[Torture]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

They're being offered to local groups for management and operations. I'm in the running to take over one. It would be cool to supervise a trailer park..I mean, park.

Well, if they can find people to manage them. Otherwise they're stripped of their parks designation and protected status and opened up for a vast range of uses. Also, ten of them are being fully closed.

5. Ten sites will be closed to public access

The announcement includes the full or partial closure of 20 sites. Ten sites are slated for full closure where the “entire site will be closed to public access”, and 10 for partial closure where “remaining park areas will be open to public access, but un-serviced.” It is inappropriate to be barring Albertans from using park lands, and in direct contradiction to the promises made by the Minister of Environment and Parks to provide access to Alberta’s wilderness. Additionally, while these 10 sites have been identified, there has been no indication on whether full closure could apply to any of the other 164 parks on the list for removal from the park system.

Also, private operators are not responsible for protecting the land in the same way as a parks designation provides.

6. Parks facilities and assets will be sold and management authority transferred to third parties

While the Alberta Parks news release has been amended to remove the mention of sale of parks and the minister has clarified that the land itself will not be sold, park facilities and assets will be sold and management authority for the area transferred to private partners through leases or other mechanisms.

Potential partners such as volunteer organizations and municipalities already struggle to find funding and do not have the resources to properly manage and protect these important places.

Private operators are not accountable to Albertans or to maintaining conservation values and quality outdoor experience. Alberta’s parks should not be managed for profit. Commercial uses not currently permitted or promoted in parks could be developed in these areas once they become public land.

In fact, changes to the Public Lands Administration Regulation (PLAR) made in November 2019 make it easier for private partners to apply for and receive dispositions for commercial developments on public lands including hotels, lodges, shops, mini-golf, motocross tracks among others (see pages 5 and 43-48). It is also specified that this new disposition type is explicitly to provide services , in exchange for payment, to members of the public, and is intended to produce an economic benefit (see TCL description page 64).

Private management and the resulting push for the areas to be profitable could result in decreased service quality, increased costs and the commodification or loss of access to some areas.