Critics claim that changes to public lands management under a new bill to reduce red tape will create a patchwork and weaken environmental protections.
Bill 21 proposes amendments for the Provincial Parks and Public Lands Act. This would allow the province to create site-specific rules to regulate recreational activities on Crown land.
Jason Nixon, Environment and Parcs Minister, said that changes in the bill will make regional park and land managers more able to make seasonal trail closures and change signage without having them go through senior ministry officials.
Nixon said last week, “I don’t want to see our officials having to go all of the way to Edmonton to get permission for a sign to be in able to preserve that habitat.” This will make it easier for them to make simple decisions like those in the field. It does nothing to change the Parks Act.”
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), northern and southern Alberta chapters, are concerned about the changes and ask that the province put them out for public consultation before making them law.
Chris Smith, conservation analyst for CPAWS Northern Alberta said that his organization is worried by the scope of the proposed provisions.
He said that if the government’s primary goal was to provide local park managers with the authority to modify signs for trail usage, then the plan is very broad.
“It raises questions about why it should be so broad in order to achieve that goal.”
The advocacy group suggested that a patchwork of rules could allow for inappropriate recreational uses and cause confusion for those who want to use public lands.
‘Chaos’ on public lands
Marlin Schmidt (NDP critic for Environment and Parks), shares these concerns with Edmonton-Gold Bar MLA.
Schmidt stated that he doesn’t believe Nixon’s rationale for the Bill 21 modifications.
Schmidt stated that there is something else happening in an interview with CBC News. “And I suspect it’s to permit uses of the parks or public lands that are currently forbidden.”
Schmidt claimed that the bill would create chaos in public lands by adopting inconsistent rules and regulations.
He stated, “So we’re going have one set of guidelines for one park over there and possibly another set for another park somewhere else.”
“How will the public understand the rules from day-to-day if there is no process for consulting them before they change, or notifying them when they are changed?”
Bill 21, which amends 15 pieces of legislation that affect nine ministries, comes two years after the controversial and ill-fated Park Optimization Plan was released by the Alberta government.
In December 2020, the strategy to remove 164 parks sites and close 20 others was terminated.
Smith said that the distrust caused by this controversy casts a shadow over any proposed changes to the parks legislation today.