This post originally appeared on the Let’s Find Out website.

This episode: “Parks for Tomorrow.” We’re going to look at one protest in Banff on a drizzly October day in 1977. And we’re going to peek behind the scenes to see how and why organizers tried to get media attention.

Parks for Tomorrow was a coalition of scientists and environmental groups from across Canada who came together to protect national parks from commercial exploitation. Most urgently, they wanted to stop expansion of the Sunshine Village ski resort in Banff, and cattle grazing and haycutting in Waterton and Prince Albert National Parks. Their campaign was centred around a march down the streets of Banff on October 23, 1977. The Parks for Tomorrow demands were endorsed by conservation groups from across Canada who said they represented over 750,000 members. The ground-level organizing work was done by a small group of volunteers, many from the Banff-based Bow Valley Naturalists.

We went through Bow Valley Naturalists’ records at the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies to learn why they valued media coverage so highly – and ask how much these lessons would apply outside of a park.

Campaigners got most of the media attention they were looking for. CBC and CTV both sent TV news crews from Calgary, and radio stories aired on CBC, CFCN, and CKXL.

Some of the print coverage of the protest from The Albertan, Crag & Canyon, Calgary Herald, and Edmonton Journal:

This is Part 2 of our mini-series… You Can Change the World! Or… Why Would I Talk to You? We’re sharing three stories about Albertan environmental groups and journalists way back in the 70s.

Part 1: Hilary McDowall and the Kicking Horse News

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Research for this mini-series was supported by the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies’ Lillian Agnes Jones Scholarship. They hold a complete collection of Kicking Horse News issues, and many drafts and letters Hilary McDowall wrote.

Read Chris’ full research paper on this topic: “‘You Can Change the World’: Environmental Advocacy and Media in 1970s Alberta.”

This episode is brought to you by SkirtsAfire, Edmonton’s annual festival featuring the work of women in the arts. This year’s festival takes place from March 5 to 15, 2026, in Old Strathcona and the French Quarter, plus a new venue: ArtsHub Ortona!

This episode is also brought to you by The Pulse, Taproot Edmonton’s daily newsletter. Subscribe to The Pulse and you’ll get original journalism from Taproot’s team of reporters, summaries of recent news and upcoming event listings, and The Taproot Mini crossword.