Mountain areas are well represented in Canada's national parks system, and in the park systems of British Columbia, Alberta, and Yukon. In November 1992, Canadian parks, environment, wildlife, and forestry ministers endorsed a historic commitment to complete a network of protected areas representative of Canada's land-based natural regions by the year 2000. Federally, that commitment entails representing each of 39 natural regions in the national parks system. Ten of these regions are predominately mountainous. Of the two mountainous natural regions unrepresented in the national parks system, one is represented in the provincial parks system and a study is assessing the feasibility of a candidate national park in the other.
Parks encourage cooperative regional land use planning and management, and environmental monitoring.
The broader ecosystem approach to the management of protected areas is evident in the management of several of Canada's mountain national parks. Waterton Lakes National Park, for example, is the core of one of Canada's six biosphere reserves. Canadian Heritage Parks Service, is a partner with the Canadian Forest Service, of Natural Resources Canada in four of ten model forests, such as the Foothills Model Forest outside Jasper National Park. Through this cooperative programme, the Parks Service is working to support the maintenance of sustainable regional landscapes that require preservation efforts, as well as activities beyond park boundaries. With the growing emphasis on ecosystem management, the Parks Service and other partners are developing and applying methods for assessing ecological integrity using monitoring, trend analysis, and cumulative impact assessment tools.