Elk Island National Park

Elk Island National Park
Bison in Elk Island National Park
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 '5.1 "  N , 112 ° 51' 45.2"  W.
Location:	Alberta , Canada
Next city:	Edmonton
Surface:	194 km²
Founding:	1913
Visitors:	360,678 (2016/2017)
Address:	Elk Island National Park Site 4, RR # 1 Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta Canada T8L 2N7

The Elk Island National Park ( English Elk Island National Park , French Parc national du Canada Elk Island ) is a Canadian national park in the province of Alberta . The 194 square kilometer park is located approximately 45 km east of Edmonton and is an IUCN Category II ( National Park ) protected area . The park is crossed by Alberta Highway 16 , which is part of the Yellowhead Highway , and borders on Strathcona County and the County of Lamont .

geography

The park is located in a wooded section of the Beaver Hills , a natural hilly landscape with numerous lakes, swamps and ponds. The Beaver Hills tower over the surrounding plains by 30 to 60 meters, the lakes and ponds, also called kettles , make up about a quarter of the park area. The largest lake is Lake Astotin in the north of the park. The park is located in a transition zone where the prairies merge into the boreal coniferous forests .

history

The Beaver Hills were the Sarcee settlement area for centuries . Towards the end of the 18th century, however, the Sarcee were displaced by the Crees into the surrounding plains. The Crees were buffalo hunters and lived on the rich natural resources of the Beaver Hills. Until the 1830s they carried on a lively trade in beaver pelts with the European trading companies, until the stocks of beavers were exhausted. With the destruction of the bison herds , the Crees were deprived of their livelihood from the 1860s, so they left the Beaver Hills. From 1881 on, settlers from Germany , England and the Ukraine began to settle there, although the area of ​​today's park was too hilly and humid for successful agriculture. A first sanctuary in the Beaver Hills was established in 1899 when, in response to a forest fire in 1895, the federal government protected part of the forest north of today's national park as The Cooking Lake Forest Reserve as the nation's first forest reserve , today's Cooking Lake- Blackfoot Grazing, Wildlife, and Provincial Recreation Area . Since the hunt for elk and mule deer was still allowed and especially the stock of elk in Canada was endangered, five citizens from Fort Saskatchewan demanded the establishment of a game reserve. As a result, the federal government founded the 42 square kilometer Elk Park on Island Lake, today's Lake Astotin, in July 1906 , which was fenced in with a 2.2 meter high fence. This made the park the first large game reserve in Canada. When the park was established in 1906, there was only one settler family, the Osters on Oster Lake, who refused to sell their 16 hectares and continued to farm it until 1941. Another settler, Daniel Jordan, lived as a squatter in the park area and left his country in 1909 against a compensation of $ 900. In 1908, the park was Elk Iceland renamed because he as a protected area for elk (English Elk.) Was established and within the park the island-rich Island Lake is located. On March 13, 1913, the park received the status of a Dominion Park . In 1922 the park was extended to the Yellowhead Highway, and the National Park Act of 1930 made it a national park. In 1947 the park was enlarged by another 60 square kilometers south of the Yellowhead Highway.

In 2006, the Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve , a light protection area to which the Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area also belongs, was designated.

Flora and fauna

The park landscape consists of an open, grassy aspen forest with numerous embedded lakes and ponds. When the park was founded in 1906, 24 elk , 2 to 3 elk and 35 mule deer lived within the park . From 1907 to 1909, over 300 prairie bison , a subspecies of the American bison , were brought from Montana to an enclosure north of the park. The majority of them were relocated to the new Buffalo National Park near Wainwright in 1909 , but over 20 animals remained in Elk Island Park. The beavers, which gave the Beaver Hills its name, were exterminated in the 19th century and were only reintroduced to the park in 1942. Due to the numerous ponds and lakes, their population grew rapidly. In 1965, 23 wood bison, a second subspecies of the American bison, were settled from Wood Buffalo National Park in the park area south of the Yellowhead Highway. Today, the park is the most densely populated animal park in Canada compared to its size and is considered the park with the highest density of grass-eating mammals after the African Serengeti . In 2006, the population of prairie bones was so large that a group of 71 animals was removed and relocated to Grasslands National Park . The park is an excellent place to spot forest and prairie bonsons, Manitoba elk, elk, white-tailed and mule deer, and beavers in the wild. He is also an important habitat for water birds and an important stopover for migratory birds for a total of more than 250 species of birds including Great Blue Heron , American Bittern , Canada Goose , American White Pelican , bald eagles , great horned owls , Pileated Woodpecker and many duck species. In 1987 a successful settlement program for the trumpeter swan started .

Tourist facilities

The park is the only national park in Canada that is completely fenced. The Yellowhead Highway, which is also the main entrance, runs right through the park. There are three entrances to the park, one in the south, one in the north and one at the western end of the park. The visitor center is located near the southern park entrance. Twelve hiking trails and nature trails lead through the park, including the Living Waters Boardwalk , which is a floating walkway that leads 300 meters over Lake Astotin. There is a campsite and a nine-hole golf course on Lake Astotin. Another, but very rustic, campground is at Oster Lake. A Ukrainian pioneer house recalls the pioneering history of the 19th century, and Alberta's oldest ranger station recalls the early history of the park . In winter, the park is a destination for cross-country skiers and snowshoeers. Every year around 200,000 visitors visit the national park.

literature

• Peter Mertz: Travel Guide Nature Canada. BLV, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-405-14817-0

Web links

Commons : Elk Island National Park  - Collection of images

• Elk Island National Park , on Parks Canada , (English, French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ World Database on Protected Areas - Elk Island National Park of Canada (English)
2. ↑ Elk Island at www.yourcanada.ca. Retrieved April 7, 2011 . 
3. ^ Grasslands National Park - Bison update. Parks Canada, February 1, 2018, accessed July 27, 2019 .