Parks Canada is standing by its decision to move Snaring Campground onto the online reservation system next year, despite a petition from Jasper residents asking the agency to reconsider.

In a response to the community members who organized the petition, Jasper National Park Superintendent Geneviève Caron acknowledged the campground’s importance to local families, but said Parks Canada must balance local interests with demand from visitors from across Canada and abroad, as well as the need to support Jasper’s recovery from the 2024 wildfire.

“It is clear that this issue is an important one for the Jasper community, particularly for Snaring campground where many family traditions have been made over the years,” Caron wrote.

The response comes after nearly 300 Jasper residents signed a petition opposing the move. The petition organizers argued that Snaring’s first-come, first-served model is particularly important for locals who work in Jasper’s tourism and railway industries and cannot necessarily plan summer camping trips months in advance.

Longtime Jasper resident Randy Daniels told The Jasper Local that his family has been camping at Snaring since the mid-1980s, and that the campground has become one of the few places where residents can escape the pressures of the busy summer season.

Parks Canada says the decision to convert Snaring, along with Kerkeslin, Honeymoon, Jonas, Wilcox and Icefield Tent campgrounds, was made after significant consideration.

One of the primary factors is the loss of approximately 450 campsites following the wildfire. Parks Canada says those lost sites represent a significant reduction in visitation and economic activity for Jasper.

The six campgrounds being converted will add approximately 240 campsites to the reservation system.

But Parks Canada’s argument also rests on how often those first-come, first-served sites are actually being used.

According to the superintendent, Jasper’s self-registration campgrounds currently have an overall occupancy rate of approximately 40 per cent, down from 70 per cent a decade ago. Reservable campgrounds, meanwhile, achieve significantly higher occupancy rates — including periods when the self-registration campgrounds still have available sites.

The goal, Parks Canada says, is to make better use of the existing camping inventory while replacing some of the reservable capacity lost in the wildfire.

The agency also pointed to a potential middle ground for campers who prefer to make plans closer to their travel dates.

The Parks Canada Reservation Service typically sees about one cancellation for every seven campsite reservations, according to the superintendent. Nearly half of those cancellations happen during the week before arrival.

Parks Canada encourages campers looking for more spontaneous opportunities to check the reservation system closer to their desired camping dates or use its “Notify Me” feature, which sends an alert when a campsite becomes available following a cancellation.

That solution may not satisfy locals who say the value of Snaring is precisely the ability to decide to camp without making a reservation at all.

In her response, the superintendent acknowledged that concern.

“Snaring is a special place for many Jasperites,” Caron wrote. “While I recognize the significance to local residents, Parks Canada must balance local interests with the needs of visitors from across Canada and abroad, while supporting Jasper’s recovery following the wildfire.”

The response did not indicate that Parks Canada is considering reversing the decision.

Instead, the superintendent expressed hope that the traditions associated with Snaring can continue under the new system.

“I understand the disappointment that this change will cause but sincerely hope that the memories and traditions that you recount are still possible under the new model for these campgrounds,” she wrote.

For Jasper residents who signed the petition, that leaves an unresolved question: whether a reservation system can preserve the particular kind of spontaneous, local camping experience that made Snaring so important in the first place.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com