A group of volunteers will be patrolling Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park this spring and summer to aid visitors and monitor the health of the trails, as part of a program led by the Glenbow Ranch Park Foundation (GRPF).
According to Sarah Parker, executive director of the foundation, she and her team have been leading a wider volunteer program since 2011. But before that, volunteers played an even more important role by mapping out the trails in the sprawling park located just southeast of Cochrane.
“As of now, we have over 100 [people] volunteering with our non-profit organization and they help in a variety of ways,” Parker said. “With the increase in visitation to our park – at times over 1,000 per cent – having their knowledge out there in the park for those who need it just seems like such an important piece to the visitor experience here at our park.”
Parker added volunteers assist GRPF in various ways, such as picking up garbage along the trails, leading guided tours and helping with youth programming at the park’s visitor centre. She said with their wealth of knowledge about the history and ecology of the park, volunteers are able to meet and greet visitors while also helping them with questions, whether it’s how they can get to Calgary from the park or why certain animals, such as cows, graze there.
“A lot of people who are first visitors to [the park] might not know that it’s 3,200 acres of untouched grassland, and there is only 15 per cent of that left in Alberta,” Parker said. “So the fact that nothing’s ever been planted here, [the land] hasn’t been used for agricultural purposes other than grazing, makes them really unique.”
Two adventurers plan their route at Tiger Lily Loop at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. The park was a busy site for families and pooches on Saturday before snow hit. Photo by Carmen Cundy/Rocky View WeeklyMost people who come don’t always recognize what that means, Parker added, so having volunteers out in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park is a chance to teach them about the unique features of a grassland.
According to Parker, the wildflowers and grasses at the park are fragile and if disturbed, are “virtually impossible to bring back.” By sharing that kind of information with visitors at the park, she and her volunteers can help prevent people from going off of the trails and disturbing the ecosystem.
“It helps [visitors] understand why they should take a picture of a flower instead of pulling it out of the ground,” she said.
The volunteers are also able to help remind visitors of the park’s rules, such as the importance of keeping dogs on a leash during their visit. Parker said there are many reasons why this is a rule, such as the presence of coyotes and black bears, and the possibility of dogs disturbing the grasslands, or other wildlife like deer.
“This is all information that we can share with the public when we greet them on the path,” she said.
Parker added the foundation had a similar park patrol program years ago, which came to an end. With so many new visitors to Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she said the foundation has brought the program back in an effort to preserve and protect the park.
If people are interested in becoming a volunteer with GRPF, they can do so by completing an application on the Alberta Parks website. Applicants will then go through an orientation process in order to become familiar with the park's history and ecology, and they can then sign up to become part of the park patrol program.
“It’s really left to the schedule of the volunteer,” Parker said. “They do have to work in a group of two for personal safety, but they can volunteer anytime between dawn and dusk patrolling the park and we work with them to have first aid qualifications.”
The Bow River is seen with remnants of melting ice and snow on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. Photo by Carmen Cundy/Rocky View WeeklyShe said volunteers are armed with anti-bacterial lotion provided by Cochrane Toyota, as well as maps and information about the park. Once volunteers are trained and given the necessary equipment, they are able to be Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park's eyes and ears for the foundation and for Alberta Parks.
Parker added the wider volunteer program, for the last five years, has been sponsored by Catalyst, an accounting firm based out of Calgary.
Carmen Cundy, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @carmenrcundy
