Jasper National Park covers a sprawling 10,878 kilometres of wilderness in the Rocky Mountains, and six Park Wardens have the task of enforcing laws within its boundaries. 

In the spring of 2009, Parks Canada re-organized the wardens service, shifting the way Park Wardens work. The six wardens each take on different tasks along with the regular warden duties.

Darien Sillence and his dog Starsky make up Parks’ K-9 unit. Sillence works with the visitor safety specialists to assist in rescues and searches. He also works with the RCMP. Other wardens work with the Palisades Centre doing courses for students, one warden attends court each time it is in session, and Jim Mamalis acts as supervisor.

Four of the wardens are year-round, and two are seasonal in the summer. 

Mamalis said there is no typical day for a warden, and it all depends on what season it is. 

In the summer, four wardens are generally on duty each day. Wardens are heavily involved with keeping the peace at campgrounds. They get many calls each summer to oust rowdy groups of campers, deal with illegal campfires and more.

“We work quite late,” Mamalis said.

Common places the wardens will attend to are the Whistlers Campground and Lake Annette, to enforce liquor laws and Horseshoe Lake to curb a growing problem of cliff jumping. Illegal camping and fires proved to be a problem at Horseshoe Lake this year as well. 

While Jasper’s tourist industry is in its shoulder season, Park Wardens don’t have a lot of downtime as the fall turns into winter. 

Catching poachers becomes a priority, and Mamalis said it’s incredible how bold some illegal hunters can get. To catch poachers in the act, wardens will do patrols from their vehicles at key hours early in the morning and late at night. Often poachers are caught close to the highways. Bull elk are a common target. 

Last year, Mamalis said a bull elk was shot in the heart with a bow, near Highway 16. The arrow did not kill the animal, and Parks was forced to euthanize it once it was discovered. The trail went cold after investigating the scene. 

Also in 2009, a poacher killed a bull elk only 50 metres off the highway near Talbot Lake. The antlers and meat were taken, with the carcass left behind. Mamalis said getting a conviction in cases like that are tough unless the suspect is spotted. 

Sometimes poachers aren’t so lucky, and grabbing animals right off the road gets them caught red-handed. 

Mamalis said that in 2004, they caught a man after he drove his truck right off Highway 16 in a clear meadow, visible from the road, and harvested an elk. He was slapped with a $1,500 fine, lost his firearm and lost his hunting privileges in Canada for three years. 

“It’s a pretty serious offence under our act,” Mamalis said. 

“This time of year you get your opportunistic roadside poachers,” Mamalis said. 

Patrols are also done throughout the park. Sometimes wardens will tour the backcountry on horseback, on a quad or hiking. They often spend time along the borders of the park deep in the backcountry to ensure no one is crossing the boundary to hunt. 

The second offence Park Wardens consider the most serious is pollution. In Jasper, the concern is less about pollution, but more about the improper storage of hazardous material. They use tips from resource conservation specialists and the public in these cases. One recent charge was laid against a resort outside of the town of Jasper after a diesel tank leaked following a refitting. The fuel leaked down a hill and into a stream that was the home of several species of fish. The resort received a hefty $10,000 fine. 

Suspects are caught in surprising ways. Emergency Responders report any illegal activity that is punishable by the Park Wardens. 

Poachers are often reported by responsible hunters who notice a gut pile, or catch someone in the act. 

“Usually they’re pretty observant,” Mamalis said of the hunters who travel outside of the park to hunt. 

Wardens also work closely with Fish and Wildlife officers. 

Mamalis said they have used social networking to catch people guilty of offences ranging from feeding wildlife to illegal four-by-fouring in the park. 

“They think they can’t be traced back,” he said. 

As the winter approaches, Park Wardens change gears once again and have a new set of jobs to do. They participate in avalanche work by patrolling the park gates on Highway 93 to ensure no one is going around them. This year they will be patrolling the Cavell Road to make sure no one is using it during its closure. Under a new law, youth groups must be accompanied by a certified guide in backcountry areas. Wardens make sure any group using the alpine abide by those rules. 

Sometimes the wardens put on their cross-country skis and spend the day on the trails making sure people aren’t letting their dogs run loose.

Many people hunt right on the outside of the east park boundary. Patrols are regularly done there. If an animal is shot outside the boundary, and runs into the Park and dies there, it is the responsibility of the hunter to call Parks Canada. A warden will attend the scene and confirm that the animal was in fact shot outside the gates. The animal can then be removed. 

Animal mortality on highways is a year-round issue. Park Wardens do have the authority to write speeding tickets and sometimes participate in traffic safety blitzes the RCMP put on. 

“(We) just try to keep the speeding in the park to a dull roar,” Mamalis said. 

Wardens are responsible for removing wildlife that have been hit on the highway, and keep an eye out for people picking up animals that have been hit to harvest the meat. Mamalis said it is a similar offence to poaching, and happens more often than illegal hunting. 

Sheep have become habituated to the highway and like to lick the salt off the pavement.

“They get so used to vehicles they get stupid on the road,” Mamalis said. “That’s why they get hit so much.”

Although it’s not in their job description, wardens will help out the wildlife specialists by scaring the odd herd of sheep off the highway. 

“If there’s sheep on the road, why would I drive right past it?” Mamalis said. 

Becoming a Park Warden is a huge learning process. First, potential wardens are sent to Depot training in Saskatchewan for three months to learn about law enforcement. The first season as a warden is spent training on the job with a supervisor learning all about the park. 

After eight years as a warden in Jasper National Park, Mamalis said he still hasn’t seen every square-kilometre of it.

“It takes years to really get the full depth of the experience under your belt,” he said.

After eight years, Mamalis still enjoys the job, and loves getting out on a mountain bike, horse, quad, skis or any other mode of transportation the wardens use. Even when the job gets tough, Mamalis enjoys it. He says having negative experiences don’t bother him, because he knows he’s working in the public interest. 

“I enjoy the variety. You never know what you’re going to get one day to the next.”