north into Alberta as Highway 6. The highway winds to the southeast a ...

from the American side and by

Alberta Highway 6 Alberta Provincial Highway No. 6, commonly referred to as Highway 6, is a north-south highway in southern Alberta, Canada. It spans approximately from Alberta's border with Montana to Highway 3 (Crowsnest Highway). Highway&nbs ...

from the Canadian side, is the only road border crossing within the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. It is one of only two on the US-Canada border that are closed in winter (

Poker Creek - Little Gold Creek Border Crossing Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

is the other).

References

Citations

Works cited

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External links

UNESCO World Heritage Site Entry
{{Authority control Glacier National Park (U.S.) History of the Rocky Mountains Parks in Alberta Peace parks Transboundary protected areas Waterton Lakes National Park World Heritage Sites in the United States World Heritage Sites in Canada 1932 establishments in Montana 1932 establishments in Alberta Protected areas established in 1932