Banff National Park Environmental Analysis

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For Banff National Park, it is essential to create an environment where humans and wildlife are able to coexist. Often interactions between humans and wildlife result in conflict, yet as a national Park, Banff values the existence and biodiversity of wildlife. The park has already taken huge steps to mitigate conflict, in order to provide the best experience for their 3.5 million annual visitors (Evans, 2013). Two approaches Banff National Park has taken to promote coexistence are constructing wildlife underpasses and overpasses, and reintroducing bison to the park.
With 4.5 million vehicles just passing through the park on the Trans Canada Highway, road mortality was a prominent issue (Evans, 2013). Highways, including those that are fenced, result in fragmentation of wildlife habitat, sensory disturbance, and obstruct wildlife diversity. Species are inherently part of a bigger more complex ecological system and require that …show more content…

51). The most significant attribute for carnivores were landscape variables, such as the distance to the forest, to drainage systems, the railway track, and the nearest town. The most significant attributes for ungulates were the structural factors, such as the size, openness, and noise level of the underpass. (Clevenger, 2000, p. 51) Usage rates were consistently negatively correlated to human activity. Thus even passes with the best structural and landscape attributes may still be ineffective if there is a prominent human activity. The study proposes the most effective course of action is managing human activity near underpasses, and possibly even relocating nearby foot trails. This concurs with Banff's management plan that aim to regulate human development and stricter limitations on human use in the park. (Clevenger, 2000, p.

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