Banff National Park, Canada's oldest and most famous national
park, is a core refuge for the region's declining grizzly bear
population. Grizzly populations require large tracts of
undisturbed wilderness to remain viable, precisely the kind of
habitat that should be available in a park. Unfortunately,
development in Banff—which already includes two towns, a
transcontinental railway, a four-lane highway, and three major
ski hills—has seriously cut into grizzly bear habitat.
As a result, the park's wildlife habitat has been destroyed
or fragmented, isolating grizzlies and restricting their
movements. The bears now face serious dangers. In just over two
years, six grizzlies from Banff National Park have been killed,
four of them on the railway or highway near Lake Louise. This
is 10% of the estimated grizzly population, an unsustainable
loss for such a long-lived, slowly reproducing species.
Parks Canada has recently agreed to allow Fairmont Hotels
and Resorts, Inc. to construct a new convention center at Lake
Louise. This will result in up to 100,000 more park visitors
each year, which will certainly increase human-caused grizzly
bear deaths.
What You Can Do for Banff's
Grizzlies
- Ask Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Inc., to withdraw its
application to build the new convention center at Lake Louise
and to agree to a moratorium on all further development in
Banff National Park.
- Also ask Parks Canada to 1) design a comprehensive
grizzly bear management strategy for Banff National Park that
includes measures to mitigate the effects of existing
development on wildlife and 2) implement an immediate
moratorium on all commercial development in Banff National
Park, at least until the grizzly bear management strategy has
been completed.
Contact Information
Mr. William Fatt
Chief Executive Officer
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Inc.
Canadian Pacific Tower
100 Wellington St. West
TD Centre, P.O. Box 40
Toronto, ON M5K 1B7
Canada
Fax: (+1) 416 874 2601
william.fatt@fairmont.com
The Hon. Sheila Copps
Minister of Canadian Heritage
Government of Canada
15 Eddy Street, 11th Floor
Hull, Quebec K1A 0M5
Canada
Fax: (+1) 819 994 1267
@parl.gc.cacopps.s@parl.gc.ca
