To: Alan Fehr Superintendent, Jasper National Park

Dear Mr. Fehr,

I read in the Jasper Local that you have again refused the offer of a fully funded bridge over Simon Creek on the Athabasca Pass Trail. 

One explanation for the refusal was to “ensure that the ecological integrity of the area will be maintained.”

This is the first time that I’ve heard ecological integrity mentioned as a justification for the ongoing abandonment of infrastructure for backcountry hikers.  Over the years, I have personally heard you justify your program to eliminate most backcountry maintenance as a budget issue with spending that could not be justified by the low numbers of users. You have stated that Jasper administration is committed to backcountry travellers by citing maintenance on the Skyline Trail, the Brazeau Loop and the Tonquin Valley, cynically denying what every casual observer can plainly see is a stealth process to gradually cut off the backcountry to foot travel by purposeful neglect. 

The Brazeau Loop has not been hikeable for the last two summers since the collapse of the bridge at the lake outlet. And the last time I visited the Tonquin, the trail was a quagmire, with useless distorted gabions and boardwalks left rotting in the mud.

To cite ecological integrity as your reason is to invite more cynicism about the whole concept.  How does a small number of backpackers, whose numbers are limited as you choose through the reservation system, degrade ecological integrity on the upper Whirlpool River?  Has anyone seriously assessed this question?  Ecological integrity means nothing without metrics.  What is the carrying capacity of backpackers in this region?  Or do you simply assume that any human presence must be negative and therefore must be eliminated?

Jasper National Park’s history of facilitating commercial and car and bus-oriented visitation further engenders even more cynicism.  How was ecological integrity enhanced by approving the Glacier Skywalk? The expansion of parking at Cavell Meadows? The development of Marmot Basin’s Tres Hombres directly on top of known caribou habitat? By your actions, you seem intent on creating a drive-thru national park. 

How sadly different from the old-time Parks Canada in which backcountry travellers were supported and were the strongest advocates for conservation.

Edward S. Meadows
Edmonton, AB