Volunteers help keep our backyard beautiful
Recently, six volunteers from Jasper and seven volunteers from Banff met up in Jasper National Park to clean up trash along the Maligne Canyon trail. This popular hiking trail is a great way to experience dramatic deep canyons and beautiful scenery in the Canadian Rockies. Unfortunately, this summer found it in less-than-pristine condition. The volunteers cleaned up between the First Bridge and the Third Bridge, and their efforts yielded the equivalent of five full bags of trash! Items found included bits and pieces of paper, wrappers, cigarette butts, napkins, recyclables and even diapers. Afterward, the Banff volunteers took time to explore the town of Jasper, Lake Annette, and the Icefields Parkway before returning home, passing on a useful trail report for Parker Ridge to the information centres.
Jasper National Park has close to 20 official volunteers, including Caribou Ambassadors and Park Stewards. Volunteers from Banff are part of a unique international voluntourism program that runs all summer long between Parks Canada and Go International Voluntourism. Individuals in this program come from all over the world鈥擥ermany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Holland are just some of the countries represented!
Jasper National Park is always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help out with fun and interesting projects on an as and when needed basis; for more information, email: [email protected] or call 780-883-0486.
