Welcome from Kevin Van Tighem, Superintendent
We Canadians are blessed to live in one of the greatest nations on earth - an immense country with a nearly unimaginable diversity of landscapes and of people.
From Haida Gwaii's sea-scented cedar groves to Hudson's Bay's pack ice and polar bears; from the cactus badlands of Saskatchewan's Frenchman's River and the humid woodlands of Point Pelee to Newfoundland's rocky coastal headlands - Canada is not just one kind of place; it is a diverse mosaic of living landscapes.
The stories of Canada's peoples are no less diverse. The First Nations whose ancestors roamed here at the same time as the mastodons. The waves of European colonists who cultivated the plains. The dreamers, refugees, displaced people and others who continue to come to Canada from around the world to add their stories to those already lived. We aren't one people; we are many.
Though we differ in many ways, we are united by a common pride. We are proud of Canada - its nature; its stories; its future.
And that's why Canadians have chosen to set aside places like Prince Albert National Park for all time.
Canada's national parks, heritage rivers and national historic sites represent, protect and celebrate all the rich diversity that is Canada -- our lands, our waters, and our stories.
Future generations of Canadians will be able to visit Prince Albert National Park and find a part of their identity here, just as we do today. Wolves on winter ice, lake trout cruising the spring shallows, tiny warblers hunting insects amid summer spruce boughs, the eery bugling of elk amid the autumn gold of aspen thickets, the big lakes and the far forests - all the things that make up this part of our home and native land will add meaning to the lives of future Canadians. They'll know who they are when they come here; just as we do.
Why? Because here in the heart of Saskatchewan, those who came before us saw the wisdom of setting aside a national park for us, our children, and all the children who will come after them.
Prince Albert National Park was established in 1927 as a grateful Prime Minister's gift to the young province of Saskatchewan. But it has become much more than that. As part of a system of national parks it is Canada's gift -- all our gift -- to the future.
We are truly delighted to welcome you to one of our country's great places. May your visit be full of wonder, peace and inspiration.
Kevin Van Tighem
Field Unit Superintendent, Northern Prairies
Message from Kevin Van Tighem
Gail and I have three children, the youngest of whom finishes grade twelve this spring and plans to remain in Jasper for a year before going to college. The others are currently attending University of Alberta and
Lethbridge Community College. Gail and I both grew up in Calgary, and are active hikers, birders etc. In our spare time I'm also a hunter and angler, and Gail is a weaver. Here in Jasper, Gail works for the Friends of Jasper National Park in sales and inventory control for their retail store.
I graduated in 1977 with Distinction from the University of Calgary with a B.Sc in Plant Biology.
Since then, I have spent my entire career working in Canada's national parks and national historic sites. My first three summers were as a seasonal park interpreter in Kootenay National Park. Following this, I worked five years as a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, conducting wildlife inventory work as part of the biophysical inventories of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Mt. Revelstoke, Glacier and Elk Island National Parks.
I returned to Parks Canada in 1984 and spent seven years in interpretation in Jasper, Yoho and the old Western Regional Office where I was cultural heritage interpretive specialist and involved in the commemoration of the Bar U, Gulf of Georgia Cannery, McLean Mill and other National Historic Sites.
In 1991 I became Waterton Lakes National Park's first conservation biologist. In 1999 Gail and I moved our family back to Jasper National Park where I became Ecosystem Secretariat Manager and, more recently, Manager of Resource Conservation.
I've published nine books on conservation and nature (most recent: "Coming West/A Natural History of Home" and "Home Range/Writings on Conservation and Restoration") and quite a few magazines articles and essays.
My life long commitment to conservation of wildlife, natural landscapes and rivers has led to a strong belief that the best solutions are those that work by building, rather than dividing, community and by engaging our best human attributes: creativity, intelligence, cooperation and optimism. In Jasper, working with Ron Hooper and some excellent community volunteers, park staff and colleagues, I've been fortunate to have many chances to try things out along this line. For example, we just developed a caribou recovery plan not by asking biologists to write it, but by putting together a group of skiers, hikers, business operators, biologists, naturalists and others and asking them to think through the issue and provide ideas. We also have started to solve a long-standing issue involving displacement of wildlife by human recreational use, not by closing areas but by re-designing (and actually expanding) our trail network so that people can enjoy better trails while at the same time wildlife can use sensitive habitats with less disruption.
