Danielle Smith pans federal '30x30' conservation goal, citing wildfire threat

OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is warning that a federal push to more than double protected lands could lead to more wildfires.

Smith said on her radio show over the weekend that Alberta won’t be signing onto Ottawa’s recently unveiled plan to protect more than 1.5 million square kilometres of new lands, noting that wildfire management practices (or the lack thereof) in federally protected areas hardly inspire confidence in the initiative.

“Well, I can tell you, we don’t think that the only way to manage landscapes is to build a fence around it, allow it to grow so old that all the vegetation becomes thick and dense and a fire hazard, and then wait for it to burn down,” said Smith.

“That, sadly, has been the characterization of how Parks Canada has managed out park system,” she continued. “It’s why we’ve had devastating fires, everywhere from Waterton (Lakes) to Jasper (in 2024).”

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced in late March that he was bringing Canada in line with the United Nations’ target of protecting at least 30 per cent of Earth’s lands and oceans by 2030, an objective known as 30×30.

Carney said he would protect at least 1.6 million square kilometres of new land over the next four years — more than doubling the current 1.4 million square kilometres—and up to 700,000 square kilometres of ocean.

He announced funding for at least 10 new national parks and up to 15 national urban parks as part of a $3.8-billion nature strategy.

But Smith says there’s already a successful made-in-Alberta model of mixed-use land conservation.

“We use not only cattle ranching as a way of managing our grasslands… but also forestry to manage our forestry landscapes and keep them healthy,” said Smith.

Smith said that strategically thinning out old-growth forests and planting new trees creates a “natural firebreak.”

“I reject the federal government’s view that, just build a fence around it and that’s protected,” said Smith. “No, some of these landscapes actually have to be actively managed.”

Smith said that, by the province’s definition, 60 per cent of its land is already protected.

Her comments come after Alberta Environment Minister Grant Hunter put out a statement asserting provincial jurisdiction over land management in response to Carney’s 30×30 announcement.

“As the federal government advances national conservation targets, Alberta expects full recognition of provincial jurisdiction and existing outcomes. Conservation in Canada will not succeed through one-size-fits-all approaches,” wrote Hunter.

The statement emphasized that four per cent of provincially protected lands are “working landscapes” where farming, ranching or forestry take place.

Hunter’s office told National Post that Carney did not notify Alberta before announcing the conservation goals.

Federal land management practices came under a microscope after an historic summer 2024 wildfire in Alberta’s Jasper National Park burned through 32,000 hectares and caused more than $1 billion in damages.

Expert had warned for years beforehand that a major blaze was likely to hit Jasper, due in part to thousands of hectares of highly flammable dead trees from pine beetle infestation.

This was the second time in less than a decade that a major Alberta wildfire started in a federally protected area. A summer 2017 lighting storm set off a blaze in southern Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park, burning roughly 35,000 hectares.

Smith said last year that she wouldn’t sign off on the creation of “one additional acre” in Alberta for a federal park, citing her concerns that federal officials would designate new parks in order to block oil and gas infrastructure.

The office of federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, the minister responsible for Parks Canada, didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about Smith’s comments. Minister of Emergency Management Eleanor Olszewski also couldn’t be reached.

National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com

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