December 22, 2020
Alberta government announces parks will no longer be delisted or closed
Your voice was heard. Let’s make sure that Alberta’s park remain protected.
Nine months ago, the Alberta government announced 175 parks would be closed or delisted under the “Optimizing Alberta Parks” plan.
Tens of thousands of Albertans showed their support for Alberta’s parks by writing a letter to the provincial government or getting a lawn sign. Over 21,000 letters were written and over 20,000 lawns signs were requested.
With the support of over 1,500 volunteers, Defend Alberta Parks expanded to Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Canmore and more.
Your voice was heard. The Alberta government confirmed on Dec. 22 that the “Optimizing Alberta Parks” plan is not going ahead.
Together, let’s celebrate
The goal of Defend Alberta Parks is to ensure that existing parks remain protected as parks. That is the best way to ensure these sites – small and large – remain accessible for Albertans to visit while protecting the land, water and wildlife for generations to come.
Defend Alberta Parks is the culmination of hundreds of volunteers, who helped with handing out flyers, delivering lawn signs and helping behind-the-scenes. With the support of people from across the province, the campaign was able to expand into large cities and small towns.
Defend Alberta Parks is an opportunity for anyone in the province to show their support for Alberta’s parks.
And our voice was heard.
We’ll keep defending Alberta’s parks
Although the “Optimizing Alberta Parks” plan will not move forward, there are still risks to Alberta’s parks.
Legislative changes to Alberta’s parks system are expected under the province’s new Crown Land Vision. Defend Alberta Parks will continue to ensure that all of these areas and the entire provincial parks system maintain equivalent or stronger protections under any proposed changes to park legislation.
We encourage all Albertans who believe in the importance of a strong parks and protected area system to take this opportunity to share their opinion through the Government of Alberta’s public engagement on the Crown Land Vision.
We encourage everyone to keep their Defend Alberta Parks lawn signs up and keep the pressure on to ensure that any changes only strengthen and improve the protection of Alberta’s parks.