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Foreword

From coast to coast to coast, national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas are a source of shared pride for Canadians. They reflect Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and tell stories of who we are, including the historic and contemporary contributions of Indigenous peoples.

These cherished places are a priority for the Government of Canada. We are committed to protecting natural and cultural heritage, expanding the system of protected places, and contributing to the recovery of species at risk.

At the same time, we continue to offer new and innovative visitor and outreach programs and activities to ensure that more Canadians can experience these iconic destinations and learn about history, culture and the environment.

In collaboration with Indigenous communities and key partners, Parks Canada conserves and protects national historic sites and national parks; enables people to discover and connect with history and nature; and helps sustain the economic value of these places for local and regional communities.

This new management plan for Jasper National Park of Canada supports this vision.

Management plans are developed by a dedicated team at Parks Canada through extensive consultation and input from Indigenous partners, other partners and stakeholders, local communities, as well as visitors past and present. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this plan for their commitment and spirit of cooperation.

As the Minister responsible for Parks Canada, I applaud this collaborative effort and I am pleased to approve the Jasper National Park of Canada Management Plan.

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Recommendations

Recommended by:

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Executive summary

This management plan sets the strategic direction for Jasper National Park for the next ten years. It replaces the 2010 management plan, and provides updated direction consistent with the mandate of Parks Canada and the commitment to stewardship of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site. Indigenous partners, stakeholder groups and the public were consulted on this management plan and helped shape the future direction of the national park.

Established in 1907, Jasper National Park is the largest and most northerly of the Canadian Rocky Mountain national parks. The park spans 11,228 square kilometres of broad valleys, rugged mountains, glaciers, vast forests, alpine meadows and wild rivers along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Iconic wildlife like grizzly bears, caribou, wolverines, and mountain goats are integral parts of this landscape.

This plan charts the course for Parks Canada to continue to protect this unique ecosystem in the face of ongoing and emerging challenges, including the threats of climate change, invasive species and diseases, and habitat change outside park boundaries. The plan also identifies approaches to protect and present cultural resources in ways that respect their diverse origins and their significance.

This plan acknowledges the vital role and knowledge that Indigenous peoples have on the landscape and presents strategies for how Parks Canada will work together with Anishinabe, Dene-zaa, Nehiyawak, Secwépemc, Stoney Nakoda, and Métis partners in park management. Parks Canada will seek to facilitate Indigenous partners’ reconnection with traditionally used lands and waters, create platforms for their voices to share their cultures, histories, and knowledges and increase their participation in initiatives to protect and care for park lands.

Jasper National Park receives millions of visitors each year. This plan sets out a strategy to facilitate sustainable, high-quality visitor experiences that are rooted in the park’s distinctive nature and culture. This plan also identifies approaches to foster respectful and responsible use of the park, as well as the long-term support of undisturbed wilderness.

This plan includes six key strategies, which together outline how Parks Canada will achieve the vision presented in section 5. Detailed direction for two management areas, the Community of Jasper and the Tonquin Valley, is also provided. The plan presents detailed objectives and targets to guide park management and decision making for each key strategy and management area. The key strategies of this plan are:

1. Conserving Natural and Cultural Heritage for Future Generations;
2. True-to-Place Experiences;
3. Strengthening Indigenous Relations;
4. Connect, Collaborate and Learn Together;
5. Managing Development; and
6. Climate Change and Adaptation.

The plan concludes with a summary of the strategic environmental assessment completed on this plan. This assessment examined the potential environmental effects of implementation of the direction in the management plan, with a focus on potential cumulative effects. The assessment determined that the implementation of the strategies, objectives and actions of the plan will have positive environmental effects over the life of the plan and no important negative environmental effects are anticipated.

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1.0 Introduction

Parks Canada administers one of the finest and most extensive systems of protected natural and historic places in the world. The Agency’s mandate is to protect and present these places for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations. Future-oriented, strategic management of each national historic site, national park, national marine conservation area and heritage canal administered by Parks Canada supports the Agency’s vision:

Canada’s treasured natural and historic places will be a living legacy, connecting hearts and minds to a stronger, deeper understanding of the very essence of Canada.

The Canada National Parks Act and the Parks Canada Agency Act require Parks Canada to prepare a management plan for each national park. The Jasper National Park of Canada Management Plan, once approved by the Minister responsible for Parks Canada and tabled in Parliament, ensures Parks Canada’s accountability to Canadians, outlining how park management will achieve measurable results in support of the Agency’s mandate.

Indigenous peoples are important partners in the stewardship of Jasper National Park, with connections to the lands and waters since time immemorial. Indigenous peoples, stakeholders, partners and the Canadian public were involved in the preparation of the management plan, helping to shape the future direction of the national park. The plan sets clear, strategic direction for the management and operation of Jasper National Park by articulating a vision, key strategies and objectives. Parks Canada will report annually on progress toward achieving the plan objectives and will review the plan every ten years or sooner if required.

This plan is not an end in and of itself. Parks Canada will maintain an open dialogue on the implementation of the management plan, to ensure that it remains relevant and meaningful. The plan will serve as the focus for ongoing engagement, and, where appropriate, consultation, on the management of Jasper National Park in years to come.

2.0 Significance of Jasper National Park

Long before Jasper was established as a national park, First Nations and Métis peoples lived and made their home on these lands. Some lived in the region year-round, while others came to the area on a seasonal basis for harvest, ceremony, travel or trade.

The park was established in 1907. Shortly thereafter, Indigenous peoples were forcibly removed and excluded from park boundaries, as colonial government policies at the time considered Indigenous peoples to be incompatible with park establishment. Other Government of Canada policies—including restrictions on hunting and gathering, restrictions on leaving reserves, prohibitions on cultural practices and ceremonies and removal of children to residential schools—further prevented Indigenous peoples from travelling through, harvesting and exercising cultural practices in what is now the park. These government practices and policies disconnected Indigenous peoples from their traditionally used lands and waters and caused significant negative impacts to their communities that persist to this day.

Today, Jasper National Park spans 11,228 square kilometres of broad valleys, rugged mountains, glaciers, vast forests, alpine meadows and wild rivers along the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, making it the largest and most northerly Canadian national park in the Rocky Mountains.

A transcontinental railway and the Trans-Canada Highway now traverse Jasper’s mountains through the Yellowhead Pass, following a route once used by Indigenous peoples, explorers and fur traders. The community of Jasper has grown from a railway divisional point to a vibrant visitor centre home to nearly 5,000 people, and campgrounds, lodges, and hotels have replaced horse outfitter camps. Where they were once excluded, Jasper National Park now works together with Anishinabe, Dene-zaa, Nehiyawak, Secwépemc, Stoney Nakoda, and Métis partners to facilitate reconnection to their traditional lands in a spirit of reconciliation.

Jasper is the second most visited national park in the Parks Canada system, supporting a diverse array of sightseeing and recreational opportunities, while maintaining 97 percent of the park as wilderness with little or no development. As a core protected area in the Yellowstone to Yukon corridor of wild lands and waters, Jasper’s importance extends well beyond the park boundary.

Jasper National Park includes the following distinctive natural and cultural characteristics:

• The stunning scenery of the Rocky Mountains natural region shaped by the ancient geological processes of mountain formation and the power of water and ice;
• Fast-flowing braided rivers and glacier-fed lakes that form three major river systems: the Athabasca, North Saskatchewan and Peace watersheds;
• Expansive subalpine forests, alpine meadows and a diversity of montane habitats, including aspen stands, montane grasslands and open Douglas fir forests;
• Many of North America’s largest land mammals and icons of the Canadian West like the grizzly bear and elk;
• Natural processes, such as wildfires and avalanches, that help to create and maintain the range of terrestrial and aquatic habitats that support a diversity of life;
• Before the park’s creation, Indigenous peoples considered Jasper home, and continue to consider it a place of lasting significance;
• Indigenous relationships to the land expressed through traditional and contemporary cultural practices; and
• Tangible historical evidence on the landscape of Indigenous presence, European settlement and nation-building, early tourism development and evolving conservation management, including early camps, Métis homesteads, abandoned railway grades, heritage buildings, old trail networks, and archaeological objects.

Jasper’s national and international recognitions and designations include:

• In 1990, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed Jasper, Banff, Kootenay and Yoho national parks, and Mount Robson, Hamber and Assiniboine provincial parks as the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site for their exceptional natural beauty and classic representation of significant and ongoing geological processes.
• Five sites associated with the fur trade, national transportation corridors and the early development of tourism are designated as national historic sites and are part of the park’s unique story:
  • Athabasca Pass National Historic Site;
  • Jasper House National Historic Site;
  • Jasper Park Information Centre National Historic Site;
  • Maligne Lake Chalet and Guest House National Historic Site; and
  • Yellowhead Pass National Historic Site.
• The Athabasca River was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1989 for its outstanding natural, cultural and recreational values.
• Jasper National Park was designated a Dark-Sky Preserve in 2011.

3.0 Planning context

This plan provides strategic direction for Jasper National Park, building on the foundation of previous management plans approved in 1988, 2000 and 2010. The condition of many of Jasper National Park’s natural and cultural resources and program activities was reported in the 2018 Jasper National Park State of the Park Assessment.

This plan identifies a future direction for park management. It is not intended to capture or reiterate existing operations, legal commitments or protocols. Park operations and management are guided by a suite of acts, regulations and policies, including but not limited to this plan, the Canada National Parks Act, the Impact Assessment Act, and the Species at Risk Act.

Ecological integrity

As stipulated under the Canada National Parks Act, maintaining or restoring ecological integrity is the first priority in park management.

Parks Canada’s ecological integrity monitoring program assesses the condition of ecosystem components and processes, and the effectiveness of management actions. Monitoring of vulnerable species, like amphibians, can also help to identify new stressors or threats that can impact biodiversity. Data from Parks Canada’s monitoring programs is available to the public through the federal government’s Open Data portal.

From 2010–2020, nine species occurring in Jasper National Park were listed on Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act. Recovery strategies and action plans are prepared for all threatened and endangered species at risk occurring in the park; these plans and strategies identify conservation measures necessary for the recovery of the species, from habitat restoration to construction mitigations.

The southern mountain population of woodland caribou is an iconic species at risk, which has continued to decline in the park despite conservation actions to address threats to its survival. As of 2020, the Tonquin and Brazeau herds in southern Jasper were at imminent risk of dying out due to their small numbers and the À La Pêche herd in northern Jasper was stable. The Maligne herd had ten or less animals for nearly 15 years and was determined extirpated in 2020.

Managing and adapting to the impacts of climate change represents a significant challenge. Climate change is exacerbating the spread of invasive species and diseases and impacts are expected to worsen in coming years. A mountain pine beetle infestation has brought significant change to forests in Alberta, including Jasper National Park, with consequences for wildfire risk, public safety, infrastructure management and long-term forest succession. White pine blister rust and invasive plants are already threatening terrestrial species and ecosystems in the park; new threats, such as whirling disease, zebra and quagga mussels, and chronic wasting disease are expanding their ranges toward the park.

The effects of climate change are expected to be most visible in Jasper through glacial retreat, change in the composition and structure of high elevation forests, reduction in alpine meadow habitat, and changes in the distribution and composition of vegetation and wildlife species, including the expansion of invasive species. Many species are likely to be affected by climate change, including grizzly bears, caribou, birds and fish.

Resiliency is used as a guiding principle in conservation efforts, to maintain or improve the ability of ecosystems to adapt to climate change, invasive species, and other potential stressors.

Cultural resources

Jasper National Park protects a wide array of cultural resources, including approximately 700 archaeological sites covering both the pre-contact and post-contact periods, sites of deep significance to First Nations and Métis peoples, and 37 federally listed heritage buildings, the majority of which are in stable condition. Most of the approximately 35,000 artifacts linked to the park are held in Parks Canada collections outside the park. The Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives also maintains an important collection and welcomes the public to its permanent and temporary exhibits. Jasper National Park recognizes and respects that there are also archaeological and other significant sites within park boundaries known only to local First Nations and Métis partners.

Cultural resources are protected through national park regulations, a national policy framework and the impact assessment process. A park Cultural Resource Management Strategy (2017) sets priorities for Parks Canada’s work to manage these resources. Each of the park’s five national historic sites has its own management statement, which provides guidance for the management of that site.

Indigenous relations

Parks Canada is currently working with more than 20 Indigenous communities and organizations with connections to Jasper National Park. Throughout this plan, the term “Indigenous” is used to refer to both First Nations and Métis peoples. The park is located in Treaty 6 and 8 territories, as well as the traditionally used lands and waters of the Anishinabe, Dene-zaa, Nehiyawak, Secwépemc, Stoney Nakoda, and Métis. The main park mechanism for engagement with Indigenous communities is through the interest-based Jasper Indigenous Forum, which has met biannually since 2006.

The forced removal and exclusion of Indigenous peoples from the lands that became Jasper National Park as well as other Government of Canada policies that restricted movement, harvesting and physical, cultural and spiritual practices has resulted in a disconnection of these peoples from their ancestral and familiar lands. Parks Canada is committed to working together with Indigenous partners to facilitate reconnection to these lands and strengthen relationships.

Indigenous partners rated Parks Canada’s progress in strengthening relationships for the 2018 State of the Park Assessment. Partners identified the Jasper Indigenous Forum and working groups as good models of collaboration and partnership. Since the forum was created, access to traditional lands and activities has improved, with the development of a designated area for traditional activities, the introduction of free park entry for partner communities and the issuance of cultural use permits for harvesting of plants and medicines. Going forward, Indigenous partners would like to be more involved in park management, see the weaving of Indigenous knowledges and languages into park initiatives, and have more employment and economic opportunities available for local Indigenous communities.

Visitor experience

Jasper National Park receives around 2.5 million visitors each year. In 2018, 33 percent of park visitors were Canadian, 16 percent were American and 51 percent came from other countries. Visitation grew by 30 percent from 2010–2020. May through September are the peak months for visitation.

Both Parks Canada and the private sector offer a broad range of visitor facilities, activities, services and information that cater to many different interests and abilities. This diverse offer is reflected in the consistently high levels of visitor satisfaction and enjoyment reported in visitor surveys.

Recent capital investment by the federal government’s infrastructure program allocated $312 million from 2015 to 2022 to upgrade facilities throughout Jasper National Park. The funds enabled Parks Canada to address deferred work on park roadways, modernize the eastern entrance to the park, improve trails and bridges and significantly upgrade the largest campground in Jasper’s network—Whistlers Campground—to provide new infrastructure and visitor services.

One of Parks Canada’s main challenges in delivering quality visitor services and programs is the aging condition of its over 1,000 assets and the volume of visitor use during peak periods. Despite recent investment, maintenance and recapitalization is an ongoing need.

There are various visitor facilities, programs and services offered by third-party operators in the park. These include the Jasper Park Lodge golf course, the Marmot Basin ski hill, the Jasper SkyTram, operations at the Columbia Icefield, Maligne Lake, and Maligne Canyon areas, and diverse outlying commercial accommodations. Parks Canada regulates operators through leases, licences of occupation and business licences, to ensure visitor offers are compatible with Parks Canada goals, policies and legislation.

Learning opportunities in the park take many forms. Frontline services to visitors, informative publications, innovative interpretation programs in campgrounds and the Jasper townsite, roving interpreters at popular visitor areas, and interpretative exhibits and panels all engage visitors in appreciating the park’s nationally significant resources and foster a sense of stewardship. Over the next decade, work with First Nations and Métis partners will strengthen visitor learning opportunities on Indigenous cultures.

Despite high levels of visitor satisfaction, increasing congestion at popular sites, growing demand for frontcountry and backcountry campground reservations and increasing human–wildlife conflicts suggest that new tools are needed to minimize the impacts of high visitation levels on the park’s natural and cultural heritage. Data on visitor-use patterns and visitor perceptions is needed to develop visitor management strategies.

Public appreciation and understanding

Parks Canada reaches audiences where they live by providing park information through various outreach, partnering and stakeholder engagement initiatives, media relations, and web and social media presence.

The Palisades Stewardship Education Centre brings youth to the park for experiential education programs that blend mountain recreation with environmental stewardship. The current focus of the centre is on youth, Indigenous groups and key audiences from Edmonton, Calgary and other communities closer to the park.

Many different organizations and individuals contribute to and support Parks Canada’s work in Jasper National Park, assisting with ecosystem monitoring, raising awareness of caribou conservation, maintaining trails, and other park stewardship initiatives. The Friends of Jasper National Park and the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Historical Society provide a range of educational programs, events, services and self-guided opportunities. Partnerships with Grande Yellowhead Public School Division, Ski Marmot Basin and others help youth understand, care for and shape the future of their park.

Community of Jasper

The community of Jasper is the park’s main visitor hub and home to nearly 5,000 residents. The Municipality of Jasper provides community services such as utilities, social services and bylaw in the townsite, while Parks Canada remains responsible for land-use planning, development and environmental matters. Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper work together on issues of mutual importance, including emergency preparedness, Fire Smart wildfire prevention and environmental stewardship.

Tourism Jasper, the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, the Municipality of Jasper and tourism operators collaborate to support the delivery of visitor facilities and services, promote the park as a destination, and distribute information to visitors and residents.

4.0 Development of the Management Plan

This plan was developed concurrently with the management plans for Yoho, Kootenay, Banff, Waterton Lakes, Mount Revelstoke and Glacier national parks, as these places share many of the same challenges, opportunities, stakeholders and visitors. This synchronized approach allowed for landscape level coordination of approaches to protecting resources, managing visitor use and other key aspects of Parks Canada’s work.

This plan was developed through consultation with Indigenous partners, stakeholders, and the public. Indigenous, public and stakeholder consultation ensures the management plan reflects the interests of Canadians on the future direction of heritage places. Parks Canada consults on management plans with Indigenous peoples who may be affected by decisions or activities arising from the management of the park. Indigenous consultation increases Indigenous voices in park management. The objective of consultation is to ensure that management planning is open and transparent, reflects sound financial management, contributes to Government of Canada and Parks Canada priorities, and is results-based to allow for assessment and inform future decision making.

Consultation took place in two phases and was conducted in parallel with the other mountain national parks. Both phases used different approaches based on the different needs, interests and rights of diverse groups. Phase 1 of consultation was held in early 2019. In this first phase, Parks Canada asked participants to identify topics for consideration during development of the draft plan, and to help create a vision for the park.

Activities for Phase 2 of consultation focused on the public release of the draft management plan. Initially planned for 2020, Phase 2 activities were paused at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase 2 consultation on the draft management plan was held in spring 2021 and encouraged local, regional and national dialogue.

Over the two phases of consultation, 5,000 individuals visited the consultation website, 22 different Indigenous partner communities and organizations participated in consultation activities, and 17 different stakeholder organizations provided feedback. All input received from Indigenous partners, stakeholders and the public was analyzed and considered in the preparation of this final management plan.

Parks Canada reports annually on the implementation of the park management plan through public meetings and an annual report for Jasper National Park. Parks Canada will continue to engage Indigenous partners, local communities, stakeholders and the general public in discussions about the implementation of this plan on an ongoing basis.

5.0 Vision

The vision provides a picture of the desired future state of Jasper National Park looking ahead 15–20 years.

The awe-inspiring peaks of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and small-town hospitality welcome Canadians and international guests of all ages, identities, abilities and interests to Jasper National Park. The park’s big wild spaces and diverse visitor activities and facilities offer immersive experiences in nature in all seasons.

The park landscape bears witness to ancient and ongoing change. This living landscape is shaped by mountain formation and erosion, the retreat and advance of glaciers, and fast-moving headwaters feeding three river basins. Iconic wildlife like grizzly bears, caribou, wolverines and mountain goats roam widely within and across park boundaries. Wilderness areas, including open-valley grasslands, and montane and subalpine forests are shaped by fire and other natural ecological processes. Freshwater ecosystems such as glacial lakes, wetlands and rivers are connected and resilient in the face of climate change, invasive species, disease and other disturbance. These natural resources and natural processes are protected, ensuring the maintenance and restoration of ecological integrity.

Local Indigenous cultures are honoured and respected and Indigenous stories and languages are alive on the landscape. Diverse First Nations and Métis partner communities collaborate in park management, reflecting their connection to these lands. Indigenous knowledges are incorporated into ecosystem management and conservation by using fire and other Indigenous stewardship practices in the park.

The stories of the past come alive through Indigenous voices, old trails and transportation corridors, historic buildings and rustic mountain architecture. The park is a legacy of the evolution and impact of changes in approaches to conservation and visitor use in Canada’s national park system.

Visitors enjoy authentic, quality experiences while minimizing their impact to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the park. Immersive experiences in nature benefit visitor’s physical health and mental wellbeing, and revitalize their connections with, and thus desire to protect, the broader environment.

The park is also a home and a place to earn a livelihood. The community of Jasper continues to embrace and exemplify its vision of a small, friendly and sustainable community. Business operators contribute to park stewardship through sustainable tourism products, services and business practices.

The park is adaptively managed in response to changing conditions, and decision making is founded on best available knowledge. A diversity of ways of knowing, from the wisdom of the ancestors to the results of research and monitoring, guide park management to maintain ecological and commemorative integrity, and continue to protect the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Parks Canada collaborates with Indigenous partners, visitors, community residents and local businesses, who all have a shared responsibility as stewards of Jasper National Park. Together, we act with common purpose to protect this place for future generations.

6.0 Key strategies

Six key strategies outline the broad approaches that Parks Canada will use to achieve the vision presented in Section 5.0. These strategies will guide the management of Jasper National Park consistent with the mandate of Parks Canada and the commitment to stewardship of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site. These strategies are:

1. Conserving Natural and Cultural Heritage for Future Generations;
2. True-to-Place Experiences;
3. Strengthening Indigenous Relations;
4. Connect, Collaborate and Learn Together;
5. Managing Development; and
6. Climate Change and Adaptation.

Each key strategy contains detailed objectives and targets to guide park management and decision making over the next ten years. The objectives describe desired outcomes following implementation of program activities. Targets offer tangible ways of measuring progress toward achieving each objective. In some cases, the targets are derived from indicators or thresholds related to Parks Canada monitoring programs. In other cases, they reflect the desired outputs, or shorter-term results, of park management activities.

The approaches listed in this section take into account Jasper National Park’s capacity and available resources. Nevertheless, some undertakings may require additional funding or rely on partnership agreements with external collaborators. Where feasible, time frames for reaching certain targets have been provided. Where no dates have been referenced, the target will be achievable during the lifetime of the plan based on opportunities, Agency priorities and the park’s capacity. Progress toward achieving the objectives and targets of this plan will be reported on through an annual implementation update.

The key strategies do not sit in isolation from each other nor in order of priority; they should be considered as a whole in order to understand how the plan aims to achieve the vision of the park and the Parks Canada mandate. In many cases, direction for park management activities is integrated into several different key strategies. For example, elements of collaborative work with Indigenous partners are captured in Strategy 1 (Conserving Natural and Cultural Heritage for Future Generations), Strategy 2 (True-to-Place Experiences), Strategy 3 (Strengthening Indigenous Relations), Strategy 5 (Managing Development), and Strategy 6 (Climate Change and Adaptation).

Policy documents are referenced with their date of approval with the understanding that they are updated from time to time and newer versions supersede the older versions referenced in this plan.

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Key strategy 1: Conserving Natural and Cultural Heritage for Future Generations

The protection of natural and cultural resources and park landscapes are core to the reason for the park’s existence, and maintaining and restoring ecological integrity is the first priority in park management. Parks Canada’s approach to conserving these important aspects is guided by an understanding of and respect for the significance of place and its natural and cultural heritage. Knowing that uncertainties exist, Parks Canada’s ecosystem management, conservation and restoration initiatives will be built on the best available science and Indigenous knowledge in support of a precautionary, adaptive approach that provides for evolution of management policies and practices based on the monitoring of outcomes.

Historical activities and developments have had a strong influence on park ecosystems. Wildfire suppression for much of the 20th century has resulted in forests that are more uniform in age and less diverse. Construction of roads, railways, trails, visitor facilities and a townsite has fragmented montane terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Past wildlife management practices resulted in a legacy of predator-prey imbalances, with negative consequences for caribou.

Parks Canada has been working to address these historical effects. For example, fire is being restored to the landscape. Habitat connectivity is also being improved in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. From 2010–2020, the integrity of wildlife movement corridors around the community of Jasper was improved and many stream-crossing structures in the Athabasca Valley were adjusted to increase aquatic connectivity.

Cultural resources in the park include human works, objects, places, stories, songs, art, practices, and other elements that are associated with past human use of and relationships with the area. Through reverence for, as well as protection and preservation of these elements, we connect with the places, persons and events that have shaped the history of Canada.

New challenges are emerging: climate change is influencing mountain ecosystems, an increasing number of native species are at risk, and the threat of new invasive species is growing. This strategy establishes priorities and identifies approaches to ensure that Jasper National Park’s natural and cultural resources are protected, that its biodiversity is resilient and that ecological processes continue to be the main agents of transformation as global and regional changes affect park ecosystems over the next decade.

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Key strategy 2: True-to-Place Experiences

National parks provide exceptional opportunities for Canadians to develop a sense of connection to their natural and cultural heritage. The opportunity to be immersed in nature, history and diverse cultures while surrounded by wilderness and mountain landscapes is truly distinctive. Maintaining the authenticity and quality of this experience while ensuring that visitors understand its uniqueness is central to Parks Canada’s mandate. Visitor opportunities will be characterized by sustainability and responsiveness to diverse visitor needs and expectations. Activities and communications will be designed to advance understanding and stewardship of natural and cultural resources, encouraging all to share the responsibility of conserving these special places.

This strategy establishes objectives and targets to ensure that visitor experiences in Jasper are authentic and true-to-place. Authentic, true-to-place experiences founded in Jasper’s exceptional natural and cultural values, honour and celebrate the contributions and cultures of Indigenous groups connected to this special place, and showcase the experiences and histories of the many different people who have shaped the park.

Much of Jasper National Park’s distinctiveness rests in its vast protected wilderness. Roughly 97 percent or a little over 10,000 square kilometres of the park is maintained in a natural state with limited infrastructure, to provide wilderness experiences that are true-to-place. Over 500,000 visitors annually enjoy a variety of camping experiences at one of the nearly 100 campgrounds in the frontcountry and backcountry areas of the park. Recreational activities, including hiking, biking, mountaineering, paddling, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding and skating also form key components of the Jasper experience.

This strategy also identifies approaches to ensure that future visitor opportunities in the park are informed by improved understanding of visitor-use patterns, potential cultural and ecological impacts, the physical capacity, condition and characteristics of facilities and infrastructure, and any potential safety issues, to ensure visitor opportunities are sustainable and accommodate people of different abilities, social identities, backgrounds and interests.

Lastly, this strategy aims to ensure that visitor experiences are meaningful and foster a sense of stewardship that leads to respectful and responsible use of the park.

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Key strategy 3: Strengthening Indigenous Relations

The Government of Canada has committed to deepen and strengthen relationships with Indigenous peoples. Accordingly, many places administered by Parks Canada are managed through cooperative management bodies or advisory relationships with local Indigenous communities. These structures recognize the important and ongoing roles and responsibilities of Indigenous peoples as stewards of heritage places. With approaches founded on renewed relationships, respect and cooperation, the mountain national parks will continue to recognize Indigenous connections and work with Indigenous peoples to advance priorities of mutual interest.

Jasper National Park is in a period of transition, from a past where Indigenous peoples were separated from their traditionally used lands and waters, to the present, where Parks Canada and Indigenous communities with traditional connections to the park are working together. This strategy seeks to facilitate Indigenous reconnection with their traditionally used lands and waters, create platforms for Indigenous voices to share their cultures, histories and knowledges, increase Indigenous participation in initiatives to protect and care for park lands and create opportunities for the involvement of Indigenous partners in park management. Other strategies of this plan also include objectives and targets about working with Indigenous partners and strengthening relations with them.

Jasper National Park’s work with Indigenous partners also supports other broader Government of Canada initiatives, such as the implementation of recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and efforts toward the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

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Key strategy 4: Connect, Collaborate and Learn Together

Jasper’s mountain landscapes are connected across and beyond park boundaries. Parks Canada reaches Canadians where they live, work and play with the stories of Jasper National Park, to connect them with the natural and cultural heritage of the area. Through partnerships and collaborations that harness the skills and enthusiasm of others, Parks Canada provides programs, reaches diverse audiences, shares information and best practices, and acquires expertise to advance its mandate in Jasper National Park.

Jasper National Park makes information on park management available to Canadians, and collaborates with regional jurisdictions to increase our capacity to understand, address, and monitor landscape-level issues and opportunities including ecological restoration, emergency preparedness, climate change adaptation, maintenance of wildlife corridors and tourism.

This strategy seeks to connect Canadians with the park, to improve collaborative management of cross-boundary issues, to pilot innovative tools to acquire and share knowledge, and to ensure that the perspectives and views of Canadians are reflected in how the park is managed. By connecting and collaborating with others, Parks Canada will enhance the preservation, protection, and presentation of the park for present and future generations.

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Key Strategy 5 Managing Development

Ecological integrity will be the first priority in park management, including in managing development or redevelopment. Parks Canada’s approach will be transparent and consistent, and will continue to respect limits, zoning and declared wilderness designations. Any development considered must demonstrably support the vision and objectives of each park as described in its management plan. Development will facilitate greater awareness and connection to natural and cultural spaces, and aim to protect the qualities that make these places distinctive for future generations.

As the land manager in Jasper National Park, Parks Canada regulates development and land use activity in the park. In addition to protecting a large undeveloped land base, the national park includes various developments that support park operations, visitor uses and the community of Jasper. The park plays an important role in economic sustainability, and includes a national transportation corridor (the Yellowhead Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian National Railway) and a trans-provincial oil pipeline.

Key commercial staging areas in Jasper National Park include road-accessible outlying commercial accommodation facilities (lodges or bungalow camps), backcountry lodges, facility based tour services, stables and associated trailhead facilities, a golf course and a ski area, among others. Not-for-profit staging areas include alpine huts, cabins and hostels outside the townsite.

A framework of federal laws and regulations, as well as national and regional Parks Canada policies provide the parameters within which new development and the maintenance and operation of existing development may take place. At the park level, zoning, environmental and cultural impact assessments and permitting are key tools for determining where and under what conditions facilities and activities can be approved. Parks Canada also manages licensing processes that allow commercial and not-for-profit groups to provide guiding services. A variety of third-party off-season events provide opportunities for visitors and residents to enjoy the park.

Environmental sustainability is linked to managing development; the redevelopment of facilities and infrastructure can offer opportunities to make environmental gains by improving environmental management. Decision making considers the complete life cycle and cumulative effects of a proposed change and not just the short-term results or impacts.

This strategy encourages creative approaches to managing development that foster park stewardship, incorporate sound sustainability practices and cultivate a strong sense of place through sensitive design, redevelopment and management of activities.

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Key strategy 6: Climate Change and Adaptation

The mountain national parks were established to protect and represent specific features of Canada’s natural heritage. They include some of Canada’s most significant landscapes and natural and cultural resources, which are already affected by climate change. As such, these parks offer excellent opportunities to contribute to an understanding of climate change and its impacts over time. Parks Canada is committed to protecting park ecosystems for future generations by demonstrating leadership in sustainable operations and adaptive management in response to climate change impacts. The mountain national parks will continue to collaborate with others on climate change research, monitoring and education. Healthy ecosystems help nature and people adapt to climate change. As a protected area, Jasper National Park conserves biodiversity, protects ecosystem services, connects landscapes, takes up and stores carbon, and builds knowledge and understanding of environmental stewardship.

The effects of a changing climate are highly visible in Jasper National Park. At the Athabasca Glacier, one of the world’s most accessible glaciers, millions of visitors can witness firsthand evidence of the rapid retreat of a glacier over the past century. Updated interpretation at the Columbia Icefield is helping tell the story of climate change, but there are many other opportunities to increase visitor awareness and link local challenges to this global issue.

Climate change is also affecting other aspects of Parks Canada’s work, such as the longevity of built assets and cultural resources in the face of more extreme weather events, more frequent and intense wildfire seasons, and changing visitation patterns. This strategy seeks to expand collaboration and monitoring to anticipate and understand the effects of a changing climate, and to take action to reduce our carbon footprint and increase sustainability.

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7.0 Management Areas

Area management focuses on specific areas of the national parks that have complex management challenges—including important natural and cultural values, high visitation, public interest, significant infrastructure and multiple visitor experience opportunities. These areas often require greater consideration for maintenance of ecological integrity and to ensure quality visitor experiences. Two areas have been identified that require specific management objectives and targets in this management plan: the community of Jasper and the Tonquin Valley.

7.1 Community of Jasper

Nestled near the confluence of the Athabasca, Miette and Maligne rivers, the community of Jasper is a small, friendly town set in the natural splendour of Jasper National Park. Jasperites, as residents and regular users of the park, are important stewards of its natural and cultural heritage.

Parks Canada’s authority over land use planning and development matters for the community of Jasper is set out in the Canada National Parks Act and other applicable regulations and policies. The Canada National Parks Act designates Jasper as a park community and contains several important provisions in relation to the community’s future development:

• The townsite boundary is fixed;
• The amount of commercial floor area is capped at 118,222 square metres; and
• The size and configuration of the area zoned for commercial development is set.

The Town of Jasper Zoning Regulations (1968), which are currently under review, and the draft Town of Jasper Land Use Policy (2005) contain zoning provisions as well as permitting and process requirements.

The Jasper Community Sustainability Plan (2011), prepared jointly by the Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada, provides a vision for the community and policy direction for achieving that vision. All residents of Jasper must meet the eligible residency requirements under the National Parks of Canada Lease and Licence of Occupation Regulations.

With the majority of park visitors spending time in the townsite and surrounding area, there are excellent opportunities to reach them with park messages and engaging programming, and to showcase a community that embraces park stewardship and environmental sustainability. However, care is required to ensure that the community and its guests do not have a negative effect on the park’s ecological and cultural resources.

The direction outlined in this management area strategy will ensure that the community vision is achieved, while continuing to welcome park visitors, sustain the community’s quality of life and enhance the role of the community as a platform from which visitors experience and learn about the park and contribute to its stewardship.

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7.2 Tonquin Valley

The Tonquin Valley is one of the most popular destinations for wilderness recreation in the park. Renowned for its stunning vistas of Amethyst Lake at the base of the mountains known as the Ramparts, the area’s popularity is a testament to its pristine landscapes, excellent opportunities for wildlife viewing and alpine lakes.

The valley has a long history of human use. The area is significant to Indigenous partner communities, and recreationalists have been hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and horseback riding in the area since the early 1900s. Presently, the valley offers one primary 47-kilometre point-to-point trail, which follows the Astoria River up to Amethyst Lake before descending through Maccarib Pass and along the banks of Portal Creek out to Marmot Road. Wet conditions in the Tonquin’s alpine meadows and frequent rockslides on Astoria Mountain make trail maintenance an ongoing challenge. As of 2021, built infrastructure in the valley included seven backcountry campgrounds, two overnight commercial lodges run by private operators, a hut operated by the Alpine Club of Canada and a Parks Canada patrol cabin.

Caribou have roamed the peaks and valleys of the Tonquin area for centuries. Historical records indicate the Tonquin caribou herd was once much larger, but today this herd, one of the few remaining in Jasper, has declined to the point where it is facing imminent extirpation. Caribou in the Tonquin Valley numbered over 180 in the early 1960s and over 100 as recently as 2008; however, as of 2021 Parks Canada estimated there were fewer than 45 animals and only ten adult females remaining.

A suite of actions to protect the herd was initiated in the mid 2000s, including implementing seasonal access restrictions, but these actions on their own have not been successful in stopping the decline, as the herd population is too small for it to recover on its own. The biggest issue facing caribou in the park has been predation levels, which are now at a level which could favour the recovery of the caribou if conservation breeding is implemented.

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8.0 Zoning and Declared Wilderness Area

8.1 Zoning

Parks Canada’s national park zoning system is an integrated approach to the classification of land and water areas in the national parks and designates where particular activities can occur on land or water based on the ability to support those uses. The zoning system has five categories:

• Zone I – Special Preservation;
• Zone II – Wilderness;
• Zone III – Natural Environment;
• Zone IV – Outdoor Recreation; and
• Zone V – Park Services.

This plan incorporates minor adjustments to improve the zoning from the 2010 Jasper National Park management plan. The zoning changes ensure consistency in how zoning is applied throughout the park and resolve minor geospatial inaccuracies in previous mapping layers. Map 4 illustrates the zoning changes. The overall percentage of the park occupied by each zone has not changed.

Zoning Area Changes from Jasper’s 2010 Management Plan

Zoning Area Changes from Jasper’s 2010 Management Plan

Zone	Area in 2010 (km2)	Area in 2020 (km2)	Change from 2010 (km22)	Percent Change	% of Park Area 2010	% of Park Area 2020
Zone 1	47	47	0	0%	0.42%	0.42%
Zone 2	10,923	10,926	3	0.03%	97.27%	97.320%
Zone 3	141	141	0	0%	1.25%	1.25%
Zone 4	116	113	-3	-0.03%	1.03%	1.01%
Zone 5	2	2	0	0	0.02%	0.02%
TOTAL	11,229	11,229

Parks Canada may consider adjustments to zoning and declared wilderness area boundaries in conjunction with the conceptual proposal for the redevelopment of the Jasper SkyTram, provided these adjustments result in net ecological gain.

Suitable land in Zone II (and within the Declared Wilderness Area) may be used for temporary caribou captive breeding and release facilities, provided it can be returned to a wilderness condition following the project (see Objective 1.4).

Zone I – Special Preservation (less than 1 percent of the park)

Zone I lands deserve special preservation because they contain or support unique, threatened or endangered natural or cultural features, or are among the best examples of the features that represent a natural region. Preservation is the key consideration. Motorized access and circulation are not permitted.

Ancient Forest and other climate study sites

This Zone I area is comprised of several study sites that have contributed to scientific understanding of past climates and glacier retreat in the Rocky Mountains overall, and at the Columbia Icefield specifically. The forested stands within the zone contain very old—in some cases 500- or 600-year-old—living specimens of Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). Dead timbers in the area mark two Little Ice Age maximum advances of the Athabasca Glacier, at approximately 1714 and 1841–1843. Old trees and dead wood at these sites have been used to produce a 1,000-year long summer temperature record. Due to the scientific value of these sites, the park will not encourage access to the area and will interpret its resources off-site.

Surprise Valley

Surprise Valley is part of the Maligne karst system, one of the largest underground river systems in North America, and is designated as a Zone I area for some of the best examples of surface karst features in the park. The valley, located above the Maligne River, is drained entirely underground through limestone of the Upper Devonian Palliser Formation. The valley contains deep sinkholes in glacier drift, sink lakes and some of the finest examples of rillenkarren in North America. An unmaintained trail provides access to the valley; no restrictions on access are required at the present time.

Archaeological cave site

In Jasper National Park, there is one known cave site that contains pictographs and other culturally and archaeologically significant material. Due to its cultural sensitivity and the importance of not disturbing the archaeological material, the area is not identified on the zoning map and access to the cave will be strictly controlled.

Jasper House

Jasper House, a national historic site because of its significant role in the fur trade, is rich in architectural features, artifacts and faunal remains. Archaeological remains are intact and are very important in understanding the history of the site. There is also a cemetery on site. Off-site interpretation of the site’s heritage values is provided at the Jasper House trail and platform along Highway 16.

Zone II – Wilderness (97 percent of the park)

Zone II contains extensive areas that are good representations of a natural region and are conserved in a wilderness state. Much of this land consists of steep mountain slopes, glaciers and alpine meadows. The perpetuation of ecosystems with minimal human interference is the key consideration. Zone II areas offer opportunities for visitors to experience the park’s ecosystems first-hand, and require few, if any, rudimentary services and facilities. In much of Zone II, visitors experience remoteness and solitude. Motorized access and circulation are not permitted. Facilities are restricted to trails, backcountry campgrounds, alpine huts, trail shelters and patrol cabins. Most of Zone II will continue to have no facilities.

Zone III – Natural Environment (1 percent of the park)

In Zone III areas, visitors experience the park’s natural and cultural heritage through outdoor recreational activities that require minimal services, and facilities of a rustic nature. Zone III applies to areas where visitor use requires facilities that exceed the acceptable standards for Zone II. For example, snowmobile access routes and land associated with commercial backcountry lodges are zoned as Natural Environment. Utility corridors may also be located in Zone III.

Motorized access and circulation in Zone III are permitted in limited circumstances and controlled through regulatory permitting and realty instruments (for example, leases, licences and easement agreements), including:

• Snowmobile or helicopter use to service backcountry facilities;
• Off-highway vehicle use to maintain and operate linear infrastructure, such as power lines and pipelines;
• Motorized commercial tours on Maligne Lake and on the Athabasca Glacier as authorized through a valid lease; and
• Seasonal use of signed Zone III or IV lakes by boats with electric motors, within established parameters.

Zone IV – Outdoor Recreation (less than 1 percent of the park)

Zone IV includes limited areas that are capable of accommodating a broad range of opportunities for understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the park’s heritage values and related essential services and facilities, in ways that impact the ecological integrity of the park to the smallest extent possible, and whose defining feature is direct access by motorized vehicles. In Jasper National Park, Zone IV includes frontcountry facilities and infrastructure, such as park roadways, road-accessible campgrounds and overflows, day-use areas and visitor facilities like Miette Hot Springs. Commercial operations such as the Marmot Basin Ski Area, Jasper Park Lodge, bungalow camps and hostels outside of the townsite are also located in Zone IV. Several more intensive land uses related to park operations, such as gravel pits, power generation facilities and the waste transfer station are also located in Zone IV.

Zone V – Park Services (Community of Jasper—less than 1 percent of the park)

The community of Jasper, with its concentration of visitor service and support facilities, is the only Zone V area in the park. Specific activities, services and facilities in this zone will be defined and directed by the approved community plan.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas and Culturally Sensitive Areas

This designation applies to areas with significant, sensitive features that require special protection, but do not fit the zoning described above. This designation complements the zoning system and is important to the protection of the full range of valued resources.

Edith Cavell Meadows

Many significant plant species grow in the upper subalpine and alpine meadows near Mount Edith Cavell. The meadows are also an important caribou calving and rutting area.

Use of the meadows will be consolidated on the day-use trail in the northeast corner of the meadows and climbing access along the east ridge of Mount Edith Cavell; visitors will be encouraged to stay on the formal trail.

Athabasca Ponds

This area of small ponds and stream channels in the Athabasca floodplain near the junction of Highway 16 and Miette Road is very important to wildlife. Critical winter range for elk and moose, the area is also important to small mammals. These prey species in turn attract carnivores. Numerous bird species occur in high densities, many of which are not found elsewhere in the parks. Raptors, such as osprey and bald eagle, nest here. The area also provides habitat for the river otter, a species that is rare in the park.

Any major construction in the area (for example, utilities and roads) could change patterns of sedimentation and erosion. Future development in the vicinity of the ponds will be managed to ensure that it does not have a negative impact on the area’s special resources.

Maligne Lake Outlet

Since the 2000 management plan, Parks Canada has managed the Maligne Lake outlet and mid-Maligne River to provide secure habitat for harlequin ducks. The outlet is particularly important for harlequin ducks during their pre-nesting period, and is also part of the mid-Maligne River movement corridor between Maligne and Medicine lakes for harlequin duck broods. Harlequin ducks have narrow ecological requirements, low reproductive potential and are sensitive to human-caused disturbance.

To protect harlequin ducks and their habitat, human activity and development in the vicinity of the outlet will be managed in conjunction with the seasonal closure of the mid-Maligne River to instream recreational activity.

Wilderness Area Declaration

The intent of legally designating a portion of a national park as wilderness is to maintain its wilderness character in perpetuity. Only activities that are unlikely to impair the wilderness character of the area may be authorized within the declared wilderness area of Jasper National Park.

Large tracts of protected wilderness are becoming a scarce and valuable resource in Canada and the world. From an ecological perspective, their importance lies in their ability to support natural processes and to serve as benchmarks. They are critical for animal species with large home ranges and for migrating wildlife.

Most of Jasper’s Zone II has been declared as wilderness under the National Parks of Canada Wilderness Area Declaration Regulations. Only limited development required for park administration, public safety and provision of basic visitor facilities—such as trails, backcountry campgrounds, alpine huts, trail shelters and patrol cabins—is allowed in Jasper’s designated wilderness. Public motorized access is not permitted in designated wilderness areas.

Any revisions to declared wilderness area boundaries must go through a formal regulatory process with public review. Parks Canada may consider minor adjustments to these boundaries and Zone II boundaries for infrastructure projects that would result in clear environmental gains (for example, water supply, wastewater treatment, utilities and communications projects at outlying commercial accommodations, the Marmot Basin Ski Area and other operations) that are consistent with the intent of the Canada National Parks Act and Regulations.

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9.0 Summary of Strategic Environmental Assessment

All national park management plans are subject to a strategic environmental assessment to understand the potential for cumulative effects. This understanding contributes to evidence-based decision making that supports ecological integrity being maintained or restored over the life of the plan. The strategic environmental assessment of the management plan for Jasper National Park considered the potential impacts of climate change, local and regional activities around the park, expected increases in visitation and proposals within the management plan. It assessed the potential impacts on different valued components of the ecosystem, including aquatic communities, forest vegetation, montane and alpine habitat, whitebark pine, terrestrial birds, carnivores, woodland caribou and mountain goats.

To address the cumulative effects of climate change, visitation, invasive species and diseases, and impacts to regional connectivity, the management plan identifies objectives and targets including developing responses to climate change impacts, instituting visitor-use management tools to protect the park’s ecological resources, and allowing ecological processes to shape native vegetation communities.

Glaciers, forest vegetation, montane grasslands and dunes, and woodland caribou are rated as poor in the 2018 State of the Park Assessment, and are likely to be further impacted by climate change, invasive species and disease, and regional activities outside the park. The management plan identifies objectives and targets to address these effects.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment identified expected impacts on the following valued ecosystem components:

• Glaciers – Climate change is the primary stressor impacting glaciers. Parks Canada is taking action to minimize the contributions of park operations to greenhouse gasses and seeking to understand the impacts of climate change and share this knowledge with visitors and Canadians. The implementation of the management plan is not expected to contribute additional negative cumulative effects on glaciers.
• Hydrology – Climate change will impact hydrology over the next ten years. The implementation of the management plan will address the main threats to water connectivity and is not expected to contribute additional negative effects on water flows.
• Water quality – Climate change could contribute to cumulative effects on water quality. The management plan indicates that wastewater in the park must meet Parks Canada standards and/or applicable provincial standards. The implementation of the management plan is expected to maintain water quality in the park.
• Aquatic communities – The management plan provides direction on managing aquatic communities by preventing or minimizing the establishment of new invasive species and diseases, and controlling existing invasive species where feasible. The implementation of the management plan is expected to improve aquatic communities in the park.
• Wetlands – Climate change and invasive species are the main sources of cumulative effects on wetlands. The management plan provides direction on reducing knowledge gaps and protecting sensitive habitats. The implementation of the management plan is expected to maintain the condition of wetlands in the park.
• Forest vegetation – The main sources of cumulative effects on forests are fire suppression, insect and disease, and climate change. The management plan includes targets to complete a vegetation resource inventory, to use fire strategically to protect key habitat, and to conduct regular monitoring of invasive and alien plant species. This will improve understanding of the extent of landscape level changes from the mountain pine beetle infestation and facilitate evidence based management decisions, improve forest vegetation, and allow for prioritization of efforts to achieve ecological integrity goals.
• Montane grasslands and dunes could be further impacted by climate change and by maintenance and operations of existing highway and utility infrastructure. The management plan includes a suite of targets to limit new disturbance in the montane ecoregion, including inventories, monitoring, finalizing the Jasper National Park Vegetation Management Strategy and identifying restoration targets for priority habitats. Improved vegetation mapping will help to ensure that impacts on montane habitats are minimized during project-level impact assessments. The implementation of management plan directions is expected to maintain montane grasslands and dunes in the park.
• Alpine habitat – Climate change and visitation are the primary cumulative effects impacting alpine habitats. The management plan aims to promote visitor stewardship behaviour and is not expected to contribute additional negative cumulative effects on alpine habitats.
• Whitebark pine – The main sources of cumulative effects on whitebark pine include white pine blister rust, climate change and wildfires. The implementation of the management plan, the recovery strategy and Jasper’s Multi-species Action Plan will collectively address the main threats to whitebark pine inside the park and provide best efforts for recovery.
• Terrestrial birds – Climate change is the primary stressor for terrestrial birds. Updating and implementing the Multi-species Action Plan will improve resilience for bird species that are particularly susceptible to climate change. The implementation of the management plan is expected to support the landscape conditions needed to maintain the status of terrestrial birds in the park.
• Human–wildlife conflict – High levels of road and rail traffic, a variety of natural and artificial attractants, and increasing visitation have the potential to contribute to cumulative effects on carnivore mortality and human–wildlife conflict. The management plan provides direction to proactively and reactively manage these sources of wildlife stress and mortality, and aims to restore more natural wildlife behaviours and distributions.
• Connectivity – The main sources of cumulative effects on carnivore connectivity are the existing roads, highways and rail line, visitation, trails and infrastructure. Management plan objectives include approaches to increase connectivity within and across park boundaries where land-use pressures and climate change may impact transboundary wildlife populations and natural processes.
• Carnivore habitat – Increases in visitation and climate change will impact carnivore habitat security. The management plan provides direction for visitor-use management, the implementation of which will ensure habitat security is maintained.
• Woodland caribou – Two of the remaining three herds in the park are facing extirpation. Regional activities, activities within the park, predation and climate change all contribute to cumulative effects experienced by caribou. Following the direction provided by the Recovery Strategy for the Woodland Caribou, Southern Mountain population (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Canada (Environment Canada 2014), the management plan includes a number of actions to address these effects. Parks Canada will make a decision about pursuing conservation breeding and herd augmentation. The implementation of the management plan is not expected to cause significant negative effects to caribou.
• Mountain goats – The implementation of the management plan is not expected to cause additional negative cumulative effects on mountain goats, which generally use well-defined ranges. Mitigation measures for mountain goats are best addressed through park operations and project-level impact assessments for future initiatives.

The management plan will result in many positive impacts on the environment, including maintaining or restoring natural wildlife distribution, abundance, and behaviour; ensuring visitation levels do not harm the park’s ecological resources; and preventing the establishment of invasive species and diseases.

Jasper National Park is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage site. The world heritage values for which it was designated were evaluated to ensure that the implementation of the management plan will adequately protect them.

Indigenous partners, stakeholders and the public were consulted on the draft management plan and summary of the draft strategic environmental assessment. Feedback was considered and incorporated into the strategic environmental assessment and management plan as appropriate.

The strategic environmental assessment was conducted in accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals (2010) and facilitated an evaluation of how the management plan contributes to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. Individual projects undertaken to implement management plan objectives at the site will be evaluated to determine if an impact assessment is required under the Impact Assessment Act (2019), or successor legislation. The management plan supports a number of Federal Sustainable Development Strategy goals, namely:

• Greening government;
• Sustainably managed lands and forests;
• Healthy wildlife populations;
• Connecting Canadians with nature; and
• Safe and healthy communities.

Many positive environmental effects are expected and there are no important negative environmental effects anticipated from implementation of the Jasper National Park management plan.