Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park

Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
	Landsat 7 image of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
Location	Alberta, Canada and Montana, United States
Coordinates	49°00′00″N 113°55′00″W / 49.00000°N 113.91667°W
Formed	June 18, 1932
Governing body	Parks Canada, U.S. National Park Service
	Location of Waterton Glacier International Peace Park in North America
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Includes	Waterton Lakes National Park; Glacier National Park
Criteria	Natural: (vii), (ix)
Reference	354rev
Inscription	1995 (19th Session)
Area	457,614 ha (1,766.86 sq mi)

The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the union of

Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site

.

History

Formation

The union of the Waterton Lakes National Park and the Glacier National Park is attributed to a number of individuals throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early proponents of a borderless international park include Canadian George "Kootenay" Brown, a long-time settler and first forest ranger-in-charge of Waterton, and American Albert Henry “Death-on-the-Trail” Reynolds, an early ranger of the northern portion of Glacier.^[1]

The

Cardston, Alberta, and Montana Rotary Clubs played a significant role in the park's establishment, holding a joint meeting at the Prince of Wales Hotel on July 4–5, 1931, which led to a resolution drafted by Samuel H. Middleton, calling on both groups to petition the proper authorities for the establishment of the Peace Park.^[2] An agreement was subsequently negotiated by Canadian Brigadier-General John Smith Stewart, Member of Parliament for Lethbridge, and American Congressman from Montana Scott Leavitt.^[3] The 72nd United States Congress passed An Act to establish Waterton Glacier International Peace Park on December 8, 1931, and be approved by the United States Senate in March 1932. The Canadian federal government decided to wait until after the United States government had passed a bill in order to act, and the Canadian bill was further delayed by protests of proponents of the International Peace Garden between Manitoba and North Dakota. Finally, John Stewart's Act respecting the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park was passed by Parliament, and given royal assent on May 26, 1932.^[2]

The union of the parks was achieved through the efforts of Rotary International members from Alberta and Montana, on June 18, 1932, at

Baronet. The ceremony for the Canadian side was delayed by the Great Depression, and finally took place in July 1936, with Lieutenant Governor of Alberta William L. Walsh overseeing the ceremony and dedicating a cairn for conservation advocate Kootenay Brown.^[3]