As construction of a controversial tourist attraction continues in Jasper, Alberta, local opponents of the project have taken to the streets to hand out flyers criticizing private development in the famed national park.
The Glacier Discovery Walk is a glass-bottomed observation deck being built into the Tangle Ridge Viewpoint overlooking the picturesque Sunwapta Valley along Jasper National Park’s Icefields Parkway, a world heritage site.
Owned and operated by Brewster Travel Canada, the walkway has been heavily criticized by local residents and environmentalists, whose online petition against the project has garnered over 182,000 signatures worldwide.
“The opposition from Jasper has been tremendous on this,” says Jill Seaton of the Jasper Environmental Association, who helped organize the flyering effort.
“They’re privatizing a public viewpoint. We can’t stop it, but we want people to know what’s happening in their national parks.”
The flyer warns tourists that the project could start a “dangerous precedent” of private development in Canada’s national parks, and raises concerns about how the attraction will affect the local wildlife, particularly the mountain goats and bighorn sheep in the area.
