Rocky Mountains Park Act, 1887
Statutes of Canada, 50-51 Victoria, Chap. 32
Assented to 23 June 1887

AN ACT RESPECTING THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS PARK OF CANADA

Whereas it is expedient in the public interest that a national park and sanatorium should be set apart and established in the North-West Territories: Therefore Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. The tract of land comprised within the limits hereinafter set forth, that is to say: commencing at the easterly end of Castle Mountain Station grounds, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, as shown on a plan of right of way filed in the Department of Railways and Canals by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, thence on a course about south thirty-five degrees east, ten miles more or less to a point in latitude seven minutes, six seconds and ninety-six hundredths of a second south of the point of commencement, and in longitude seven minutes, fifty-four seconds and ninety-eight hundredths of a second east of the point of commencement; thence on a course about north fifty-five degrees east, twenty-six miles more or less to a point in latitude five minutes, forty-six seconds and twenty hundredths of a second north of the point of commencement, and in longitude thirty-seven minutes, twenty-three seconds and thirty-one hundredths of a second east of the point of commencement; thence on a course about north thirty-five degrees west, ten miles more or less to a point in latitude twelve minutes, fifty-three seconds and ninety-one hundredths of a second north of the point of commencement, and an longitude twenty-nine minutes, thirty-two seconds and thirty-eight hundredths of a second east of the point of commencement; thence on a course about south fifty-five degrees west, twenty-six miles more or less to the place of commencement, containing by admeasurement two hundred and sixty square miles, be the same more or less, so far as the title to the said tract of land, in whole or in part, is now vested in the Crown, is hereby withdrawn from sale, settlement and occupancy under the provisions of "The Dominion Lands Act" or any regulations made under the said Act or any other Act with respect to mining or timber licenses or any other matter whatsoever.

2. The said tract of land is hereby reserved and set apart as a public park and pleasure ground for the benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the people of Canada, subject to the provisions of this Act and of the regulations hereinafter mentioned, and shall be known as the Rocky Mountains Park of Canada.

3. No person shall, except as hereinafter provided, locate, settle upon, use or occupy any portion of the said public park.

4. The park shall be under the control and management of the Minister of the Interior, and the Governor in Council may make regulations for the following purposes:

(a) The care, preservation and management of the park and of the watercourses, lakes, trees and shrubbery, minerals, natural curiosities and other matters therein contained;

(b) The control of the hot springs situate in the said park, and their management and utilization for purposes of bathing and sanitation and in every other respect

(c) The lease for any term of years of such parcels of land in the park as he deems advisable in the public interest, for the construction of buildings for ordinary habitation and purposes of trade and industry, and for the accommodation of persons resorting to the park;

(d) The working of mines and the development of mining interests within the limits of the park, and the issuing of licenses or permits of occupation for the said purposes; but no lease, license or permit shall be made, granted, or issued under this or the next preceding paragraph of this section which will in any way impair the usefulness of the park for the purposes of public enjoyment and recreation;

(e) Trade and traffic of every description;

(f) The preservation and protection of game and fish, of wild birds generally, and of cattle allowed to pasture in the park;

(g) The issuing of licenses or permits for the pasturage of cattle, and the management of hay lands;

(h) The removal and exclusion of trespassers;

(i) And generally for all purposes necessary to carry this Act into effect according to the true intent and meaning thereof:

(2) The Governor in Council, may, by the said regulations, impose penalties for any violation thereof, not exceeding in each case the sum of fifty dollars or, in default of payment with costs, imprisonment for not more than three months.

5. Every regulation made as aforesaid, shall, after publication for four consecutive weeks in the Canada Gazette, and in any other manner that may be provided thereby by the Governor in Council, have the like force and effect as if it was herein enacted, and such regulations shall be and before Parliament within fifteen days after its first meeting thereafter.

6. Nothing in this Act contained shall affect the obligations of the Government (if any) arising out of the conditions of the acquisition of the North-West Territories.

7. This Act may be cited as "Rocky Mountains Park Act, 1887."