PRINCE ALBERT NATIONAL PARK

	- Waskesiu Lake, PANP   Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj

If you haven't visited Prince Albert National Park (PANP), we highly recommend you go. It's a beautiful place; almost 4000 square kilometers of blue-green boreal forest.

PANP is one of two national parks in Saskatchewan. It is our province's largest protected area and its borders stand guard to a variety of nearby developments such as farms, clear cuts, fences, communities, roads and power-lines.

Many refer to the park as Waskesiu. It is a Cree work that means Elk, an animal that is still relatively abundant in the park. Waskesiu is also the name of a major lake in the park and the name of the town in the park. Some of the current management issues in the park, focus on all three separate aspects of the name Waskesiu: 1) preserving ecological integrity; 2) keeping the lakes and waterways healthy; and 3) balancing all of this with economic development, much of it focused in Waskesiu town site.

On Guard for Canada's National Parks

In 1998, our Federal Government commissioned a group of people to investigate the state of Canada's National Parks. In 2000, the Panel on Ecological Integrity reported that most of Canada's national parks are in, or headed for, ecological trouble. The reason? Progressive loss of important natural components. The cause? Impacts and stressors from both inside and outside of the parks.

What about PANP?

Prince Albert National Park, is not immune to these ecology-based concerns. In 1997, Parks Canada reported in their State of the Parks Report that the cumulative impacts of all stressors in PANP are 'significant'(stressors from such things as roads, pollution, fire suppression, over-fishing, water dams, etc). The impacts from sources outside the park, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, are described as 'severe'.

What's happening to take care of PANP?

In 2001, the park solicited public input to help in developing the new park management plant. Due to significant controversy over a variety of issues (e.g. pesticide spraying, Waskesiu River dam removal, etc), information that was gathered over several years was discarded, park staff were replaced, and a second management planning process began.

In 2004, park staff in PANP began the process all over to write the park's management plan. This plan is meant to provide direction for the next 15 to20 years. As before, Parks Canada explains that they are looking for ways to change activities and developments so that the park can be healthy, yet all-the-while, offer opportunities for people to visit and enjoy the park. In some ways it's a tall order because it means invoking change - change that our human natures often find difficult to embrace. In other ways it is crystal-clear that certain changes are critical if we want the park to be a vibrant, healthy place for ourselves, for our children and for our grand-kids.

In summer 2004, CPAWS met with the Park Superintendent and contributed to the scoping process for the management plan. We will continue to monitor the management plan process.

LEARN MORE:

CPAWS Work in the Forest An overview of CPAWS Saskatchewan's conservation work in the forest.