What a difference a week makes! Jasperites are used to changing weather, but last Monday, June 19 was one for the books! With more than 100 mm of rain and up to a metre of snow in high elevations, Mother Nature had residents scrambling to salvage their gardens and visitors reimagining their vacation...

The Alberta Energy Regulatory (AER) is reporting wastewater spills from coal mines in Hinton and Grande Cache. Heavy rains have causing flooding and excessive surface runoff into mine wastewater ponds, resulting in wastewater being discharged into the environment above approved limits, the AER annou...

Road closures have stranded visitors and staff in Jasper National Park’s subalpine. Guests of the Miette Bungalows operation in Jasper National Park have been stuck at the Miette Hotsprings area—without access to the hotsprings facility—for more than 24 hours after heavy snow and rain washed out the...

Stranded tour buses, frozen campers, fallen trees and slick highways: All part of a chaotic day in Jasper National Park after a summer rain and snow event dumped more than 81 mm (and counting) of precipitation on Jasper in less than 24 hours. More than a metre of fresh snow between Medicine and Mali...

Jasper National Park is issuing a fire ban. The ban is effective Thursday, May 11. Parks Canada announced the fire ban in partnership with the Municipality of Jasper. “The fire ban will help firefighting resources be more readily available where they are needed most and reduce the likelihood of any ...

May 4 is an auspicious day for Star Wars fans, but it also has special meaning for local bird watchers: it’s approximately when hummingbirds start to arrive in Jasper. In many ways, hummingbirds are like Jedi Masters. They’re fierce warriors, extremely powerful for their size, and can fly in ways th...

Funding from the province will help Jasper get its poop in a group. On Thursday, April 27, Mayor Richard Ireland announced the Municipality of Jasper is receiving $1.5 million to help upgrade the town’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). “Serving our residents and millions of visitors each year, our...

On April 25, Chris and Julie Ramsey’s Nissan crossover was plugged into the electric vehicle charging station on Connaught Drive. Their car, a 2022 Nissan Ariya, stands out: besides the BF Goodrich 39-inch fat tires and the Iridium “sat-comms” dome atop their roof, stickered on the rig’s copper side...

“Hold on!” the pilot yelled. We had been surveying arctic caribou from a Dehavilland Beaver (often referred to as the best bush plane ever built). This particular aircraft’s “tundra tires” allowed its pilot to land just about anywhere, but our makeshift landing strip would be a real test. The ridget...

A helicopter transporting Natural Resources Canada glacier surveyors had a hard landing on an icefield in Banff National Park April 14. The accident left a Bell 407 helicopter in pieces, 3,000 metres above sea level, 3 km from the Saskatchewan Glacier.  A helicopter sustained substantial damage afte...

Jasper National Park wildlife officials have destroyed a black bear after the animal attacked and killed a visitor’s dog. The animal demonstrated predatory behaviour and showed little regard for being in close proximity to humans, Parks Canada officials said—factors which led to the decision to euth...

Hopping from rock to rock, our laden backpacks jostling uncomfortably, the trail finally disappeared in a backwater channel of Jasper National Park’s Whirlpool River.  We gave up trying to keep our feet dry and simply waded in. On the Athabasca Pass Trail in Jasper National Park. // Tania Millen Sud...

Photos by Patrick Barker for The Jasper Local An elk that fell through a partly frozen lake in Jasper National Park was given a new lease on life by Parks Canada staff. An elk fell through spring ice on Lac Beauvert April 17. // Patrick Barker On April 17 at approximately 5 p.m., a bull elk fell thr...

Parks Canada is planning to close the Icefields Parkway on April 14 (Friday) at 12 p.m. Warm temperatures will precipitate higher avalanche hazards in Jasper and Banff National Parks. To mitigate danger to the travelling public, Parks Canada will conduct avalanche control work tomorrow afternoon. “A...

This story originally appeared in The Rocky Mountain Goat Indigenous groups whose territories encompass The Raush Valley near McBride, B.C., have declared the near-pristine watershed an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area.  The status comes after decades of lobbying by local conservations and re...

For ruffed grouse, winter in the Rockies can be a grind This ruffed grouse is getting some good lift off to get to those tasty rose hips. But wait, don’t they have wings for that? They do, but…a ruffed grouse’s wing feathers are designed to give them quick and powerful bursts of flight—maybe you’ve ...

“Mark, are you absolutely sure you need more photos of those grey birds sitting on grey rocks?” My wife was in the kitchen of our Jasper condo, clutching a steaming cup of coffee while watching me prep my gear for yet another day of photographing American Dippers. Advertisement inquires: andrea@rave...

The Icefields Parkway is back open after being closed intermittently for avalanche work on Wednesday, March 8. Public safety crews required four short closures over the course of the day to conduct the control work. The longest closure lasted 45 minutes, according to Parks Canada. Courtesy Parks Can...

A Jasper National Park visitor has been charged by law enforcement personnel after entering an area closed for caribou conservation.  On the afternoon of February 26, after receiving a public report, Parks Canada wardens tracked down a skier and a snowshoer who had ignored area closure signs on Jasp...

Aurora alert! Jasper residents and visitors who got the magical memo on February 26 that the night sky would be lit up with auroras were not disappointed. Jasper Local freelance photographer Simone Heinrich was one of several Rockies shooters getting a kaleidoscopic dose of light therapy as the nort...