Hikers may be citizen scientists in photo project documenting forest reforestation in Jasper

As visitors to Old Fort Point look across the mosaic of forest fragments charred by the Jasper Wildfire, they see a very different landscape than before July 2024. But the same barren scene looks similar to photos taken in the early 1900s.

Now, as the Jasper landscape begins to regenerate in the wake of last year’s devastating wildfires, hikers on the popular trail are getting the opportunity to participate in a citizen science project to help document the area’s rebirth.

“We get a chance to see the landscape change before our eyes and be a part of it, and I think that’s probably really rare and unique and different,” said Kevin Gedling, communications and engagement officer for Parks Canada.

Parks Canada and the University of Waterloo have teamed up to crowdsource photos from three locations on the hike – a view from the summit on the north side, a panoramic view on the south side, and a close-up shot of vegetation on the back side.

project uses georichAn initiative at the University of Waterloo that uses standardized imagery data to track changes in landforms across Canada, including glaciers, rivers, swamps, coastal shores and now, post-wildfire regrowth.

Repeat photography is a method researchers use to assess how landscapes change and grow by copying certain aspects of an existing photo for baseline comparison.

This summer Parks Canada installed three cellphone stands, each with a cradle and window for a camera, along the popular 3.8-kilometre walking trail, which begins just east of the Jasper Townsite.

Visitors will take a photo at one of the stations, then scan the QR code to upload the photo or visit directly georeach website To share your photo with University of Waterloo researchers, citizen science groups, and the general public. The website includes a gallery, which displays other photos uploaded to the site.

“It gives a great opportunity for visitors and everyday people to connect with the landscape and engage in that process of ecological integrity monitoring and citizen science,” Gedling said.

This summer saw many new signs of life, with vibrant grass growing around dead trees and wildlife roaming the landscape.

Purple fleabane and yellow arnica were among the first plants to grow in the burned landscape, Gedling said.

Some fireweed plants were also seen, he said. plants with purple flowers sign of forest regeneration after a fire, and Gedling said he expected that, in a few years, it would thrive in the nutrient-rich soil created by the fire.

Parts of the Old Fort Point Trail still have aspen trees that appear intact but are “cooked and dead” on the inside from the heat of the wildfire, Gedling said.

He also pointed to aspen “suckers”, some of which are already nearly a meter tall, which use existing root systems to regenerate without seeds.

Fresh grass growing after a fire is better for the animals that eat it, said Jack Bentley, an interpreter with Parks Canada.

The heat of the wildfire causes the grasses to respond, he said, “to come back even faster so they become even more nutritious which is good for all the other species around that eat that grass like elk and deer.”

The landscape is back to “square one,” Gedling said, meaning it is now a grassland ecosystem, with deciduous trees as opposed to the burned conifer-heavy forest.

Old Fort Point is part of the landscape’s montane ecosystem – meaning the valley floor – is “completely dependent on wildfire.”

Gedling said wildfires are part of a healthy cycle for the forest, though he acknowledged the destruction they bring to those fighting the fires and the people who live or work in Jasper.

The Jasper wildfire destroyed one-third of the town’s structures and displaced 2,000 people. A firefighter died after being hit by a fallen tree.

“But, you know, as far as a natural process goes, this is literally one of the better things that could happen to it,” he said.