Once upon a time...

In 1883, three railway employees working on the construction of the first transcontinental railway through the Rocky Mountains discovered hot springs near modern-day Banff. Canada's leaders were visionary in embracing a relatively new concept and created in 1885 Canada's first national park, the Banff Hot Springs Reservations - only the third such park in the world. In 1887, legislation designated the hot springs and surrounding area as Rocky Mountains Park (now Banff National Park). In subsequent years, several other parks were formed in Alberta.

But it wasn't until the appointment of James H. Harkin as Park Commissioner in 1911 that the framework for Canada's park system was created. Mr. Harkin saw the necessity of establishing parks to protect wildlife but also believed that Canadians should enjoy their parks and encouraged the establishments of "parks in every province".

His key accomplishment was protecting the "absolute sanctity" of the national parks from industrial development through legislation. The National Parks Act of 1930 established that "The national parks of Canada are hereby dedicated to the people of Canada for their benefit, education and enjoyment... and the parks shall be maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

And the rest as they say is history...(which in this case will continue in future posts)