The Old Glory Alpine has been used by many generations for year round backcountry activities. These recreational values were recognized in 1969 when it became the Nancy Greene Recreation Area.  

It remained a recreation area until the 1990’s when the whole question of Protected Areas or Parks was debated in the “Parks and Wilderness for the 90’s” process. In the end, the Parks Act was amended but it only made provision for Class A Parks without any provision for Recreation Areas.

The Parks Act was amended in July 1995, which created new Parks and de-commissioned the Nancy Greene Recreation Area without any local community consultation. Many local residents were outraged and felt that a valuable recreational asset of the region had been “stolen” from them by the Provincial Government.

The Kootenay/Boundary Land Use Plan Implementation Strategy was issued in June 1997 and under Recreation says ……    ” Ministry of Forests to work with the community of Rossland to develop an integrated resource management plan for the former Nancy Greene Recreation area.” 

The Nancy Greene Highland Forest Management Plan issued in July 1997 resulted from that strategy. This document lists representatives from the community of Rossland including Rossland City Council, Rossland Chamber of Commerce, and representatives from Environmental Groups, Mining, Trappers, Recreation Groups, and Commercial Recreation.

In the Executive Summary it says…..”The NGHF is a very popular location for winter and summer recreationalists. The terrain of most of the area is suited to non-motorized travel on foot, skis or horseback. Any resource development in the NGHF will have to consider the importance of this area to residents throughout the region”.

The report goes on to say

“Due to steep and rugged terrain, much of the area is not suitable for motorized activities.  The existing recreational use of the area may be considered to be incompatible with motorized activities except for the established road systems north of Hanna Creek .  It is expected that these recreational trends will follow much the same pattern into the future.”

It defines the Objectives of Recreation Management:

To ensure compatibility of recreational activities and provide a range of recreation opportunities.

To maintain the character of the Semi Primitive Non Motorized area and to provide opportunities for dispersed non motorized recreation.

In January 2000, the Red Mountain ski area issued their Master Plan, which included for expansion of ski area boundaries into part of the former Nancy Greene Recreation Area. The plan included for snow cat skiing in the Mount Kirkup/Plewman Basin area.

As a result of vigorous opposition from the local community, the Master Plan was revised to take out this part of the plan. Many people considered the process to be a trade-off…..” Remove this cat ski proposal and exclude the Plewman basin from your plan and we won’t object to the expanded boundaries”. The application for increase in tenure area was approved.

A recent application, in November 2003, by Red Shutter Inn Ltd for commercial cat skiing tenure was far more extensive and included virtually the whole of the former Nancy Greene Recreation Area. Once again, there was vigorous opposition and as a result, the applicants withdrew their application.

A public meeting held in Rossland in December 2003 attracted several hundred people, all opposed to the proposed cat ski operation. The meeting gave a mandate to the Friends of the Rossland Range to form a society and to work on their behalf to obtain protection of the Old Glory area for non-motorized recreational use.

Click here to view a chronological record of significant documents, articles, letters relating to the Old Glory Alpine and the Rossland Range.