Minister Response to AWA Requests for Designating High Rock and Livingstone Ranges as Wildland Provincial Parks

February 26, 2026

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• Action Alerts
• Headwaters
• Protected Areas

At the end of 2025, AWA kicked off a campaign to see the High Rock and Livingstone Ranges formally protected under the Provincial Parks Act as Wildland Provincial Parks.

The Alberta government identified both High Rock and Livingstone Ranges for protection as future Wildland Provincial Parks in the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP). AWA would like to see these parks made official in a timely manner.

The first step of this campaign was creating postcards, with the help of the talented artist Geneva Haley, to be sent from interested members of the public to the Minister of Environment and Protected Areas. These postcards are still being distributed and sent, and can be picked up at our office (don’t forget to add a stamp).

We received a response to these postcards from the minister in February 2026 (see below), which essentially restates information from the SSRP that “Conservation areas (new and expanded) created under a regional plan are subject to the regulations denoted in that plan until the conservation area is designated under the appropriate legislation (example: Provincial Parks Act) by Order in Council. For the new and expanded conservation areas listed below, land use will be managed by the terms listed in the Regulatory Details until such time as these lands are designated under the appropriate Act, after which the regional plan will be amended to reflect this change.”

 

AWA is happy to see that these areas are being managed in accordance with the SSRP. However, we urge the minister to formalize their designations as Wildland Provincial Parks in a timely manner in order to secure protections for these areas. Additionally, we urge the minister to expand the proposed borders of these protected areas to include the entirety of the Oldman’s headwaters in order to protect the health of the watershed and all downstream communities that rely on it.

Keep sending your postcards, and stay tuned for the next steps!