Federal, provincial and municipal governments commit a combined $7.9 million Jasper’s post-wildfire rebuild is getting another piece of critical infrastructure. The federal, provincial and municipal governments have committed $7.9 million to recommission the town’s wastewater lagoon. Federal Emergen...

Five animals released into Tonquin Valley in historic first step for conservation breeding program For the first time, Parks Canada biologists opened a gate and watched caribou they had raised in captivity walk into the wild. They knew the five animals were ready. The animals had been eating native ...

The case for—and against—poisoning prairie ground squirrels On March 30, 2026, the federal government reversed a ban on strychnine and allowed Alberta and Saskatchewan to resume poisoning Richardson's ground squirrels under an emergency exemption until 2027. Richardson's ground squirrels are a famil...

A proposed Alberta oil pipeline would pass through Jasper National Park, reviving questions about industrial development in one of Canada's most protected landscapes. According to Alberta's submission to the federal Major Projects Office , roughly seven per cent of the West Coast Oil Pipeline would ...

Protecting Harlequin Ducks means protecting the ecosystems we depend on, too. Back in the spring of 2005, I made my first visit to the Maligne Outflow bridge as a newly minted Jasper biologist. It was a beautiful sunny day. After taking in the sweeping panorama of mountains and lake water, I noticed...

Whirling disease has been detected in Alberta’s Athabasca watershed, raising new concerns about the spread of the invasive fish parasite in the Rockies. The latest confirmed case is east of Jasper; Parks Canada says the disease has not been detected in Jasper National Park. In an emailed response to...

Reopened after nearly two years of closure following the 2024 wildfire, the beloved Valley of the Five Lakes trail network is once again welcoming hikers into one of Jasper National Park’s most iconic landscapes—although visitors this time will encounter a dramatically changed environment. Parks Can...

On a variable May morning at the toe of the Athabasca Glacier, a new kind of machine hummed quietly onto the ancient ice. After decades of diesel engines roaring across one of the most visited glaciers in North America, Pursuit unveiled what it says is the world’s first electric Ice Explorer — a Can...

A sudden ban on watercraft and wading gear in Mount Robson Provincial Park has sent shockwaves through the Jasper and Valemount paddling communities. New aquatic protective measures have closed access to one of Western Canada’s most celebrated whitewater runs in the name of protecting the Fraser Riv...

Nearly two years after wildfire tore through Jasper, Canada’s Minister of Emergency Management says communities across the country should brace for another challenging fire season — and that Canadians themselves have a critical role to play in preparing for it. Canada's Minister of Emergency Managem...

For millennia, the high-elevation lakes and rivers in Jasper knew not of fish. This may have been due to the hard, mountain winters. Or perhaps to waterfalls that prevented the abundant fish of Jasper’s valley bottom lakes and rivers making it upstream. Regardless, for all that time, most of Jasper’...

Jasper photographer Simone Heinrich captured an evening of aurora activity recently. Good things come to those who wait. // Simone Heinrich On Friday (April 18), when most people were crawling into bed, Heinrich stepped outside to check out the night sky. She could see faint hints of northern lights...

Residents of Yellowhead are urging their fellow Albertans to say no to coal mining in the Rockies. For weeks, canvassers with the Water Not Coal citizen initiative  have been collecting signatures, petitioning their fellow Albertans to join their collective voice and demand the government prohibit n...

Parks Canada is posting notice that a section of the Wabasso Road (93A) is closed as of 6 p.m., April 4, 2026. The closure is due to falling debris and mud on the road, posing a hazard to drivers. As Jasper welcomes Easter long weekend guests, the road closure means that skiers, snowboarders and ski...

Some packrafters' 2026 backcountry plans have been sunk after Parks Canada's new Aquatic Invasive Species strategy surfaced recently, but whitewater advocates are hopeful that the conversation can remain fluid . New rules unveiled as part of a broad strategy to help protect Canada’s mountain parks f...

Atmospheric river creates extreme avalanche hazard The Icefields Parkway (Hwy93N) will remain closed until at least Saturday, March 21. Extreme avalanche conditions have precipitated the prolonged closure, according to Parks Canada. On Monday the agency said control work would take until Friday, but...

With its All Seasons Resort Act , the Alberta Government is skirting due process, ignoring public opinion and putting wildlife in the crosshairs, writes Mark Bradley—all to build a flagship resort in Kananaskis Country able to host 9,000 people per day . Late last year, the Government of Alberta des...

GoA's South-Athabasca sub-regional plan represents another nail in the caribou coffin Alberta’s caribou are once again taking a back seat to industry. On December 17, the Government of Alberta released a draft of a caribou management plan for the South Athabasca sub-region , a 38,000 km-sq area of l...

Jasper Local readers are worldly enough to know the biggest bird on earth (ostrich), as well as the the smallest (bee hummingbird ). Most know the the fastest flyer (peregrine falcon) and the most clever birds ( corvids )… But this time of year, it’s pertinent to ascertain what’s the most… Christmas...

I Smell a Rat! Let’s get one thing out of the way right now – muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) are not rats. Muskrats and rats are both rodents, but muskrats are actually more closely related to the meadow voles you can see scampering about in Jasper’s wet meadows... Muskrats are in the family Cricetid...