It was a chilly evening in the winter of 2008. I was crossing the railroad tracks on the way home from work when I suddenly found myself in the middle of a flock of perhaps 2,000 birds. I had inadvertently startled a huge flock of birds that had recently irrupted! Grey-crowned Rosy Finches darken th...

Hinton RCMP’s Traffic Section took a significant amount of drugs off the streets on January 8. After pulling over a vehicle in the Town of Hinton and conducting an impaired driving investigation, officers discovered and seized 363 grams of methamphetamine. The street value is approximately $20,000, ...

On February 4, bike, ski, snowshoe, skate, run…and eat maple taffy! The Jasper Winter Pentathlon is a made-in-Jasper event that brings together much of what makes the community great: diverse culture, outdoor recreation, connection to nature and community spirit. The Pentathlon is a great way to try...

U.S. tourist will forfeit $7,000 for flying a drone near a wildfire in a national park A visitor to Jasper National Park was fined $7,000 for flying a drone during an active wildfire.  On January 26 at Jasper Provincial Court, federal crown prosecutors explained that on September 3, 2022, Richard Ja...

Rising costs of providing waste services in Jasper will be increasingly shouldered by commercial ratepayers. In an effort to make the provision of waste services more equitable, Jasper Municipal Council recently adjusted the fees for recycling that commercial users pay. “This is an attempt at equity...

Jasper will be one of four national parks to benefit from a $71 million investment by the Government of Canada. Parks Canada is announcing critical infrastructure upgrades to Jasper National Park, among other mountain parks. // File photo Announced on January 23, the investment will focus on critica...

Parks Canada wants feedback on its proposed changes to Private Home Accommodation policy changes. The agency is reminding interested parties that they have until January 31 to provide comments. In December, Parks Canada’s planning and development office proposed new, less-restrictive rules for PHA’s...

Simone Heinrich remembers the first time she saw river otters in Jasper National Park. “I was just amazed at how playful they are. They are so fun to watch, sliding around on their bellies, chasing each other around and moving in and out of the water with such ease,” the wildlife photographer said. ...

In anticipation of Ukrainian New Year and Jasper’s first Mountain Malanka (New Year’s Eve) festival on January 21 at the Jasper Activity Centre, The Jasper Local presents another instalment of our Ukrainians Living in Jasper series.  Thanks to the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel ( ...

The bighorn sheep is Alberta’s official mammal, and when you’re in Jasper National Park, they’re one of a handful of species that you can dependably spot. Typically, visitors see bighorns on the side of the road, where they congregate in several well-known locations to lap up minerals found in road ...

View Post Kirsten Schmitten is a Master Interpreter, and owner of the locally-based company All Things Wild .   She loves the questions folks ask, especially when they stump her.  Contact the The Jasper Local to ask your Wild Question. Master Interpreter Kirsten Schmitten answers All Questions Wild....

I love living in Alberta and having the Canadian Rockies in my backyard. I am fortunate to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and within hours be surrounded by the breathtaking beauty of the mountains. As an Albertan, my go to has always been Jasper, where its rustic charm and small...

My watch claimed it was morning, but as I walked towards my snowmobile it was still dark. The snow crunched loudly beneath my boots, as it does when the thermometer dips below -30℃, and when I drew breath, I could feel the crispness of the frigid air as it entered my lungs. I swung my arms in a vain...

UPDATED (11:33 p.m. MST): ATCO is reporting that power has been restored throughout the townsite. More than 800 Jasper residents were without electricity on the year’s longest night . ATCO Electric technicians are still investigating the cause of a power outage that began at 7:10 p.m. Power was lost...

Conceptual policies have less severe restrictions on food prep areas, PHA size and access points  Parks Canada has revised deeply unpopular amendments to proposed Private Home Accommodation regulations. But questions persist as the agency solicits public feedback on the conceptual policies. The prop...

A recent crime spree has left several Jasperites with one hole in their vehicles’ exhaust manifolds, and another in their pockets. Since December 17, local police have had four reports of catalytic converter thefts, said Cst. Yanick MacLean of the Jasper RCMP detachment. In a small town, that’s a di...

With sale of Mountain Galleries, Jasper artist and filmmaker is reflecting on a life lived in art As a 10-year-old girl, Wendy Wacko never struggled with what she would do when she grew up. “I always knew I wanted to live a life in art,” she said. Some six decades later, the Jasper-based arts promot...

Simone Heinrich is always excited when she has a chance encounter with a pine marten.  Pine martens—or American martens, as they’re officially known—are members of the weasel family. They’re known for their quickness and agility, which, as Simone will testify, makes them hard to photograph. “I’ve sp...

Jasper’s Fred Kreiner will be the NDP candidate for West Yellowhead in Alberta’s next provincial election.  Kreiner won the nomination on December 8 after collecting more votes than Brule’s Lavone Olson in a local constituency election.  Kreiner is a former principal and French immersion teacher who...

RCMP have determined that criminal charges are not warranted in the 2020 Columbia Icefields Ice Explorer rollover that killed three people.  Jasper RCMP have completed their investigation into the accident and determined the evidence gathered and reviewed did not meet the threshold for criminal char...