100 YEARS_OF HERITAGE 
     
     CO NSERVATION mm 
     
    
   
   
    
     During 1985, a very special centennial will be celebrated across 
     
     Canada. On this 100th anniversary of the creation of our national 
     
     parks, everyone will be invited to celebrate 100 years of heritage 
     
     conservation in Canada. 
     
    

    
     The origins of Canada's national parks are linked to the con- 
     
     struction of the transcontinental railway, and its final crossing of 
     
     the Rocky Mountains. Railway workers were inspired to explore the 
     
     majestic natural beauty that was all around them. One day, in Novem- 
     
     ber, 1883, a foreman, Frank McCabe, and one of his co-workers, William 
     
     McCardell, visited the area close to Terrace (now Sulphur) Mountain 
     
     and discovered two natural hot springs. 
     
    

    
     News of the discovery spread like wildfire, and due to the pos- 
     
     sibility of making a financial gain on this unusual attraction, the 
     
     site was soon overrun by railway workers. A legal battle to establish 
     
     ownership followed, a battle which soon came to an unexpected ending. 
     
    

    
     On November 28, 1885,'the Goverment of Canada passed an Order—in- 
     
     Council which decreed that an area approximately 26 square km around 
     
     what are now known as Cave and Basin Hot Springs be set aside for 
     
     future park use, thereby protecting the area from exploitation. The 
     
     beginning of Banff National Park, the preservation of the Hot Springs 
     
     was the first step towards creation of our network of national parks. 
     
    

    
     On June 23, 1887, Parliament passed the Rocky Mountains Park Act 
     
     which officially created the first national park. As early as 1886, 
     
     the government had created land 
     
    
   
   
    
     reserves, including one at Lake 
     
    

    
     Louise that would eventually be 
     
    

    
     part of Banff. Other land re- ' 
     
    

    
     serves laid the foundation for 1885 
     
    

    
     Yoho and Glacier. With the set- @ 
     
     ENE; 
     
    
   
   
    
     ting aside of land for the fut- 
     
    

    
     ure Waterton Lakes National  7' 
     
    

    
     Park in 1895, Canada was well  
     
     on its way to conserving im- 
     
    
   
   
    
     4 O 
     
     portant parts of its natural 1? 11‘ ‘[ 
     
     heritage. O   
     
    

    
     The national parks move- - 
     
     ment, born in the Canadian  
     
     Rockies, spread quickly to 
     
     other parts of the country and 
     
     new parks began popping up in every province. Due to public interest 
     
     inethe conservation of wildlife, and particularly a small herd of elk 
     
     north of Edmonton, Elk Island National Park was established in 1913. 
     
     Other early western parks include Jasper (1907), Mount Revelstoke 
     
     (1914), Kootenay (1920), Wood Buffalo (1922), Prince Albert (1927) 
     
     and Riding Mountain (1929). 
     
    

    
     Further east, the first park to be established was St. Lawrence 
     
     Islands National Park (1914). Point Pelee, long renowned as a game 
     
     preserve, came next in 1918, and Georgian Bay Islands National Park 
     
     was officially established in 1929. Cape Breton Highlands National 
     
     Park, created in 1936, was the first national park in the Maritime 
     
    
   
   
    
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