Chapter 6 Parks and Protected Areas in Canada and the United States

1. Chapter 6 Parks and Protected Areas in Canada and the United States C H A P T E R 6 Parks and Protected Areas in Canada and the United States Paul F.J. Eagles and Jeffrey C. Hallo Prepared by H. Joey Gray

2. Learning Outcomes • Describe the history and development of Canadian and American park systems, as well as their similarities and differences • Differentiate and discuss various types of parks and other protected areas • Name and describe the accomplishments of a few of the most prominent people who promoted and created parks through history (continued)

3. Learning Outcomes (continued) • Summarize current issues and trends in park resources management • Distinguish the terms preservation, wilderness, conservation, multipleuse, and wiseuseofnaturalresourcesandparks • Explain a few career opportunities in park settings

4. Overview of History of Parksin Canada • Present the current “state of parks” in Canada. • Review the history of the major park systems. • Outline each major system. • Special note: As of 2011, Canada had 42 national parks and national park reserves. • As of 2003, Canada had 5,299 parks and protected areas covering 245 million acres (99 million ha) of land, equaling 10 percent of the entire country.

5. History of Parks in Canada • Canada is composed of 10 provinces and 3 territories formed in confederation in 1867. • Provinces retained power over the ownership and management of all crown land. • Therefore, it was difficult for the federal government to create parks within provinces, because doing so required provincial cooperation. • In Canada the provincial governments do not have a formal role in the creation or management of long-distance hiking trails. (continued)

6. History of Parks in Canada (continued) • The first parks were created in cities and were strongly influenced by the British examples of large, green central parks in London, England. • The Halifax Common is recognized as the first designated park in Canada. • In 1859, Toronto was first to formally create urban parks and a public agency to manage those parks (McFarland, 1982).

7. Evolution and Growth Government actions in the 1880s at Niagara set precedents in three important areas: • Established the first regional park and first stand-alone park management agency with its own legislation and mandate in Canada. • Actions stimulated creation of future parks. • Actions set a tone of American–Canadian cooperation in park management. (continued)

8. Evolution and Growth (continued) • In 1880s, established Canada’s first national cross-country railway through the Rocky Mountains. Tourism potential was quickly recognized. • Established Rocky Mountain Park, the first national park, in 1887 (later renamed Banff National Park). • In 1887, the first wildlife conservation reserve was created at Last Mountain Lake in the Northwest Territories, now Saskatchewan (Foster, 1978).

9. The Creation of Banff National Park Was Influenced by the Railway

10. Niagara Falls Parks Were Created to Manage a Major International Tourism Activity

11. People Important to Canadian Parks • Sir Sandford Fleming of the Canadian Pacific Railwayproposed a series of national parks across Canada for the purpose of stimulating tourism demand and railway use. • Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and Fleming are central figures in the creation of Canada’s first national park in 1885, now known as Banff National Park. • Edgar Dewdney created the first wildlife reserve and bird sanctuary in North America. (continued)

12. People Important to Canadian Parks (continued) • Alexander Kirkwood lobbied for the creation of a national forest and park in Ontario. • James Harkin, in 1911, became the first director of the Parks Branch. This action created the first national park management agency in the world. • Fleming, Macdonald, Dewdney, Kirkwood, and Harkin set in motion ideas that resulted in the creation of Canada’s national and provincial park systems.

13. Park Systems of Canada • City parks: • Occur in every village, town, and city. Focus on recreation, health, and conservation of natural lands. • Responsibility for facility construction, maintenance, and programs. Advisory groups and volunteers are used. • Most municipal park management is paid for by land taxes. • Regional parks: • Fulfill conservation and recreation mandates. • Conservation areas are close to large cities for near-urban outdoor recreation. (continued)

14. Park Systems of Canada (continued) • Provincial parks: • Every province and territory in Canada has a park system. • Size and use of the system varies based on land acquired and size of province. • National parks and wildlife areas: • Parks Canada is responsible for four major park and reserve systems: (1) national parks and reserves, (2) national historic parks and sites, (3) national canals, and (4) national marine sanctuaries.

15. Algonquin Provincial Park Became a Model for Provincial Park Creation Across Canada

16. Overview of History of Parks in the United States • Parks developed out of concern for the social and psychological well-being of children and citizens. • Conservation and preservation of natural areas became important as the country developed and resource extraction and urbanization accelerated. • The evolution of natural areas as attractions spurred tourism opportunities.

17. City Parks and Playgrounds Parallel to increased consciousness of the need to protect larger, usually forested, areas was a developing awareness of the need for public parks in the bustling, immigrant-filled, increasingly congested, and hygienically challenged cities: • Boston • New York • Chicago • Philadelphia

18. Federal Conservation Initiatives Begin in the 1800s • The first national park in the world, Yellowstone, was designated by President Grant in 1872 in the territories of Montana and Wyoming. • Made possible by an incredible confluence of natural features • Supported by citizens Hedges, Langford, Hayden, Washburn, and Folsom, who led expeditions from 1869 through 1871 • The Northern Pacific Railroad understood the potential of the park to attract tourists (Runte, 2010). • Seed idea of designating national parks was sown.

19. Federal Conservation Initiatives President Theodore Roosevelt’s initiatives launched federal leadership in conservation. In less than eight years as president he accomplished the following: • Created the U.S. Forest Service • Set aside 148 million acres (60 million ha) as national forests, some of those against the wishes of powerful senators and timber interests • Established first federal wildlife refuge (Pelican Island, Florida) • Created six national parks

20. Yellowstone National Parkin Wyoming

21. State Park Initiatives • Creating a park every 100 miles (160 km)—the distance that automobiles of that time could typically travel in a day—for the public to enjoy and camp in was suggested as an opportunity appropriate for state parks to fulfill (Landrum, 2004). • State parks were to serve as outdoor recreation areas not too far from home for their citizens and tourists (Landrum, 2004).

22. Trail Initiatives Native American, wagon train, and cattle drive trails are an important part of American history. • The approximately 2,150-mile (3,460 km) Appalachian Trail was completed in 1937. • The National Trails Systems Act of 1968 designated the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail, approximately 2,350 miles (3,780 km)from the Mexican border to the Canadian border along the mountain ranges of the Pacific Coast states,as national scenic trails. • The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. For the first time, protected status was provided to free-flowing (not dammed) rivers, thereby assuring that white-water recreational opportunities were protected.

23. Wilderness “Americans were loving their parks to death.” • 1930s—Declaring an area as protected virtually assured that roads would be built to and within that park. Eventually thousands of people would visit it, and the characteristics of “wilderness” would be diminished or lost. • 1960s—Congested roads and campgrounds became the norm. (continued)

24. Wilderness (continued) • The Wilderness Act of 1964, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, created areas in which development, roads, timber removal, and motorized activities were permanently prohibited. • President Carter signed the Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 and the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. • President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which protected 2 million acres (800,000 ha) of wilderness.

25. Park Systems of the United States • City parks • County parks • State parks • Federal parks, forests, and refuges (continued)

26. Park Systems of the United States (continued) • Other areas managed by federal agencies • National resource lands • Wilderness areas • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waterways and sites • Tennessee River Valley • Large western reservoirs • American Indian reservations • National marine sanctuaries • International treaties and protected area designations and parks

27. City Parks City parks, by definition, are owned, managed, and staffed by the city government in which they are located, although there are exceptions. The original mandate for city parks was to provide play areas for children that provided the following: • Islands of hope • Greenery • Escape from urban crowding, congestion, and concrete (continued)

28. City Parks (continued) The following are characteristics of city parks: • The natural resource base is altered, and the area is artificially landscaped or designed. • The grounds are heavily modified to suit whatever activity is desired by providing facilities such as tennis courts, golf courses, swimming pools, fountains, paved walkways, rinks, skateboard parks, and soccer fields. • These parks may be used for day outings for inner-city children to get their first taste of a “natural” area.

29. County, Regional, Park Districts, and State Parks • County parks: • Intermediate in size and usage • Oriented less to urban uses but not as environmentally sensitive, restrictive in usage, or as large as state parks • Regional parks: • Often involve intergovernmental cooperation, such as a partnership between a city and county or between two or three counties • Typically serve a population that lives in more than one local county (continued)

30. County, Regional, Park Districts, and State Parks (continued) • Park districts: • Specially authorized areas with taxing authority that function like a system of regional parks • Don’t usually follow city or county boundaries • Often have a city at the core • State parks: • Typically more resource oriented to keep the area more natural • Usually distant from urban population centers and larger than most city or county parks

31. Federal Parks, Forests, and Refuges • The National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916 under the Department of the Interior, which establishes the policies and operating procedures and maintains the character of “special places.” • The NPS operates under a preservation principle and is funded by the U.S. Congress. • Its mission is to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

32. Forests and Grasslandsand Wildlife Refuges • The Forest Service (now called USDA Forest Service) was created in 1905, and is an agency of the Department of Agriculture. • Manages lands mostly in western states and follows a basic conservation philosophy • Mission is to achieve quality land management under the sustainable multiple-use concept to meet the diverse needs of people (continued)

33. Forests and Grasslands and Wildlife Refuges (continued) • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was created in 1871 and is an agency of the Department of the Interior. • Its mission is to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

34. Aransas National Wildlife Refugein Texas

35. Resource Lands • National resource lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the Department of the Interior. • BLM sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. • Consists of 245 million acres (99 million ha) of land, about one-eighth of the land in United States.

36. Wilderness Areas • Wilderness areas were created by the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 1973 Eastern Wilderness Act. • They are open to public for nonmotorized day or overnight recreation. • Includes 110 million acres (44.5 million ha) of wilderness in 757 sites.

37. Army Corps of Engineers and Tennessee Valley Authority • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways are water resources and related projects that are managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. About 4,254 recreation areas are located at 422 projects. • The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) manages water resources in seven states: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.

38. Large Western Reservoirs In 1902, Teddy Roosevelt established the Bureau of Reclamation, a part of the Department of the Interior, to manage water resources in the arid West. It plays a major role in providing water recreation opportunities to the western United States.

39. American Indian Reservations • The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), part of the Department of the Interior, manages 55.7 million acres (22.5 million ha) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska natives. • Most land is in Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, and South Dakota, although 31 states have some Native American lands.

40. Coastal Areas • Sandy beaches, barrier islands, and salt marsh wetlands are some of the most heavily used natural resources in the world and the United States. Approximately 50 percent of the American public lives within 100 miles (160 km) of a coast. • Coastal areas are multiple-use areas where the same short stretch of coast may be used for • commercial fishing, • shore-based outdoor recreation, • water-based outdoor recreation, • private homes and resorts, • restaurants and bars, • ice-cream stands and umbrella rental stands, • cruise ship and commercial shipping routes, and • wildlife management and military defense (and on the east coast of Florida, you can add the NASA spaceport to potential uses, at times).

41. National Marine Sanctuaries and Fisheries • The National Marine Sanctuary Program and the national Marine Fisheries Service manage ocean area parks. • Thirteen marine sanctuaries protect 18,618 square miles (48,221 sq km) of ocean and coasts. • The primary purpose is to conserve natural and cultural marine features.

42. International Peace Parks The term International Peace Park has been used in two ways: • Transboundary protected areas located in more than one country, largely created to facilitate the movement of wildlife and birds to protect a certain type of ecosystem, such as the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park World Heritage Site, located in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, in the United States • Parks located entirely in one country but designated as a site to memorialize and celebrate a goal of peace between citizens of specific or all nations

43. Similarities Between Canada and the United States • Both are geographically large and have a similar federated form of administration that has three levels of government developing parks. • Both have cultural roots in England. • As the park movement deepened, ongoing communication of ideas between the two countries moved in both directions over a 200-year period. • Both were a major influence on the types and forms of park management that developed in many other countries.

44. Differences Between Canada and the United States One of the major differences between parks in the countries is the constitutional structure dealing with land ownership. • In the United States the federal government owns all public land. Management institutions and reserve types are more diverse in the United States. • In Canada the provincial governments own all crown land within provinces. Within the territories, the federal government holds crown land. • The provincial parks systems in Canada are much larger and more fully developed than the state parks systems in the United States.

45. Career Opportunities • National park services • Forest services • Fish and wildlife services • Bureau of Land Management or state and local equivalents • Entrepreneurial outdoor leadership small-business opportunities • Resorts as a staff naturalist • Commercial theme parks • Summer camps • Year-round ski resorts • Bed and breakfasts • Park or beach concessionaire businesses • Marinas and tour boat operations • Outdoor equipment stores

46. Challenges and Trendsfor the 21st Century • Carrying capacity • International tourism • Funding • Market specialization • Changing demand • Encroachment • Environmental threats from outside the park • Climate change • Antisocial and illegal behavior • Motorized vehicles • Coastal development • Multiethnic cultural changes • Workforce changes • Seasonality