For those not aware, Jasper National Park had to be fully evacuated due to two out of control wildfires. The entire park. All 5000 residents of the town, some 20000 tourists. Still in the process of evacuating backcountry hikers/campers. Unfortunately, both fires converged on the townsite of Jasper, which is now reporting significant loss of structures. The photos are terrible.
This is looking at the town from the Skytram.
This is the Maligne Lodge in town.
This is the visitor centre, in the middle of town.
This is Jasper Lodge, one of oldest buildings in the park.
And this is Cable Creek Drive, a community where a couple of friends of mine lived.
Jasper will always hold a special place in my soul. It’s the first place my parents took me camping, and the first place where I truly fell in love with the mountains. It has a been a different and in my opinion better experience than Banff, less touristy and more in tune with what I loved about the mountains. And now it’s gone, and the recovery will take years. It has even affected my hunting plans, as I hunt near the border of the national park a lot, and I question going after any elk or moose this year as they will have been displaced, under immense stress, and most likely suffering from lack of food due to habitat loss caused by this fire. Call me soft, call me an idiot, but as a conservationist first and hunter second, I cannot justify going after animals in these conditions.
This situation was exacerbated by the pine beetle infestation killing a large amount of spruce over the last decade that has stood as a tinderbox, but the main cause of all these wildfires has been climate change. Drought conditions, little snowpack, extreme weather events, all becoming normal in our summers now, and it leads to this. We are killing the world with our industry. This past Sunday was the hottest day in the entire world on record…until Monday, which beat it.
I understand the need for oil and gas, and natural resources, and I understand the transition will take time, but there has to be more of an effort to do so. I want my wild places to stay beautiful, I want forest fires to be a normal, necessary, and healthy part of nature, not raging infernos created by conditions directly related to our effect on the planet. What can be done? Why hasn’t more been done?
I realize this is a complex issue, and you guys in the States deal with wildfires as well. Just needing to vent, as I know people personally affected by this, and wondering how we’ve let the world get to this point in the first place.
This is looking at the town from the Skytram.
This is the Maligne Lodge in town.
This is the visitor centre, in the middle of town.
This is Jasper Lodge, one of oldest buildings in the park.
And this is Cable Creek Drive, a community where a couple of friends of mine lived.
Jasper will always hold a special place in my soul. It’s the first place my parents took me camping, and the first place where I truly fell in love with the mountains. It has a been a different and in my opinion better experience than Banff, less touristy and more in tune with what I loved about the mountains. And now it’s gone, and the recovery will take years. It has even affected my hunting plans, as I hunt near the border of the national park a lot, and I question going after any elk or moose this year as they will have been displaced, under immense stress, and most likely suffering from lack of food due to habitat loss caused by this fire. Call me soft, call me an idiot, but as a conservationist first and hunter second, I cannot justify going after animals in these conditions.
This situation was exacerbated by the pine beetle infestation killing a large amount of spruce over the last decade that has stood as a tinderbox, but the main cause of all these wildfires has been climate change. Drought conditions, little snowpack, extreme weather events, all becoming normal in our summers now, and it leads to this. We are killing the world with our industry. This past Sunday was the hottest day in the entire world on record…until Monday, which beat it.
I understand the need for oil and gas, and natural resources, and I understand the transition will take time, but there has to be more of an effort to do so. I want my wild places to stay beautiful, I want forest fires to be a normal, necessary, and healthy part of nature, not raging infernos created by conditions directly related to our effect on the planet. What can be done? Why hasn’t more been done?
I realize this is a complex issue, and you guys in the States deal with wildfires as well. Just needing to vent, as I know people personally affected by this, and wondering how we’ve let the world get to this point in the first place.