For too long, Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said Friday, Alberta’s provincial parks have been neglected.



She said that has thwarted tourism opportunities and put strain on the landscape, and her government intends to do something about it.



That something is a $239 million investment in parks over the next five years, including campground improvements, trail upgrades and roadway redevelopment.



Over the last decade, around one million people have moved to Alberta, but few new provincial campgrounds have been built.



Even with campgrounds continually booked to capacity, Phillips said, many of them have become ragged around the edges thanks to a lack of maintenance dollars.





“We have a number of visitors that we are not accommodating in our current system,” Phillips said.



In particular, she pointed to large RVs, for which electric hookups and supporting infrastructure has been sorely missing.



“Having our parks as an … anchor for other tourism opportunities in and around those regions is something we see in other jurisdictions, such as B.C., but we’ve really take a pass on those opportunities in Alberta over the last decade,” Phillips said.



“It’s time to catch up.”



She said those investments will pay for themselves over time, and create hundreds of jobs in construction, engineering and project design.



Tent campers need not worry — Phillips said there are no plans to get rid of non-powered sites.



Provincial park improvements:

Lakeland — addition of comfort cabins

English Bay — campground redevelopment

Young’s Point — playground and day-use area upgrades

Lesser Slave Lake — parking lot converted to a camping area

Blackfoot-Cooking Lake — trail system upgrade

Wabamun Lake — expansion of parking lots

West Bragg Creek — trailhead expansion

Sibbald Lake — campground and day-use area expansion and upgrades

Cypress Hills — boardwalk redevelopment

Writing-On-Stone — roadway upgrades and trail improvements



Investments this year:

$16.22 million for maintenance funding (doubling to $34m in 2017-18)

$10 million for South Saskatchewan Regional Plan

$5 million for Lower Athabasca Regional Plan

$5.12 million for flood mitigation for the Kananaskis Country Golf Course

$2 million for parks planning



egraney@postmedia.com



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