UPDATE: Parks Canada has responded to our questions about the timing of the logging work and the impact of using tyres instead of tracks. 

From their statement:

To minimize ground disturbance prior to freeze up, crews protected the ground using slash and debris and by limiting the time they worked in particular areas. 

It is important to note that a full environmental impact analysis (Basic Impact Analysis) has been completed. Parks Canada will minimize the potential impacts of this work as much as possible and has measures in place to ensure ecological integrity is maintained. For instance, low pressure tires and tracks are being used that are designed to reduce ground compaction. Lugs and chains can be critical on slopes to reduce wheel spinning witch causes unnecessary soil and vegetation damage.

——————-From the November 15, 2018 edition of The Jasper Local:—————————

Most Novembers, the forest behind Jasper is an oasis of peace and quiet.

Sure, there’s the odd bird call or ornery chirp from a ticked off squirrel—maybe you’ll hear a flock of geese overhead getting their act together after a late start on their journey south.

But typically it’s pretty quiet back there. That’s one of the things that make it so special.

This year, that’s far from the case. The buzz of machinery, the beeping of trucks and the crunch of trees being felled are harsh noises which rip through the crisp fall air.

It’s pretty jarring for folks not used to the sounds and sights of a full scale logging operation. If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ll know that Canfor, a forestry company, has been contracted by Parks Canada to remove 500 hectares of potential wildfire fuel which has been, or will soon be, killed by the mountain pine beetle blight.

Parks Canada has presented this project as necessary for community safety, but the operation is still a tough pill to swallow for folks who have been told for the past 15 years that the best way to reduce wildfire hazard while respecting local ecology is to help return the forest to a natural state by thinning vegetation and putting fire on the landscape—not an outright clearcut.

However, these are unprecedented times. Moreover, officials have assured the public that Parks Canada will act in a responsible manner, that the tree removal project will protect the other values that Jasper National Park holds in high regard—namely, ecological integrity.

But is Parks Canada doing that?

In their initial information sessions, Parks Canada assured the public that machines wouldn’t be in there before the ground was frozen, in order to mitigate damages to low lying and wet areas. Yet the project got started in mid-October, at least a week before the ground was fully frozen. Why?

We also heard that to lessen their impact on the ground, machines would be fit with rubber tyres, rather than tracks. But keen observers know that hasn’t been the case. Why not?

We think Jasperites deserve some answers to these questions, yet when we put them to Parks Canada, all we got back was silence.

Usually we like the tranquility.

In this case, however, that’s not our idea of peace and quiet.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com