What we do

Our vision is to keep at least half of Canada's public land and water wild forever. Check out our 2011-2013 Conservation Strategy to learn more and explore our program areas below.

Issues
	Policy & Legislation Influencing government policies and legislation is one method that CPAWS SAB uses to achieve conservation gains on the ground. The following are some of the areas in which we are currently working for the implementation of environmentally responsible policies to help conserve southern Alberta wilderness and ecosystems.
	Parks Canada's national are critically important for both the preservation of nature, and for people’s ability to enjoy protected nature. Dedicated by law to be used so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations, they carry the legal mandate to be managed primarily for ecological integrity.
	Wildlife Wildlife in southern Alberta requires healthy, intact, and connected habitats. CPAWS SAB is focused on a landscape level approach to protection with a priority on ensuring the ecological integrity of wilderness areas are maintained so that threatened species, such as grizzly bears, have the space they need to thrive.
	Wilderness Southern Alberta’s wilderness contains a diversity of rich and diverse landscapes. From our picturesque prairie grasslands, rolling foothills, inspiring parklands, and into our cascading epic Rocky Mountains – these places are special to us all. CPAWS SAB is dedicated to the continual protection and preservation of our wilderness spaces for us today and for our children tomorrow.
	Education Through our unique education programs, we seek to create a community of knowledgeable, empowered citizens who engage in stewardship and positive environmental action to conserve ecosystems, wilderness and protected areas.

Current campaigns
	The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) The South Saskatchewan Region (SSR), located in southern Alberta, is incredibly diverse. Its landscapes include grassland, parkland, foothills, and Rocky Mountains. The economy of the SSR is also diverse and the region's major economic activities are agriculture, energy production, forestry, and tourism and recreation. The SSR is also the most populated region in Alberta, containing 45 per cent of Alberta's population and our largest city, Calgary. The region also includes seven First Nations communities, whose reserves were established through the 1877 treaty process known as Treaty 7.
	Jasper’s Glacier Discovery Walk Project Canada’s treasured Jasper National Park could be on its way to gaining a theme park-like attraction. Brewster Travel Canada, owned by a US-based company, wants to blast out the side of the cliff beside the Icefields Parkway to build the “Glacier Discovery Walk” – a massive infrastructure “skywalk”, and charge people who wish to admire the view.
	Limits to growth In the mid 1990’s, the Banff/Bow Valley study recognized the single largest challenge to ecological integrity in Banff National Park and other National Parks has been the growth of human infrastructure, in particular, growth in the river valleys.
	The Castle Special Place In southwestern Alberta along the spine of the Rocky Mountains lies a ribbon of forested wilderness called the Castle Special Place. It is an ecosystem rich in biodiversity and incredible landscapes including alpine lakes, old growth forest and wetlands. It is a unique place of irreplaceable spiritual, recreational and ecological values but it is under threat from industrial exploitation and irresponsible recreational use.
	Bow Valley Wildlife Corridors and the Three Sisters Mountain Village Project The Bow Valley’s Town of Canmore is located in the middle of one of the most important regional wildlife corridors in the province. Wildlife uses this low elevation valley to move between two protected habitats: Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park.
	Modernizing Forestry Practices along Alberta’s Southern Eastern Slopes The area which lies along the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Southern Alberta is home to diverse land-uses including commercial forestry, cattle ranching, recreation and oil and gas. Numerous people visit Alberta’s Southern Eastern Slopes for the opportunity to experience the diverse natural landscapes, and to participate in a variety of recreational activities. The Southern Eastern Slopes are also of great ecological importance; this area contains the headwaters for the Bow and Oldman River Watersheds providing water to citizens in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Also, there is a rich habitat for diverse species including grizzly bears and cutthroat trout. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s Southern Alberta Chapter (CPAWS SAB) is conducting a project that is focusing on ways current forestry policies and practices in Alberta’s Southern Eastern Slopes can be improved.
	Alberta’s Land-Use Framework (LUF) Alberta’s Land-use Framework (LUF) and it’s supporting legislation, the Alberta Land and Stewardship Act (ALSA) is a new approach for managing private and public lands in Alberta to achieve long-term economic, environmental and social outcomes. LUF sets out guiding principles and identifies key strategies which will guide future land-use management in Alberta.
	Grasslands At one time, large expanses of diverse grasses, wildflowers and shrubs stretched across much of Canada. Unfortunately, grasslands are now one of the most endangered ecosystems of North America. It is estimated that up to 75% of Canada’s natural grasslands have been lost due to development and conversion to agriculture. In Alberta only 43% of native grasslands remain. CPAWS SAB is working to protect what remains of native grasslands and the critical habitat they provide.
	Grizzly bears The future of Alberta’s grizzly bears has been of significant concern for many Albertans for at least two decades. Recent research, summarized in the Government of Alberta’s 2010 Status of the Grizzly Bear in Alberta report, indicates that the grizzly bear population in Alberta is in dire straits. Alberta’s grizzly bear population, which occurs on both provincial and federal lands, is small (760) and becoming increasingly fragmented into even smaller population units, many of which are fewer than 100 individuals. Mortality rates are unsustainably high, and populations in many parts of Alberta are declining.
	Sage Grouse Desperate measures are needed if Canada’s most endangered wildlife species, the greater sage-grouse, is to be saved from extinction in Canada. This is the overwhelming conclusion coming from the Emergency Sage-Grouse Summit, held in Calgary, Alberta September 7-8, 2011. Just 13 male sage-grouse were recorded in Alberta in 2011, and only 35 in Saskatchewan.
	Yellowstone to Yukon One of CPAWS’ National Programs is the Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) program. This landscape scale vision is a network of core protected areas combined with an interconnected series of wildlife corridors running 3,200 km up the Rocky Mountains from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to northern Yukon. CPAWS’ long-term conservation vision for this region is to ensure a wide corridor of connected conservation areas in the Canadian portion of the Y2Y corridor.
	The Big Wild The Big Wild was founded by CPAWS and Mountain Equipment Co-op in the spring of 2008. The goal is to create a pan-Canadian movement that will advance the vision of keeping at least 50% of our public land and water permanently wild. We intend to do this by increasing the opportunity for Canadians to learn more about the need for wilderness protection and to voice their support for it.