The National Parks of Canada

William A. Waiser is a professor of history at the University of
Saskatchewan, and the author of Saskatchewan’s Playground: A History
of Prince Albert National Park and The New Northwest: The Photographs of
the Frank Crean Expeditions, 1908-1909.

This book is a call for all good citizens to come to the protection of
Canada’s special places, the national parks. Beginning with the
establishment of Rocky Mountains Park (Banff) in 1885, McNamee seeks to
demonstrate how the parks have evolved from mountain playgrounds for
Canada’s elite into a truly national collection of diverse ecosystems.
He argues that the existing system needs not only to be carefully
managed to prevent undue stress and degradation, but also to be expanded
to ensure that other potential park areas are not lost forever.

The book is divided into three sections: “Wilderness Inheritance,”
which groups the parks into representative areas; “The Parks,” which
provides a brief, individual sketch of each of the 37 parks in the
system; and “The National Parks Agenda,” which examines current and
future challenges. The text is reinforced by a number of outstanding
photographs that leave little doubt why the national parks are
appreciated far beyond Canada’s boundaries.

McNamee’s primary concern is how national parks have effectively
become islands of wilderness in a sea of development and are threatened
by both outside commercial interests and heavy internal stresses. He
suggests that national parks need to be managed on an ecosystem basis,
with wilderness integrity taking precedence over recreational use. This
goal, however, is unrealistic as long as commercial and residential
activities continue in the parks. The parks themselves do not do enough
through their limited interpretive programs to promote the kinds of
values expressed by McNamee. Finally, the noble vision the author
expounds is squarely at odds with the thousands of Canadians who visit
parks for essentially recreational purposes. There are big challenges
ahead, then, if the national parks system is to be redefined and
enlarged along the lines outlined by McNamee. Unfortunately, the recent
federal budget cuts have only made the task more difficult.