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Parks Planning Framework On the Wrong Track!

Currently, the Government of Alberta is rewriting the rules that will guide the way Provincial Parks and Protected Areas are created and managed into the future. CPAWS has been consulted on the draft Parks Planning Framework (PPF) and we are alarmed to find the ‘new’ PPF on the wrong track. Please help us get it back on track—by writing a short, personal letter to the Honourable Cindy Ady, Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation. The deadline for commenting on the draft PPF is October 10th.

THIS FATALLY FLAWED FRAMEWORK WILL HAVE EFFECTS THAT LAST FOR GENERATIONS. IT NEEDS FIXING, NOW!

While Minister Ady is to be commended for moving the long overdue PPF forward—and not waiting until the Government of Alberta’s Land-Use Framework is completed—the current draft takes Alberta in the wrong direction. Most shocking is the Plan’s failure to put the preservation of nature in Protected Areas ahead of recreation. This fundamental flaw is complemented by many others including the:

• Failure to commit to completing the province’s protected areas network;

• Failure to recognize the ecological need for new protected areas coupled with its failure to give the Parks Division a mandate for creating new protected areas;

• Failure to acknowledge the ecological need for large protected areas, ones which are legislatively buffered and connected; and its

• Failure to address the growing demand for protected areas recreation by increasing Alberta’s current short supply of parks and protected areas.

• Failure to reaffirm the Parks Division’s current Vision, Mission and Goals;

PLEASE HELP BY WRITING YOUR OWN SHORT LETTER TO MINISTER ADY.

Check out our letter writing guide (including addressses and phone numbers) or the sample letters for some points to consider when writing your letter to Minister Ady. Also check out CPAWS Northern Alberta's response to the Draft PPF.

Contact Information :

Please cc: your letter to Premier Stelmach and your MLA; and CPAWS.

Find your MLA: http://www.electionsalberta.ab.ca/streetkey/

Feel free to give the Minister or the Premier a call, even if you have written a letter. It is most likely you will speak to an aide, not the Minister/Premier. He or she will make a note of your position on the issue and thank you for your call.