A provincial park (or territorial park ) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park . They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the public for recreation. Their environment may be more or less strictly protected.
25-582: Hamber Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia , Canada, located 130 kilometres (80.7 mi) north of Golden . Straddling the Great Divide on the provincial boundary with Alberta , the park is surrounded on three sides by Jasper National Park and protects the headwaters of the Wood River at Fortress Lake . When the park was created in 1941, it constituted one of
50-646: A considerable section of the highway which in 1962 would be officially designated the Trans-Canada passed through it. By the late 1950s it had become clear through negotiations with the United States which would ultimately lead to the Columbia River Treaty that hydroelectric dam projects would be constructed along the upper Columbia River. One of these planned projects, Mica Dam , would result in substantial environmental disruptions within
75-399: A protected area was stifling the region's forestry-based economy. The provincial government redesignated Hamber as a "Class B" provincial park in 1945. Commercial logging and mining were permitted in parks given this designation. Hamber remained undeveloped throughout the 1940s and 1950s. No tourist resorts, campgrounds, trails or scenic lookouts were constructed within the park even though
100-895: Is a provincial protected area in the north-east of San Juan Province , north-western Argentina. The Aconcagua Provincial Park is in Mendoza Province . The highest point is the north summit of the Cerro Aconcagua at 6,962 metres (22,841 ft). The Parque Provincial Pereyra Iraola is the largest urban park in the Buenos Aires Province . It is the richest center of biodiversity in the province. Provincial parks in Belgium ( Dutch : provinciale domeinen , French : domaines provinciaux ) include Bois des Rêves, Chevetogne, Hélécine, Palogne, and Wégimont. These are typically public areas administered by
125-678: Is replete with spruce and balsam, consisting of a heavy understory of false azalea and rhododendron . The closest communities to the park are Valemount, British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta . Bradley, Ben. (2011), "'A Questionable Basis for Establishing a Major Park': Politics, Roads, and the Failure of a National Park in British Columbia's Big Bend Country." In Campbell, Claire. A Century of Parks Canada, 1911-2011. University of Calgary Press. ISBN 9781552385265 . Sandford, Robert W. (2010). Ecology & Wonder in
150-614: Is the 2,355,200-hectare (5,820,000-acre) Polar Bear Provincial Park on Hudson Bay . Although provincial parks in Canada are not the same as national parks , their structures and purposes are very similar. The provincial and territorial parks systems generally have various park categories. Parks may be ecological reserves without facilities for use by the general public, day use parks or recreational parks that offer many services to visitors, often including bicycle , canoe , or kayak rentals, camping sites, hiking trails and beaches . In
175-604: The Canadian Rockies include mountains , glaciers , and hot springs and the headwaters of major North American river systems including the North Saskatchewan , Athabasca , Columbia , and Fraser rivers. The area is known for its natural environment and biological diversity. It includes the Burgess Shale site, a World Heritage Site in its own right from 1980 to 1984, when it was included in
200-614: The Kruger Park and has an area of about 42,000 ha. The Letaba River runs through the park. Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site consists of seven contiguous parks including four national parks ( Banff , Jasper , Kootenay , and Yoho ) and three British Columbia provincial parks ( Hamber , Mount Assiniboine , and Mount Robson ). These seven parks in
225-497: The province for outdoor recreation such as swimming, canoeing, hiking and camping, with few or no fully protected portions. Provincial parks in Canada are protected areas of land and/or water designated by one of the provincial governments to protect nature or historical sites and to support recreation, tourism and education. The first provincial park, Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls , opened in 1888. The largest
250-608: The "highest degree of protection from exploitation" to a vast tract of wilderness in the Selkirk Mountains and the western ranges of the Rocky Mountains. Pattullo established Hamber as a new protected area which bridged the gap between several existing mountain parks in the hope that his action would spur the Canadian government to declare Hamber a new national park. He envisioned that a substantial increase in
275-576: The British Columbia Forest Service. However, the trail was only completed to within 5 km of the park boundary and was abandoned. In 2014, a bridge over the Athabasca River collapsed, severing access via the only maintained trail into the park. Despite providing numerous recreation opportunities, lack of access prevents similar levels of hiking and camping found in other mountain parks. In addition to access to
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#1732780538196300-557: The British Columbia government redrew the park's boundaries. Most of the park was deleted, except for a rump centered on Fortress Lake in a remote part of the western ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The new Hamber Provincial Park consists of only 24,518 hectares, a reduction of 98% relative to its original size. In 1990 this park was included within the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site . Together with
325-711: The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks WHS designation. In 1983 Canada nominated Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks for inclusion on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. UNESCO accepted this nomination in 1984 on the basis of a recommendation by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The original nomination and IUCN's recommendation drew attention to the area's "exceptional natural beauty", "habitats of rare and endangered species" and its natural landforms such as mountain peaks, glaciers, lakes, canyons, limestone caves, and
350-762: The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site . Athabasca University Press. ISBN 9781897425589 . Provincial park Provincial parks ( Spanish : Parques Provinciales ) in the Misiones Province of Argentina include the Urugua-í Provincial Park and Esmeralda Provincial Park . The Ischigualasto Provincial Park , also called Valle de la Luna ("Valley of the Moon" or "Moon Valley") due to its otherworldly appearance,
375-836: The Venda mountains in the northern part of the Limpopo province of South Africa . Mokolo Dam Provincial Park almost surrounds the Mokolo Dam on the Mokolo River . It is located 32 km south of Lephalale , just northeast of the Marakele National Park and not far from the Lapalala Game Reserve . Letaba Ranch Provincial Park in Limpopo Province is north of Phalaborwa , next to
400-503: The country and not be concentrated only in the mountains of western Canada. No portion of Hamber was ever incorporated into Canada's national park system. Within the park's protected boundaries were extensive stands of commercially valuable timber. Sawmills and logging companies based in Revelstoke and Golden lobbied the provincial government to allow exploitation of Hamber's timber resources. They argued that Hamber's existence as
425-614: The largest protected wilderness areas in Canada. In the early 1960s, the provincial government reduced its size by 98% due to pressure exerted by the forestry industry, planned hydroelectric developments along the upper Columbia River and the re-routing of the Trans-Canada Highway away from the park. Established on 16 September 1941 by an Order in Council issued by British Columbia premier Thomas Dufferin Pattullo ,
450-515: The national park system's coverage of western Canada's mountainous terrain would boost tourism revenue. Part of this economic benefit was anticipated to derive from improved access to the region made possible by federal support for road infrastructure within a nationalized Hamber park. The Canadian federal government, whose attention was directed towards World War II , expressed little interest in Pattullo's idea. Moreover, Prime Minister Mackenzie King preferred that national parks be spread throughout
475-499: The other national and provincial parks that comprise the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, the park was recognized for its natural environment and the geological and ecological significance of its mountain landscapes containing the habitats of rare and endangered species, mountain peaks, glaciers , lakes, waterfalls, canyons and limestone caves and fossils . As a remote wilderness area, no roads traverse
500-590: The park from Sunwapta Falls, an overgrown trail accesses two campgrounds (Fortress Creek and Washout Creek, decommissioned in August 2020) on Fortress Lake's north shore. A commercial fishing operation exists on the Chisel Creek fan, accessible by floatplane. Additionally, two small caves ranging from 15–87 m in depth exist in the upper reaches of the Alnus Creek watershed. Vegetation around Fortress Lake
525-418: The park was named in honour of Eric W. Hamber , Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia from 1936 to 1941. Covering approximately 1,009,112 hectares at the time of its establishment, it was one of the largest parks in Canada. It shared a common boundary with portions of Mount Robson Provincial Park and Jasper, Banff , Glacier and Yoho National Parks . Designated a "Class A" provincial park, it afforded
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#1732780538196550-506: The park's boundaries caused by the flooding of the Columbia River valley above the dam. Because the highway followed this valley between Revelstoke and Golden, it had to be re-routed through Rogers Pass before the dam could be built and thereby bypassed Hamber almost entirely. In light of these circumstances, provincial officials concluded that the park no longer had a legitimate reason to exist in its current form. In 1961 and 1962
575-555: The park. A commercial fly-in fishing camp operates on Chisel Creek Fan on the shore of Fortress Lake during the summer months. The only other means of access are via hike-in or ski-in from Sunwapta Falls on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park . It is a 22 km hike over trails to Fortress Lake. In the 1970s, construction began on a trail into the park from Kinbasket Lake via the Wood River by
600-462: The province of Quebec , the provincial parks are labelled "national parks" and are all IUCN category II protected areas (like at the federal level, and as opposed to many provincial parks), and are managed by Société des établissements de plein air du Québec . Many parks in the other provinces have the IUCN designation. Nwanedi Provincial Park is a scenic nature and game reserve on the foothills of
625-795: The unique Burgess Shale fossils. That year the UNESCO World Heritage Committee "requested the Canadian authorities to consider adding the adjacent Provincial Parks of Mount Robson, Hamber, Mount Assiniboine and Kananaskis " to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks site. At a 1990 meeting, "the Committee welcomed the Canadian proposal to include, in the Rocky Mountains Parks site, Mount Robson, Hamber and Assiniboine Provincial Parks, following its request at its Eighth Session in 1984." Kananaskis (renamed Peter Lougheed Provincial Park ) has not been included within
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