Alberta to protect Castle wilderness area north of Waterton-Glacier Park

A couple of weeks ago, Alberta announced plans to protect the Castle wilderness region. Since then, the general press has picked up on the story, including the below AP piece.

Note that this is not the proposed westward extension of Waterton Park into the Canadian Flathead drainage that has seen so much discussion lately . . .

The announcement of two new parks in Alberta has delighted environmental groups that have been fighting decades for their creation.

But the news that it will be shut out of more than 386 square miles of the Castle wilderness region in the province’s southwest corner has angered the forestry industry. “It feels to us a bit like we’re being vilified,” Brock Mulligan of the Alberta Forest Products Association said.

The parks created by the NDP government are almost twice as big as those proposed by the previous Conservative government for the same region. They will also cover valleys and wetlands, while the previous proposal focused on high alpine areas. “It’s almost night and day,” said Sean Nichols of the Alberta Wilderness Association. “This one goes so much further.”

Read more . . .

Castle Wildland and Park - Final
Castle Wildland and Park – Final

Download the full map (PDF – 1.24MB)