Landowners near Waterton Lakes National Park say the Nature Conservancy of Canada should keep hold of land next to the park to avoid going against its own mandate of conserving grassland.
The NCC has confirmed with Postmedia it has had initial discussions with the Blackfoot Confederacy Tribal Council about the sale of the 31-hectare Waterton Springs Campground property, but added it’s “premature to discuss this potential partnership until more details have been worked through” and an agreement is in place.
“They’re going against their mandate … to protect and serve the land and so on, and here they’re in the business of transferring this land and selling it,” said Doug Ekelund, who, along with his wife, Nancy, live on an 32-hectare property just north of the NCC land.
“It’s going to be developed, and we’re concerned about that and we don’t want that.”
The NCC purchased the property in 2007 and leased it back to the previous owner for 10 years to continue running the campground.
In 2017, the Nature Conservancy of Canada said it would keep the campground, 3.3 kilometres from the park’s entrance, open through a busy camping season that year to accommodate Canada’s 150th. That year, the federal government offered free admission to Parks Canada places, including Waterton.
That the NCC would now sell the property, which has been sitting dormant for the past seven years, came as a “total shock” to the Ekelunds, who didn’t expect the land to be sold for development.
“We’re not happy about anything happening over there other than it being turned back into its natural state,” said Nancy Ekelund.
The land is a wildlife corridor which elk graze on, and contains springs and ponds. On the Ekelunds’ adjacent land, there’s plenty of wildlife, including grizzly and black bears, and cougars.
“It should be a buffer to the park. Turn it back to its natural state, which is what the (NCC’s) mandate is all about,” said Nancy Ekelund.
Dave Cassidy, another landowner who lives near the property and is against its development, said it’s tough to make money from the campground due to the short camping season there of perhaps 90 days.
“(Previous owners) have always been trying to get it rezoned so that they could make it more of a commercial operation,” he said, adding one previous plan was to build townhouses there, turning it into “a little Canmore.”
“The conundrum we had as a land trust, or a conservation group, the funds I have aren’t available to do that,” said Bob Demulder, the NCC’s now retired regional vice-president in Alberta, seven years ago.
Alberta Parks and Recreation and Parks Canada were approached about taking it over, but “none were immediately interested,” he said.
The NCC told Postmedia that the organization bought the property with both the “low impact” recreational use of the campground and its “remaining natural and conservation values” in mind. That remains the NCC’s goal for the land’s future, it says.
“We appreciate the community’s concerns and understand their desire for a long-term solution aligned with their best interests,” says the NCC. “We are committed to ensuring that any potential change in ownership of the property is carefully managed with a trusted partner who shares our dedication to preserving the land’s conservation value.”
“This site and the entire Waterton corridor are at the heart of Blackfoot territory where our ancestors have lived since time immemorial,” it says.
Reached Tuesday by phone, Blackfoot Confederacy CEO Jack Royal said he is declining to comment at this time.