"It's a really incredible time to visit Jasper, to bear witness to a large natural disaster and to see what it means for the ecology of the park and to understand it is part of the natural cycle of the ecosystem here in Jasper." Although the landscape may look different in Jasper National Park this ...

Jasperites encouraged to attend wildfire resilience event A live music event, a rally cry, a celebration of resilience, a reckoning. An artist’s statement on a changing climate, a gathering of community, an album release night, a fundraiser. Call it what you will, the upcoming Jam for Jasper will be...

Jasperites marched in solidarity against the lack of progress on interim housing January 24. Six months to the day after the homes of approximately 2,000 people living in Jasper burned in the largest wildfire ever recorded in Jasper National Park, hundreds of demonstrators showed their unity with di...

It’s been six months since Jasper was evacuated due to the threat of a massive wildfire roaring down the Athabasca Valley. On Friday, January 24, it will be exactly six months since thousands of Jasperites learned that their homes, businesses and everything in them burnt to the ground . And on Satur...

Parks Canada is stepping in to provide interim housing for Jasperites who lost their homes to wildfire. The federal agency will install two camp-style facilities with capacity for more than 200 people, according to Jasper National Park associate superintendent Ifan Thomas. “We’ve secured a camp that...

Municipal affairs critic says province is bullying Jasper into accepting their rebuild parameters  The Government of Alberta is ratcheting up the pressure on local planners in Jasper to sign off on leases where interim housing is slated to be built. But local authorities want clarity on what those b...

Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade members have always been in the hearts and minds of those who hold Jasper dear. Since July, they’ve been even more embedded within the community. Crisis Team calendar honours Jasper firefighters A new calendar pays tribute to Jasper’s fire-affected landscape and the ver...

The Jasper Veterinary Clinic is back in action. Dr. Janet Jones is the longtime owner/operator of the clinic in Jasper. Although much of the clinic’s specialized equipment was lost in the July 24 Jasper wildfire, clinic staff made a huge milestone on October 29 when they reopened their doors in Jasp...

Beneath surface-level discussions and debates around the Jasper wildfire lies a more complex reality. This fire is not just an isolated event, but part of a broader pattern linked to climate change—a result of a century of colonial land use practices and an economic system focused on extraction and ...

The federal government is funding a $3.9 million program to help Jasper’s small businesses rebound from last summer’s wildfire. This includes $3.45 million toward the Jasper Business Recovery Program, which will provide non-repayable funding for Jasper businesses. “This is going to offset lost reven...

Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper are making Jasper’s rebuilding process simpler. Yesterday the joint agencies released new, streamlined policy to guide the community’s recovery. “This is an important step forward in recovering from … the hardest challenge we have faced together,” said Jas...

“Hope is not just the future, but also the present.” Canada’s Governor General was in Jasper this week, bringing a message of hope, admiration and empathy to the community after it was devastated by fire in July. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon said the people she met during her Octob...

When the Derksen family lost their home in the Jasper wildfire, they knew that chances were slim that the precious reminders of their lives were spared from the flames.  Photos of the Derksens’ home on fire, with the iconic, yellow and brown “Jasper BrewPub” VW bus parked outside, were some of the f...

The Jasper wildfire was a fiery furnace, temperatures reaching almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt copper and gold.  With such atomic obliteration, will we ever see the forest come back within our lifetime, certainly within mine? In four days in August I would have my answer.  There ...

The production of 250 modular homes is being fast-tracked by the Alberta government to support Jasper residents who lost their homes in the July 24 wildfire. Yesterday (October 21), alongside Mayor Richard Ireland, West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long and Evergreens Foundation CAO Kristin Chambers, Minis...

Record dryness, extreme heat, high winds, and a lightning storm. This summer in Jasper National Park, all of the ingredients of a recipe for disaster were in place. Now, two and a half months after that disaster came to pass, another set of circumstances— misinformation, toxic politics and facts-sta...

As local officials shore up millions of dollars worth of resources to help the community recover from the July 24 wildfire, a small team of advocates has been ensuring hundreds of workers in Jasper don’t slip through the cracks On July 22, when the community was evacuated due to the imminent threat ...

Residents with damaged homes must obtain residential demolition and debris removal permits or authorize a third party to do so on their behalf Jasperites who lost their homes in the July wildfire are being encouraged to participate in the community’s mass debris removal process being facilitated by ...

Rrrrip. Rrrrip. Rrrrip. The distinct crackling of duct tape being peeled from its roll permeates the air on a hot September afternoon in Jasper. A white truck drives by. Then another. In the west end of the Jasper townsite, service vehicles have become ubiquitous. All of the neighbourhood’s sightlin...

Jasper is at a crossroads. Like its residents, legislators in Ottawa must come together today to expedite Jasper’s rebuild “Will there just be crumbs, dad?” We were driving back to Jasper—for the first time since the fire. We were passing through the community’s west gate, trying to prepare the kids...