Many Central Albertans are concerned what the future holds for the West Country as they watch a public consultation process roll out in the Castle parks area of the province, and government plans for changes to how people are using those parks.

Among the changes introduced by the Notley government in January are the elimination of random camping, restricted use of off-highway vehicles and plans to phase out off-highway vehicle use all together in the next 3-5 years.

Wildrose MLA for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, Jason Nixon says many West Country stakeholders and Central Albertans who enjoy camping, fishing and hiking with their families wonder if the province will be looking to impose restrictions in the West Country next.
 
So far Nixon doesn't believe the writing is on the wall “I have asked the Minister directly what her plans are for the Bighorn area and the area west of Rocky Mountain House and Sundre, at this point she has indicated she’s not looking at doing that here, but there’s no way that I can guarantee that, all I can do is translate what she said. So instead what we’re doing is focusing on working with our local communities, our stakeholders to continue to lead the way on how we manage our West Country”.

Nixon is a firm believer that we can utilize the area and all of the recreational activities that go along with it while protecting it and he encourages everyone who enjoys spending time in the West Country to be good stewards of the land “we need to police ourselves so that we don’t put a situation that the government can come in and do something like the Castle and if we’re policing ourselves well and we’re maintaining our resources it’s less likely that they should be able to justify to do that”.

The province has extended public consultation on an updated draft management plan for the Castle Provincial Park and Castle Wildland Provincial Park until April 19th.