Earlier this month, Alberta Forestry and Parks launched a period of public engagement for a draft of a new Terms of Reference for the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park management plan, a new document designed to address increasing visitor demand while also plotting a path that will allow the Park to mitigate the impact of people on the natural environment.
The public input will come in two phases, the first of which regards the parks Terms of Reference and will run from August 5 to September 16 and will consist of a preliminary public engagement survey that will be used to inform the draft plan, and a secondary outreach plan Alberta Parks is calling a ‘Trailhead Conversation’.
“The management plan will help us balance how we protect that ecosystem while at the same time allowing and supporting recreation in the park,” said Peggy Holroyd, the planning team lead for Parks Operations in the Kananaskis Region for the department of Alberta Forestry and Parks.
Holroyd said Glenbow Park has gone without a proper management plan for the last 10 years, of which the last couple years have seen a marked increase in visitation that has necessitated the need for an official management plan.
In the summer of 2023, Holroyd and a co-author conducted a survey of Glenbow Park users to better understand statistical representation of the park's user base. Glenbow Ranch Park is not Alberta’s busiest park, but it is a gem in the Cochrane area and the user survey-- which showed planning staff who uses the park and what for–laid the groundwork for the more widespread public engagement period this summer.
Holroyd said the public engagement is focusing on how the Terms of Reference can set the scope, structure, and general understanding of the management plan. “We’re asking what did we get right and what did we miss,” Holroyd said.
The trailhead conversations will be key to understanding what the public is thinking. The hour-long, in-person engagement session will allow the public to interact with the planning team, giving feedback and providing insight into what should, and shouldn’t be done. Registration for the trailhead conversation can be done on the Alberta parks and Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation website.
Holroyd said the planning team isn’t totally sure what the public will say during the public engagement.“This is a well loved park and I expect people will want to come out and give their feedback,” Holroyd said. “The experts are the visitors.”
According to Parks statistics, the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park protects over 1,300 hectares of land along a stretch of the Bow River between the City of Calgary and the Town of Cochrane. The park receives nearly 100,000 visits each year.
Engagement is key to understanding what the future of the Glenbow Ranch Park will look like. Once it is done, Holroyd and the rest of the planning team will draft a plan for early 2026 when it will be presented to the public again, who will then have another opportunity to give their feedback.
“There are a lot of changes happening around the park that will inevitably affect the park,” Holroyd said. “Our question now is how much, or how little, do we want the park to change?”
