Banff nearing ecological disaster

Some biologists say Banff National Park is in crisis. They say some species in the park have died off, and others are dwindling.

One scientist is threatening to sue Parks Canada for not living up to its mandate to protect the ecological integrity of national parks.

The allegations come as an independent committee arrives in Alberta to hear advice on just how to do that.

A major problem is that the TransCanada Highway cuts through Banff National Park and 10 million people a year either drive through it, or stop and visit. It's a park some biologists say is in ecological danger.

Dr. Paul Paquet is a biologist with the Central Rockies Wolf Project. He and his colleague, biologist Carolyn Callaghan, have studied wolves in this area for years. They say the declining wolf population proves their point.

"We've documented 32 wolf deaths since 1987 in the Bow Valley of Banff National Park," Callaghan said, "and 81 per cent of those wolves have died either on the highway or on the railway line. So humans have been the cause of most wolf deaths in the Bow Valley."

The last breeding female of the three-member pack was struck by a train last month. She died, along with the pups she was carrying.

Last month two black bears were killed on the highway.

Parks Canada recently built two overpasses so that wildlife could cross the TransCanada safely. There's also a network of underpasses. But Callaghan says they aren't working well for wolves. "They're not using the underpasses or the overpasses near the level that we would expect them to."

Callaghan suggests elevating or burying sections of the TransCanada and the CP rail line, and fencing all the other sections. At the very least, she says Parks Canada should reduce the speed limit along the highway and rail line.

Parks officials defend the underpasses and overpasses. Dr. Bruce Leeson is a senior environmental assessment scientist with Parks Canada. "Well, I would say they're very successful. Here you have in this two-year period for the underpasses almost 5,000 passages by wildlife successfully traversing the highway, not being exposed to traffic."

Leeson says every species, except grizzly bears, has used the overpasses. But he says it will take another three years to find out whether they're working well. And he rejects calls to elevate or bury parts of the TransCanada, to help save the wolf population in the Bow Valley.

Leeson rejects the option as too expensive. He also believes the 90 kph speed limit through the park is slow enough.

He won't comment on forcing trains to travel more slowly, even though Parks Canada promised to talk with CP Rail about how to reduce the impact of the railway on wildlife kills.

Wolf biologist Paul Paquet believes Parks Canada has violated its own mandate to maintain ecological integrity in the national parks. "I think my recourse at this point, and I'm very sorry to say it, is going to have to be within the legal system, and I think it may require a court case that determines exactly what ecological integrity is and whether Parks Canada is adhering to their own legislation and that's what I'm looking at," he told CBC News.

The question of ecological integrity in the parks is the focus of committee hearings across Canada. An independent panel is getting advice and will report to the Secretary of State for Parks.

Paul Paquet hopes for strong recommendations, but in the end he says the group is just covering the same ground. He says Ottawa should call an emergency transportation summit instead.