Vol. 143, No. 8 — April 15, 2009

Registration

SOR/2009-99 March 26, 2009

CANADA NATIONAL PARKS ACT

Regulations Amending the National Parks Wilderness Area Declaration Regulations

P.C. 2009-425 March 26, 2009

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to subsection 14(1) of the Canada National Parks Act (see footnote a), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the National Parks Wilderness Area Declaration Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE NATIONAL PARKS WILDERNESS AREA DECLARATION REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. The title of the National Parks Wilderness Area Declaration Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

NATIONAL PARKS OF CANADA WILDERNESS AREA DECLARATION REGULATIONS

2. Section 1 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

1. The regions shown on the administrative map plans, the numbers of which are set out in column 2 of an item of the schedule, that exist in a natural state or that are capable of returning to a natural state are declared to be wilderness areas within the national park of Canada set out in column 1 of that item.

3. The heading “National Park” of column 1 of the schedule to the Regulations is replaced by “National Park of Canada”.

4. The portion of items 1 to 4 of the schedule to the Regulations in column 1 is replaced by the following:

Item	Column 1 National Park of Canada
1.	Banff National Park of Canada
2.	Jasper National Park of Canada
3.	Kootenay National Park of Canada
4.	Yoho National Park of Canada

5. The schedule to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 4:

Item	Column 1 National Park of Canada	Column 2 Administrative map plan numbers in the Canada Lands Surveys Records at Ottawa
5.	Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada	88832
		88833
6.	Fundy National Park of Canada	89468
7.	Vuntut National Park of Canada	90384
8.	Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada	90080

COMING INTO FORCE

6. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations)

Executive summary

Issue

The Regulations Amending the National Parks Wilderness Area Declaration Regulations are made under the Canada National Parks Act. These Regulations establish new wilderness areas in the following four national parks and national park reserve: Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada in Alberta, Fundy National Park of Canada in New Brunswick, Vuntut National Park of Canada in the Yukon Territory and Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada in the Northwest Territories.

These protected areas in national parks and a national park reserve have been identified during their respective management planning process as areas that would benefit from this level of higher protection to ensure a strict prohibition of activities that would impair their wilderness character. These areas were chosen for the following reasons: they currently exist in a natural state or are capable of returning to a natural state; they are extensive areas which are good representations of natural regions, where ecosystems can be maintained with minimal interference; they protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural heritage; and they provide opportunities to foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment for present and future generations.

In consultation with various stakeholders, Aboriginal groups and neighbouring communities, each national park and national park reserve sets ecological integrity objectives and indicators and makes provisions for the protection, conservation and restoration of natural and cultural resources.

These Regulations also amend and modernize some of the technical references and adopt the terminology of the Canada National Parks Act for naming the national parks of Canada. For example, the Banff National Park is now referred to as Banff National Park of Canada.

Objectives

The Canada National Parks Act dedicates national parks to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment, and directs that parks be maintained and used so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

Declaring these areas as wilderness areas give the communities neighbouring these parks and park reserve and the people of Canada a high degree of assurance that development and use inconsistent with their wilderness character will not occur.

These wilderness areas are currently areas that are zoned as special preservation and as wilderness in park management plans. Under the Parks Canada zoning system, special preservation areas, Zone I, are those that contain or support unique, threatened or endangered natural or cultural features or are among the best examples of the features that represent a natural region. Wilderness areas, Zone II, are extensive areas that are good representations of a natural region where maintenance of ecosystems with minimal interference is the key consideration.

Description

The National Parks Wilderness Area Declaration Regulations first came into force in 2000 to declare wilderness areas within Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks of Canada. These Regulations bring the number of declared wilderness areas in national parks and national park reserves of Canada to a total of eight. The wilderness areas are identified by reference to the number of the administrative map plans deposited in the archives of Natural Resources Canada. The maps may be consulted at the National Office of the Parks Canada Agency in Gatineau, Quebec, and at the office of the superintendent of each national park and national park reserve with a declared wilderness area.

These Regulations declare 83% of the Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada as wilderness area, 85% of the Fundy National Park of Canada as wilderness area, 75% of the Vuntut National Park of Canada as wilderness area and 98% of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada as wilderness area. Areas such as right-of-ways, certain facilities and public areas are not included in a declared wilderness area (i.e., access roads, aircraft landing sites, parking surfaces, and visitor services buildings).

Where an area of a national park or a national park reserve is declared a wilderness area by regulation, any activity that is likely to impair the wilderness character of that area may not be authorized. The Canada National Parks Act restricts the activities within wilderness areas to: activities related to park administration; public safety; the provision of basic user facilities, including trails and rudimentary campsites; traditional renewable resource harvesting activities authorized in accordance with this Act; and access by aircraft to remote wilderness areas where there is no other means of access. Only activities such as hiking, backcountry camping and cross-country skiing, as well as those essential to park management or related to the administration of basic visitor services may be authorized. Commercial development of any kind, for example, would be precluded in an area that has been declared a wilderness area.

Regulatory and non-regulatory options considered

Inaction or avoidance of declaring new wilderness areas by regulation would not reflect one of the national parks policy’s objectives outlined in the Agency’s Guiding Principles and Operational Policies (1994). This objective is to promote the conservation and preservation of specific areas of a natural region and to maintain the ecological integrity of ecosystems. The management planning process is generally the mechanism used to consult on declaring wilderness areas. Once agreed to by key stakeholders, Aboriginal groups and neighbouring communities, the commitment to declare a wilderness area is reflected in a management plan. This plan is tabled in Parliament. There is no other mechanism within the Canada National Parks Act to provide for the same degree of protection to areas of national parks or national park reserves that exist in a natural state or are capable of returning to a natural state.

Benefits and costs

Benefits

The Parks Canada Agency National Park System Plan divides Canada into 39 distinct natural regions, based on unique physiographic and vegetative characteristics. The Agency’s goal is to have at least one national park representative of each natural region. These Regulations help maintain and preserve the natural state of declared wilderness areas representing these four nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural heritage.

The declaration of wilderness areas assures the public that facilities and activities that are likely to impair the distinct wilderness character or the ecological integrity of such areas are prohibited. The declaration of wilderness areas in the four national parks and national park reserve of Canada prevents any commercial development or uses of any type that are inconsistent with the distinct wilderness character of these areas.

The declaration of these wilderness areas may also result in increasing protection and conservation of threatened and endangered species of fauna or flora as well as rare geological or environmental features. Except as provided by specific Regulations under the Canada National Park Act, hunting is prohibited in any national park or national park reserve. This prohibition will continue for declared wilderness areas. However, it does not preclude resource harvesting activities (such as hunting or wood gathering) which are permitted by virtue of national park reserves status, land claim settlements and/or by new park establishment agreements.

The declared area in Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada provides additional protection of the Rocky Mountains Natural Region. This national park is linked with Montana’s Glacier National Park in the United States to form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. In 1995, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared it a World Heritage Site based upon the exceptionally rich plant and mammal diversity and outstanding glacial and alpine scenery. This national park also constitutes the protected core of the Waterton Biosphere Reserve. It is recognized for its exceptional biodiversity and scenic qualities.

In the case of Fundy National Park of Canada, these Regulations are the first to provide a higher degree of protection to the Maritime Acadian Highlands Natural Region. This national park has two faces: the coast where the tides alternately expose and submerge a damp ribbon of mudflats, salt marshes and tidal pools; and the inland face, the Fundy of shady forests and tumbling streams. The pine martin, considered rare in Canada, and a breeding population of peregrine falcons, an endangered species, have been reintroduced into the national park.

In Vuntut National Park of Canada, these Regulations are also the first to provide a higher degree of protection to the Northern Yukon Natural Region. This national park was established through settlement of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Final Agreement. It includes a portion of the Old Crow Flats and represents the interior plain of the natural region. Part of the national park is also designated as a Ramsar Site, a wetland of international importance.

Finally, these Regulations declare most of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada as wilderness area and further protect the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region. This national park reserve was one of the first in the world to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some of the deepest river canyons in the world, spectacular mountains, bizarre karstlands and a wealth of wildlife give this national park reserve its marvellous and unique character. It also provides critical habitat for significant species such as Dall’s sheep, black and grizzly bear, caribou, wolf, golden eagle, peregrine falcon and trumpeter swan.

Costs

There are no costs to users or to industry. The costs for the Government of Canada to declare these four new wilderness areas in the four national parks and national park reserve are very minimal and amount to less than $50,000 in total. This represents the costs associated with the production of administrative map plans for these four declared wilderness areas, the undertaking of public consultations and the publication in the Canada Gazette.

Costs related to compliance and law enforcement are absorbed in the operational budget of each national park and the national park reserve.

These four protected areas have been administratively managed as wilderness areas since the tabling in Parliament of their respective national park or national park reserve management plans (Waterton-2000, Fundy-2005, Vuntut-2004, and Nahanni-2004). Therefore, there have been no commercial and industrial activities or developments within these wilderness areas. Furthermore, there have been no changes to the type vocation or use of these areas.

Rationale

These Regulations strengthen the Parks Canada Agency’s ability to carry out its mandate under the CanadaNational Parks Act, which states that national parks and national park reserves are dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment and shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

Consultation

Extensive public consultations on the intent to declare wilderness areas in Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada in Alberta, Fundy National Park of Canada in New Brunswick, Vuntut National Park of Canada in the Yukon Territory and Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada in the Northwest Territories took place during the process for the development and approval of their respective management plans. In all cases, key stakeholders, Aboriginal groups and communities located in or near the national parks and the national park reserve, including representatives of such communities, participated in the consultation process.

The creation of wilderness areas within these national parks and national park reserve received broad support from the public, key stakeholders, Aboriginal groups and neighbouring communities. Following the consultations, some changes were made to the boundaries of the wilderness areas in Fundy National Park of Canada and Vuntut National Park of Canada to reflect the comments made by stakeholders.

This regulatory initiative was also published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on December 9, 2006; followed by a 30-day comment period. No comments or concerns were received during this period. No changes have been made to the initial regulatory initiative since its publication in 2006. This regulatory initiative continues to have full support from the public, key stakeholders, Aboriginal groups and neighbouring communities of the four national parks and national park reserve. They were periodically kept informed that the regulatory process was ongoing. In addition, annual meetings and public information sessions took place with certain stakeholders, Aboriginal groups and neighbouring communities in Fall 2007 and Spring 2008.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

In addition to compliance monitored through the regular enforcement program, voluntary compliance is encouraged by informing visitors of any restrictions associated with activities or uses of public lands in declared wilderness areas.

Any activity or use of public lands within a declared wilderness area, with the exception of those authorized by the Minister in accordance with the Canada National Parks Act, are prohibited.

Any prohibited or unauthorized activity or use of a wilderness area constitutes an offence under one or more regulations enacted under the Canada National Parks Act.

Contact

Julie Lacasse
Acting Policy and Regulatory Advisor
Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
Legislation and Policy Branch
National Parks Directorate
Parks Canada Agency
25 Eddy Street, 4th Floor, Room 400 (25-4-Q)
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0M5
Telephone: 819-994-5138
Fax: 819-997-0835

Footnote a
S.C. 2000, c. 32

Footnote 1
SOR/2000-387

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