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'Kananaskis' is an improvement district (a type of rural municipal administrative unit) situated to the west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. In June 2002, the area hosted the 28th G8 summit.
Located within the improvement district is 'Kananaskis Country', a tract of land with spectacular mountain and foothills scenery.

Contents

Recreation and tourism

Parks

Administration

Demographics

Photo gallery

See also

References

External links

Recreation and tourism

Recreation and tourism is what Kananaskis Country is noted for. Development for recreation in Kananaskis includes several campgrounds, a golf course, some hotels, a holiday ranch, two alpine ski areas (Nakiska, which hosted alpine skiing and freestyle moguls skiing during the 1988 Winter Olympics and Fortress Mountain) and a competitive cross-country ski area (the Canmore Nordic Centre) that the public can use. The Canmore Nordic Centre was the venue for cross-country skiing events during the 1988 Winter Olympics. Most of the development is within Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and along the highway 40 corridor that parallels the Kananaskis River. Kananaskis has many kilometres of hiking, cross-country ski, and horse trails. Other activities popular in Kananaskis include mountain biking, scrambling, climbing, backpacking, hunting, and fishing.

Parks

Several parks and one ecological reserve are located within Kananaskis. These include:


★ Bluerock Wildland Provincial Park

★ Bow Valley Provincial Park

★ Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park

★ Bragg Creek Provincial Park

★ Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park

★ Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park

★ Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park

★ Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

★ Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve

★ Sheep River Provincial Park

★ Spray Valley Provincial Park
Special areas within Kananaskis Country that are not formally designated as parks or ecological reserves include the Bow Corridor Area, the Elbow River Valley Area, Evan-Thomas Provincial Recreation Area, the Highwood/Cataract Areas, Sentinel Provincial Recreation Area, Stoney Creek Provincial Recreation Area, Strawberry Provincial Recreation Area and the Sibbald Area (Sibbald Lake Provincial Recreation Area, Sibbald Meadows Pond Provincial Recreation Area).

Administration

On a provincial level, Kananaskis Country has been administered since 1945 as 'Improvement District No. 5 (Kananaskis)'^[1]. It was established by the Municipal Affairs branch of the Alberta Government for multiple uses including timber harvesting, gas and oil extraction, cattle grazing, recreation and tourism. All activities are planned and facilities are developed with watershed protection as a priority.
Not all areas of Kananaskis Country are covered by the same measure of protection. Areas within Kananaskis Country include Provincial Parks, Provincial Recreation Areas, Wildland Provincial Parks, and Ecological Reserves. All of the aforementioned categories are governed by differing laws.
A management plan approved in March 2003 by the Kananaskis Country restricts further development in the Spray Valley Provincial Park area, in order to preserve the ecological integrity. Restrictions were imposed on off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, horseback riding and biking, however a site in the Spray Valley is considered for the construction of a small lodge^[2][3].

Demographics

No incorporated communities are located in Kananaskis. In 2001 the Kananaskis improvement district had a population of 462 in 210 dwellings spread over an area of 4,211.22 km², a density of 0.1 inhabitants/km².^[4]
In 2006, Kananaskis had a population of 429 living in 183 dwellings, a 7.1% decrease from 2001. The improvement district has a land area of and a population density of .

Photo gallery

See also

★ The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide

★ Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies

★ Kananaskis Country Trail Guide

★ List of Alberta provincial parks

References

1. Kananaskis Improvement District - Alberta Municipal Affairs
2. FFWD article (August 2003). Kananaskis Country management plan pleases greens, irks others. Retrieved March 11, 2007
3. Alberta Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture (2006). Management plans for the Kananaskis Area. Retrieved March 11, 2007
4. Kananaskis Community Profile - Statistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles. Released June 27, 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE

External links

★ Kananaskis Country

★ Kananaskis Improvement District

★ Hiking in Kananaskis