What We Do

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society:

  • Promotes a positive and beneficial relationship between the Park and Calgary communities.
  • Forms creative partnerships with the management of Fish Creek Provincial Park and other groups to enhance park resources.
  • Sponsors and supports research and education in the natural sciences, environmental studies, recreation, park management, and heritage interpretation.

Some specific examples include:

Stewardship Programs

Park Watch Stewardship Program
Many people already enjoy walking, jogging, cycling, or just spending time with friends and family in Fish Creek Provincial Park. Now they can do all these activities and help keep the Park beautiful and healthy. Park Stewards provide a friendly presence to answer questions and help keep an eye on the condition of the Park. Our volunteers have reached about 26,000 park users through this program so far.

Wildlife Monitoring

The animals of Fish Creek Provincial Park are captivating. From the antics of an angry squirrel to the magnificent strut of a buck deer, people can’t help but stop to watch. Aside from being fun to watch, wildlife is also an important indicator of the Park’s health.

Wildlife Monitoring programs allow Park users to learn more about some of their favorite animals and organizes the collection of data. Currently, we have about 55 volunteers who track the populations of beaver, snakes, and amphibians in the Park. Special projects have also been done on wild flowers, owls, deer, and other wildlife of interest.


Resource Management Programs

 Trail Care

Trail Care offers community, corporate, and user groups the chance to come down to the Park and get their hands dirty. The Trail Care program helps to restore some overworked areas of the Park back to their natural state and creates more sustainable trails for all users. It is ideal for groups of all ages. Tasks are available to suit different sized groups and range from light to heavy work.

Park Clean-Up

Throughout the year we have special one-day events for people to enjoy. Last year about 250 people pitched in to help out. Two of our annual events are:

  • Bow River Clean-Up
    Community members help out by picking up garbage from the banks of the Bow River after spring runoff.
  • Purge the Spurge
    Volunteers help “weed out” leafy spurge, a nasty invasive weed, at this one of a kind event.

Education Programs

Speaker’s Series

Did you know that the smallest bat in North America weighs about the same as a regular-sized envelope? Can you tell the difference between coyote tracks and dog tracks? People who attend the Friends monthly speakers series learn all kinds of interesting tidbits on the creatures that call Fish Creek Provincial Park home.

We invite speakers from various backgrounds to speak on a wide range of topics, including speakers from the University of Calgary, the Calgary Zoo, Trout Unlimited, and experts in animal tracking and conservation. Topics include animals found in the Park, information on the Park’s ecosystem and plants, and issues facing today’s Parks and Protected Areas.

The Speaker's Series runs on the fourth Thursday of every month at the Bow Valley Ranch Visitor Centre except in November, December, June, July, and August and are open to the public. Last year, we reached about 300 people with this program.

Environmental Education Programs

We also offer special learning opportunities throughout the year, such as wildlife tracking workshops, butterfly walks, and historical walking tours. Additionally, we help support the initiatives of the Fish Creek Environmental Learning Centre, which reaches more than 10,000 school children every year, as well as thousands of families, through their programs. For more information on these initiatives, please contact us.

Vision for the Future

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society (the Friends) was established in 1992 and became a Registered Charity in 1994. Most of the volunteer opportunities in Fish Creek Provincial Park (the Park) are organized through the Friends. As a volunteer-driven, non-profit Society, volunteers are utilized in all Friends’ programs and activities and serve at all levels of decision-making. Volunteers run our Board of Directors. The Friends work closely with Park staff to help ensure that Fish Creek Provincial Park continues to prosper well into the future.

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Last updated: June 24, 2008

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