Part 2: Home is where the hearth is In Part 1 of our Walking Through Fire series , we discussed how post-fire vegetation bounces back. But what about animals' attraction to fire? There is a small stampede of wild things drawn to fire’s heat and the blackened forests it leaves behind. Some pyro-lovin...

Part 1: Pioneer species on a fire-affected landscape Driving into the park a month after the 2024 Jasper Wildfire, we braced ourselves for a charred-earth landscape. Emotions of loss, devastation, and trepidation followed us in. So when we passed vibrant patches of green grasses springing from newly...

For 40 years, the province has put industry ahead of endangered species Is the Alberta government hell-bent on eliminating what remains of the two caribou herds that live in the mountains just north of Jasper National Park? Looking at the province’s recently released draft management plan for the Up...

“One thing that has been clear is human behaviour hasn't changed. We tend to think that the last fire was an anomaly, think of it as unfortunate, and don’t plan for the next one.”- Alan MacEachern One of Canada’s most eminent environmental historians is coming to Jasper to share lessons of wildfires...

Upheaval and change One of the most successful TV shows of the past several years has been Succession, a darkly funny drama about an exceptionally dysfunctional family of rich “one percenters” and their competition to succeed the ailing father as CEO of a huge corporation. In ecology, the word succe...

While some animals will die in a fire, most do not. To varying degrees, species have adapted to fires. Biologist and Jasper Local contributor Mark Bradley explains. The Power of the Burn I can’t help but get emotional when I see social media posts about Jasperites who have lost their homes, the hero...

Brian and I glanced at each other nervously, then raised our binoculars back to our eyes and continued scanning the horizon. Nothing. We had been dropped off in the middle of a vast black spruce bog in Wood Buffalo National Park. We were to have lunch while our helicopter pilot flew back to the fuel...

Jasper National Park confirmed at least 34 caribou in the Tonquin Valley but did not spot any members of the Brazeau herd during aerial surveys in the fall.  Biologists collecting caribou scat // Parks Canada Biologists did, however, find tracks and scat of the Brazeau animals; remote wildlife camer...

I was driving on a snowy Maligne Road a number of years ago—one of those crisp winter days that make you glad you live in Jasper—when I spied a set of wolf tracks crossing the road. I stopped for a better look, and I had just crouched down to look at the tracks when I heard howling nearby. In my min...

They say good things come in threes, which explains the trio of jam-packed, star-studded, can’t-miss-it festival weekends that make up this year’s Jasper Dark Sky Festival. The celestial celebration runs from October 13 to 29, spanning three weekends. If you're a fan of all things astro or simply lo...