Banff Airstrip

[ichimama]

Banff airstrip reopens

 

 

 

calgary.ctv.ca

 

csc

 

POSTED AT 5:36 PM Tuesday, April 8

 

 

The airstrip in Banff will officially reopen for emergency landings and that decision has environmental groups upset.

 

In the late 1990s Parks Canada announced the closure of the airstrip and since then it has sat unused.

 

The federal government reopened the airstrip for emergency landings in mid march of this year.

 

Environmentalists worry this is the first step toward a complete reopening of the airfield.

 

“Everybody that's been involved understood that airstrip was closed and all we were waiting for was the federal government to sign the signature that would make that final,” said Wendy Francis of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.

 

In the same announcement the federal government also reopened the airport in Jasper to both emergency and recreational landings.

[Ryan]

The federal government reopened the airstrip for emergency landings in mid march of this year.

 

Am I the only one who finds that sentence kinda funny?

[Bif]

Yes because we'd much rather a plane crash into the forest and set the trees on fire and spew oil everywhere than make a controlled emergency landing to an unobtrusive grass airstrip.

 

Dumbasses

[skullcap]

I get it Ryan, does it really need to be open for emergencies? Guess they may maintain it is all.

[Skidz]

I think it means they'll be paying someone to plow the snow and mow the grass...

[Gary Watson]

This scenario has been going on for years as Parks Canada wanted to shut it down at least 20years ago but TC said that the Parks had no jurisdiction.

I was a Director of the Alta Aviation Council in the 90s and it was a constant topic with all the GA fixed wing pilots- primarily for the emergency aspect but also as a destination. Same thing with Jasper. The AAC strongly supported keeping it open but as the association fell into decline in the late 90s their voice was no longer heard.

 

The tree-huggers are always making noise about the environmental impact but fail to explain how 2 small grass strips that are already in place can compare to 4 lane hiways, smoke belching semis and hoards of refuse-dropping tourists??

 

By the sounds of it, Jasper will be open as an operating airport and Banff will be upgraded tothat category sometime this year--after they cut the grass I assume.

[MDT MECH TURB]

So; does that mean the 3 airplanes sitting at the Jasper airport for the past year haven't been able to leave because the airport was "closed"?

 

Seemed ok to dig a pretty big ditch through Jasper this winter for a rather large pipe but an existing grass strip in a grassland area is enviromentally objectionable?

 

What a bunch of......

[Gary Watson]

So; does that mean the 3 airplanes sitting at the Jasper airport for the past year haven't been able to leave because the airport was "closed"?

 

Seemed ok to dig a pretty big ditch through Jasper this winter for a rather large pipe but an existing grass strip in a grassland area is enviromentally objectionable?

 

What a bunch of......

 

Don't know about the 3 a/c but I know a bunch of AAC members were flying into Jasper over the years trying to publicize the stupidity of the situation and hoping to get charged so they could take it to court.

 

I agree with your last sentence 1000%