Welcome to the
Alberta Hiking association Newsletter

This month updates
include

1. Canmore
   masterplan
2. Ghost
   -Kananaskis Sub regional plan
   engagement
3. Alberta Hiking
   Association Board Recruitment

Bow Valley and the Canmore Area Trails Master
Plan

The Friends of Kananaskis (who is a member of AHA) is
highlighting the opportunity to participate in the planning process around Canmore that was recently completed. This process aims
to take into consideration the habits of wildlife and the people who use the area.

The Canmore Area Trails Master Plan (CATMP) was presented to the public for input in December/January 2025-2026.  This is a trails plan for the Bow Valley, which is one of the busiest areas in Alberta for trail-based activities and includes the trails at the Canmore
Nordic Centre and many trails, both designated and undesignated throughout theBow Valley.

This plan was created by Alberta Forestry and Parks and the process included input from 28 different stakeholder groups in the Bow
Valley that included indigenous groups, industry representatives, and many different recreation groups, including the Friends of Kananaskis, a volunteer-driven charity that focuses on maintaining and improving trails in Kananaskis Country.  The initial work on the trails plan began in summer 2023 and the stakeholder group began meeting in winter
2024.   This work fed into a process that resulted in the CATMP. 

This plan is designed to renew and improve Canmore’s trail network to meet the recreational needs of residents and visitors for years to come while also ensuring adequate wilderness protection for
wildlife.   Recent research on the impact of recreation on wildlife was
used to make decisions to enlarge wildlife corridors to allow better movement of wildlife and less disturbance. 

As a partner, the Friends of Kananaskis are supportive of
this plan and believe that when it is implemented, it will protect wildlife through expanded wildlife corridors and improve trail recreation with improved biking, hiking, and equestrian trails.

More information
about CATMP can be found here: Canmore
Area Trails Master Plan engagement |
Alberta.ca

Friends of
Kananaskis website: www.kananaskis.org

Written by Trevor
Julian Executive Director 

Friends of Kananaskis

Have a say in the Ghost-Kananaskis Sub-regional
planning process

Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (EPA) welcomes participation from organizations and members of the public as it begins its
Ghost Kananaskis Sub-regional planning process. The sub-regions along Alberta’s eastern slopes include a mix of public land,
parks and protected areas as identified in the South Saskatchewan
Regional Plan.

The development process includes two phases, pre-planning engagement (March to June 2026) and draft plan engagement
(August to November 2026). Public engagement opportunities will be announced.

The AHA will form a planning task force and invites
interested members to join the committee email info@abhiking.ca to join.

Please see below for some Elbow watershed related
updates

^{West Fraser looks forward to hearing your thoughts and gathering feedback on our 2026
timber harvest plans and future harvest areas. To help ensure your questions are answered by the right experts, the events
on March 31 and April 1 will focus on different harvest areas so you can connect directly with staff who specialize in those locations.}

^{March
31, 2026 – 3:00 to 7:00 pm}

^{Cochrane
RancheHouse – Hall of Vision}

^{Harvest
Plans: Atkinson Creek, B9 Quota, Burnt
Timber Creek, Coalcamp Creek,}

^{Grease
Creek, Highwood River, Jumpingpound
(Sibbald), McLean Creek}

^{April
1, 2026 – 10:00 am to 1:00 pm}

^{Cochrane
RancheHouse – Hall of Vision}

^{Jumpingpound
(Bragg Creek & Moose Mountain)}

^{April
1, 2026 – 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm}

^{Cochrane
RancheHouse – Hall of Vision}

^{Jumpingpound
(Bragg Creek & Moose Mountain)}

^{To
learn more please visit our website:}

West
Fraser Cochrane | West Fraser Timber Co.

AHA
is:

The Alberta Hiking
Association is committed to making hiking
trails in Alberta available to all
Albertans who love being outdoors in nature
to see the trees and hear the birds.

If you have photos
you would like to share with the AHA please
send then to info@ahiking.ca