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chapter 6

chapter 6. Parks in Canada and the United States. Stephen M. Holland and Paul F.J. Eagles. Overview of History of Parks in Canada. Present the current “state of parks” in Canada. Review the history of the major park systems. Outline each major system.

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chapter 6

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  1. chapter6 Parks in Canada and the United States Stephen M. Holland and Paul F.J. Eagles

  2. Overview of History of Parks in Canada • Present the current “state of parks” in Canada. • Review the history of the major park systems. • Outline each major system. SPECIAL NOTE: As of 2003, Canada had 5,299 parks and protected areas covering 245 million acres (99 million hectares) of land, equaling 10% of the entire country.

  3. History of Parks in Canada • Canada is composed of 10 provinces and 3 territories formed in confederation in 1867. • Provinces retained power over the ownership and management of all crown land. • Conversely, it was difficult for the federal government to create parks within provinces, because this required provincial cooperation. • Some provincial park systems in Canada are as large and prominent as the national park system. (continued)

  4. History of Parks in Canada (continued) • The first parks were created in cities and were strongly influenced by the British examples of large green central parks in London, England. • The Halifax Common is recognized as the first designated park in Canada. • In 1859, Toronto was first to formally create urban parks and a public agency to manage these parks (McFarland, 1982).

  5. Evolution and Growth Government actions in the 1880s at Niagara set precedents in 3 important areas: • Established first regional park and first stand-alone park management agency with its own legislation and mandate in Canada. • Actions stimulated creation of future parks. • Actions set a tone of American–Canadian cooperation in park management. (continued)

  6. Evolution and Growth (continued) • In 1880s, established Canada’s first national cross-country railway through the Rocky Mountains. Tourism potential quickly recognized. • Established Rocky Mountain Park, first national park in 1887 (later renamed Banff National Park). • In 1887, first wildlife conservation reserve was created at Last Mountain Lake in the Northwest Territories, now Saskatchewan (Foster, 1978). This national government activity started the federal government of Canada in the parks business.

  7. People Important to Canadian Parks • Sir Sandford Fleming of the Canadian Pacific Railwayproposed a series of national parks across Canada for the purpose of creating tourism demand and railway use. • Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and Fleming are central figures in the creation of Canada’s first national park in 1885, now known as Banff National Park. • Edgar Dewdney created the first wildlife reserve and bird sanctuary in North America. • Alexander Kirkwood lobbied for the creation of a national forest and park in Ontario. (continued)

  8. People Important to Canadian Parks (continued) • James Harkin, in 1911, became the first director of the Parks Branch. This action created the first national park management agency in the world. • Fleming, Macdonald, Dewdney, Kirkwood, and Harkin set in motion ideas that resulted in the creation of Canada’s national and provincial park systems.

  9. Park Systems of Canada • City parks: • Occur in every village, town, and city. Focus on recreation, health, and conservation of natural lands. • Responsibility for facility construction, maintenance, and programs. Advisory groups and volunteers are used. • Most municipal park management is paid for by land taxes. • Regional parks: • Fulfill conservation and recreation mandates. • Conservation areas are close to large cities for near-urban outdoor recreation. (continued)

  10. Park Systems of Canada (continued) • Provincial parks: • Every province and territory in Canada has a park system. • Size and use of the system varies based on land acquired and size of province. • National parks and wildlife areas: • Parks Canada is responsible for 4 major park and reserve systems: (1) national parks and reserves, (2) national historic parks and sites, (3) national canals, and (4) national marine sanctuaries. • The national park system is very large, highly popular, well funded, and growing. Canada has 40 national parks and national park reserves.

  11. Overview of History of Parks in the United States • Parks developed out of concern for the social and psychological well-being of children and citizens. • Conservation and preservation of natural areas became important as the country developed and resource extraction and urbanization accelerated. • The evolution of natural areas as attractions spurred tourism opportunities.

  12. City Parks and Playgrounds 1850s–1920 Parallel to increased consciousness of the need to protect larger, usually forested, areas was a developing awareness of the need for public parks in the bustling, immigrant-filled, increasingly congested, and hygienically challenged cities: • Boston • New York • Chicago • Philadelphia

  13. Federal Conservation Initiatives Begin in the 1800s • First national park in the world, Yellowstone, designated by President Grant in 1872 in the territories of Montana and Wyoming. • Made possible by the incredible confluence of natural features. • Supported by citizens, Hedges, Langford, Hayden, Washburn, and Folsom, who led expeditions from 1869 through 1871. • Northern Pacific Railroad understood the park’s potential to attract tourists (Runte, 1998). • Seed idea of designating national parks was sown.

  14. Federal Conservation Initiatives 1900–1925 President Theodore Roosevelt’s initiatives launched federal leadership in conservation. In less than 8 years as president he accomplished the following: • Created U.S. Forest Service. • Set aside 148 million acres (60 million hectares) as national forests, some of those against the wishes of powerful senators and timber interests. • Established first federal wildlife refuge (Pelican Island, FL). • Created 6 national parks.

  15. State Park Initiatives 1880–1925 • Creating a park every 100 miles (161 km)—the distance that automobiles of that time could typically travel in a day—for the public to enjoy and camp in was suggested as an opportunity appropriate for state parks to fulfill (Landrum, 2004). • State parks were to serve as outdoor recreation areas not too far from home for their citizens and tourists (Landrum, 2004).

  16. Trail Initiatives 1930s and 1960s Native American, wagon train, and cattle drive trails are an important part of American history. • The approximately 2,150-mile (3,460-km) Appalachian Trail was completed in 1937. • National Trails Systems Act of 1968 designated the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail, approx. 2,350 miles (3,782 km)from the Mexican to Canadian border along the mountain ranges of the Pacific C oast states,as national scenic trails. • The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 was signed by President Lyndon Johnson. For the first time protected status was provided to free-flowing (not dammed) rivers, thereby assuring that white-water recreational opportunities were protected.

  17. Trail Initiatives 1980s and 1990s • President Reagan’s Commission on American Outdoors (1987) recommended that communities and states promote “corridor” parks. • Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 provided funding for alternative transportation routes, such as bicycle trails. The rails-to-trails movement and other local trail-oriented programs resulted in thousands of shorter walkways, bicycle and skateboard trails, and hiking trails in or near urban areas. They also connected urban areas or previously unconnected parks.

  18. Wilderness 1930s–1970s • “Americans were loving their parks to death.” • 1930s.Declaring an area as protected virtually assured that roads would be built to and within that park, and eventually thousands of people would visit it and the characteristics of “wilderness” would be diminished or lost. • 1960s. Congested roads and campgrounds became the norm. (continued)

  19. Wilderness 1930s–1970s (continued) • The Wilderness Act of 1964, signed by President Lyndon Johnson, created areas in which development, roads, timber removal, and motorized activities were permanently prohibited. • President Carter signed the Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 and the 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. • All three of these acts were politically controversial.

  20. City Parks City parks, by definition, are owned, managed, and staffed by the city government they are located in, although there are exceptions. The original mandate for city parks was to provide play areas for children that provided the following: • Islands of hope • Greenery • Escape from urban crowding, congestion, and concrete (continued)

  21. City Parks (continued) The following are characteristics of city parks: • The natural resource base is altered, and area is artificially landscaped or designed. • The grounds are heavily modified to suit whatever activity is desired, e.g., tennis courts, golf courses, swimming pools, fountains, paved walkways, rinks, skateboard parks, and soccer fields. • They may be used for day outings for inner-city children to get their first taste of a “natural” area.

  22. Nonrecreational Role of Parks • City parks are important in times of crisis, such as wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, or floods. • They are widely used as food, shelter, and ice distribution points. • Information tables are set up in parks, and people reunite with each other by meeting in parks. • It has been said that there are no great cities without great parks.

  23. County, Regional, Park Districts, and State Parks • County parks: • Intermediate in size and usage • Oriented less to urban uses, but not as environmentally sensitive, restrictive in usage, or as large as state parks • Regional parks: • Intergovernmental cooperation often occurs, e.g., a partnership between a city and county or between 2 or 3 counties • Typically serve a population that lives in more than one local county (continued)

  24. County, Regional, Park Districts, and State Parks (continued) • Park districts: • Specially authorized areas with taxing authority that function like a system of regional parks • Don’t usually follow city or county boundaries • Often with a city at the core • State parks: • Typically more resource oriented in order to keep the area more natural • Usually distant from urban population centers and larger than most city or county parks

  25. Federal Parks, Forests, and Refuges The National Park Service (NPS) was established in 1916 under the Department of the Interior, which establishes the policies and operating procedures and maintains the character of “special places.” The NPS mandates are as follows: • Operates under a preservation principle and is funded by the U.S. Congress. • Manages areas that are of national or international importance. • Provides recreational opportunities that do little or no permanent harm to the resource.

  26. Forests and Grasslands Wildlife Refuges • The Forest Service (now called USDA Forest Service) was created in 1905, and is an agency of the Department of Agriculture. • Manages lands mostly in western states and follows a basic conservation philosophy. • Mission is to achieve quality land management under the sustainable multiple-use concept to meet the diverse needs of people. • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was created in 1871 and is an agency of the Department of the Interior. Its mission is to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

  27. Resource Lands and Wilderness • National resource lands are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the Department of the Interior. • BLM sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. • Consists of 264 million acres (106 million hectares) of land, about one-eighth of the land in United States. • Wilderness areas were created by the 1964 Wilderness Act and the 1973 Eastern Wilderness Act. • They are open to public for nonmotorized day or overnight recreation. • 106 million acres (43 million hectares) of Wilderness in 677 sites.

  28. Army Corps of Engineers Tennessee River Valley • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways are water resources and related projects that are managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. There are 2,500 recreation areas at 463 projects. • The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) manages water resources in 7 states: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia.

  29. Large Western Reservoirs Indian Reservations • In 1902, Teddy Roosevelt established the Bureau of Reclamation, a part of the Department of the Interior, to manage water resources in the arid West. It plays a major role in providing water recreation opportunities to the western United States. • The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) manages 55.7 million acres (22.5 million hectares) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska natives. It is part of the Department of the Interior. • Most land is in Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, and South Dakota, although 31 states have some Native American lands. • There are 562 recognized tribal governments in the United States.

  30. Coastal Areas • Sandy beaches, barrier islands, and salt marsh wetlands are some of the most heavily used natural resources in the world and the United States. Approximately 50% of the American public lives within 100 miles of a coast. • Coastal areas are multiple-use areas where the same short stretch of coast may be used for: • Commercial fishing • Shore-based outdoor recreation • Water-based outdoor recreation • Private homes or resorts • Restaurants and bars • Ice-cream stands or umbrella rental stands • Cruise ship and commercial shipping routes • Wildlife management and military defense (and on the east coast of Florida, you can add the NASA spaceport to potential uses, at times)

  31. National Marine Sanctuaries Ocean Fishing • 13 marine sanctuaries protect 18,618 square miles (4,8221 sq km) of ocean and coasts. • Deep-sea fishing occurs in “state waters,” which are closer to shore, and also in exclusive economic zones, which are farther away from shore. • National Marine Fisheries Service assesses and predicts the status of fish stocks and ensures compliance with regulations.

  32. International Peace Parks The term International Peace Park has been used in two ways: • Transboundary protected areas located in more than one country, largely created to facilitate the movement of wildlife and birds in order to protect a certain type of ecosystem; e.g., the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park World Heritage Site, located in Alberta, Canada and Montana, in the United States. • Parks located entirely in one country, but designated as a site to memorialize and celebrate a goal of peace between citizens of specific or all nations.

  33. Similarities Between Canada and the United States • Both are geographically large with a similar federated form of administration with 3 levels of government developing parks. • Cultural roots in England. • As park movement deepened, ongoing communication of ideas between two countries moved back and forth over a 200-year period. • Both were a major influence on the types and forms of park management that developed in many other countries.

  34. Differences Between Canada and the United States One of the major differences between parks in both countries is the constitutional structure dealing with land ownership. • In the United States the federal government owns all public land. Management institutions and reserve types are more diverse in the United States. • In Canada the provincial governments own all crown land within provinces. Within the territories, the federal government holds crown land. • The provincial park systems in Canada are much larger and more fully developed than the state parks systems in the United States.

  35. Career Opportunities • National park services • Forest services • Fish and wildlife services • Bureau of Land Management or state and local equivalents • Entrepreneurial outdoor leadership small-business opportunities • Resorts as a staff naturalist • Commercial theme parks • Summer camps • Year-round ski resorts • Bed and breakfasts • Park or beach concessionaire businesses • Marinas and tour boat operations • Outdoor equipment stores

  36. Challenges for Parks: 21st Century • Shortage of funding and population increases • Inadequate number of rangers or staff to maintain facilities, manage resources, and serve the public • Encroachment of private land development on park borders • Temptation to use public park lands for public services, such as roads, power lines, cell-phone towers, and pipelines • Environmental threats from outside the park, such as polluted river water originating in a populated area, or air pollution generated outside a park that spoils the fresh air and views expected in a park • Vandalism, drug use, public sexual behavior, crime, and gang activity in urban parks that make many afraid to visit • Inappropriate motorized use, such as snowmobiles, personal watercraft, and off-road vehicles, that scars fragile lands and harasses wildlife

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