Those who attended an MOU signing between Parks Canada and the National Park Service included (From left to right) Kate Hammond, Intermountain regional director, NPS; Chief Roy Fox of Kainai Nation; Ron Hallman (seated), Parks Canada CEO; Council member Samuel Crowfoot of Siksika Nation; Chief Ouray Crowfoot of Siksika Nation; Superintendent Dave Roemer, Glacier National Park; Superintendent Locke Marshall, Waterton Lake National Park/NPS

At a ceremony Wednesday at Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada, the leadership of the National Park Service and Parks Canada signed a renewed memorandum of understanding "to reinforce the longstanding relationship between the two organizations."

Parks Canada President and CEO Hallman was joined by National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director Kate Hammond and Glacier National Park Superintendent Dave Romer in Waterton, while National Park Service Director Chuck Sams participated virtually. The park leaders were joined by leaders from the Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), who opened the event with a welcome address.

“Parks Canada is the National Park Service’s oldest international partner,” said Sams in a release. “I’m honored to renew our commitment to collaboration and enrich and enhance our shared missions of stewardship.”

“For over a century, Parks Canada and the National Park Service have worked closely together on protecting and presenting some of the most beautiful natural spaces and interesting historical places in North America,” added Parks Canada President and CEO Ron Hallman. “Through partnership and collaboration that transcends borders, we are committed to modern approaches to conserving our natural and cultural heritage in ways that advance Indigenous stewardship and more fully include diverse perspectives in commemorating our respective histories. By signing this agreement, Parks Canada and the National Park Service are renewing our shared commitment to working together towards common goals.”

The MOU outlines continued collaboration on the protection, presentation, and management of cultural and natural heritage along shared transboundary places and co-stewardship with Indigenous peoples and was born out of recent discussions between the two park leaders at recent North American Wilderness and Protected Areas Committee meetings, a Park Service release said.

The North American Wilderness and Protected Areas Committee provides opportunities for collaboration and information sharing among protected area managers in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The MOU reaffirms various shared priorities for cooperation between the National Park Service and Parks Canada:

• Indigenous-led conservation and increased collaboration with Indigenous peoples;
• advancing nature-based climate solutions and climate change adaptation;
• connecting people to history and nature;
• park management and operations, visitor experience and safety, natural and cultural resource conservation, and wildfire management.

Collaboration between Parks Canada and the United States National Park Service dates backmore than a hundred years when the two organizations were established (1911 and 1916 respectively). This relationship was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding first signed in 1998, on cooperation in the management, research, protection, conservation, and presentation of cultural and natural heritage.