OREANDA-NEWS. October 13, 2016. In managing national parks, Parks Canada maintains or restores ecological integrity and provides Canadians with opportunities to access, discover and enjoy them. Parks Canada protects and presents these treasures because they tell stories of who we are, including the history, cultures, and contributions of Indigenous peoples.

Today, Catherine McKenna, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced \\$97 million in funding for various projects in Yoho National Park.

Parks Canada is contributing more than \\$11 million to support visitor services in Yoho National Park. This is part of the \\$3 billion invested by Parks Canada over 5 years to support infrastructure work to heritage, visitor, waterway, and highway assets located within national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas across Canada.

These infrastructure projects include the rehabilitation of two bridges on the Trans-Canada Highway, improvement to front-country campgrounds and upgrades to the popular Emerald Lake and Natural Bridge day use areas. This will provide the opportunity for more Canadians, including youth and newcomers, to discover and enjoy the natural wonder of the park, aptly named Yoho – a Cree expression of awe and wonder.

As part of Budget 2016, the Government of Canada is investing \\$85.9 M to twin 6 km of the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park. Now underway, this project begins at the Alberta/British Columbia border and extends west, continuing the twinning work that was completed in Banff National Park. Wildlife mitigations in this section of the highway include one wildlife overpass, three wildlife underpasses, and highway wildlife fencing. Additionally, a Remote Avalanche Control System (RACS) will be installed on Mount Bosworth near the British Columbia/Alberta border to reduce the risk of avalanches impacting the highway.

Building on Parks Canada’s success on wildlife mitigations in Banff National Park, these measures provide world-class leadership to reduce wildlife mortality and habitat fragmentation, while improving motorist safety and ensuring the flow of traffic and goods along Canada’s national transportation corridor.

The Government is committed to investing in federal infrastructure assets, including national parks and historic sites, for the benefit of all Canadians, from coast to coast to coast. These investments bring Canadians together to celebrate our rich natural and cultural heritage.

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“The Government is committed to preserving Canada’s national parks, while also providing opportunities for Canadians to experience the outdoors and learn about their environment and heritage. Budget 2016 provided over \\$190 million to improve tourism and highway assets in Parks Canada places to enable more Canadians to connect with nature and support local economies. Upgrading this 6 km section of the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park will benefit motorists and wildlife, and improve the flow of goods and services on Canada’s national highway.”

The Honourable Catherine McKenna,
Minister of Environment Canada and Climate Change, and Minister responsible for Parks Canada

 

Quick Facts

  • Located on the western slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, near Banff and Kootenay national parks, Yoho National Park’s towering rockwalls, waterfalls and soaring peaks attract more than 500,000 annual sightseers and visitors from across Canada and the world. The Kicking Horse River, a Canadian Heritage River, runs through the park and two national historic sites located within the park commemorate the area’s early railway and tourism history: Kicking Horse Pass and Twin Falls Tea House.
  • With extensive wildlife mitigations including exclusion fencing, overpasses and underpasses in place through Banff National Park, wildlife-vehicle collisions have been reduced by approximately 80%. The Trans-Canada Highway that runs through the mountain national parks is the longest stretch of mitigated roadway in the world. 
  • This 6 km highway twinning work is taking place within the Kicking Horse Pass National Historic Site, a large-scale, cultural landscape that commemorates the original route of the Canadian Pacific Railway though the Rocky Mountains.