Alberta’s provincial parks and recreation areas conserve our natural heritage and provide popular nature-based recreation opportunities to visitors from across the province and around the world. They also play a major role in Alberta’s tourism industry, providing opportunities for small businesses and having positive impacts on the economies of many local communities.
Alberta Environment and Parks (the Province) is seeking business entities or non-profit organizations to provide facility operations and maintenance for the Fickle Lake Facility Operating Group (FOG).
The Fickle Lake FOG consists of Fickle Lake, Hornbeck Creek, Minnow Lake, Weald and Wolf Lake West Provincial Recreation Areas (PRAs), all located in the Edson area. The campgrounds are all unserviced. The group camping areas are also unserviced, available for booking through Reserve.AlbertaParks.ca (RAP). The standard operating season for sites in the Fickle Lake FOG is May long weekend through September long weekend.
Average campground occupancy including all sites over the last 5 seasons is approximately 1,932 per year. For group camping, there was an average of about 451 individual group camping nights made up of 90 groups annually.
Detailed information on these sites can be found using the search function at
https://albertaparks.ca/albertaparksca/visit-our-parks/find-a-park/by-name/
The Province has calculated estimated revenues and expenses for Government of Alberta operations over the five seasons covered by the Agreement. This analysis shows that the Province would operate the Premises at a deficit over the Agreement term. The Province is, therefore, willing to consider a subsidy as part of a Proposal. The maximum subsidy that would be considered is $12/camping permit sold.
The Facility Operating Agreement will cover 5 seasons, starting May 1, 2022 and ending December 31, 2026.
Alberta Parks’ project objectives are:
To inspire people to discover, value, protect, and enjoy the natural world and the benefits it provides for current and future generations in compliance with the park management plan(s) and/or the goals and objectives of Alberta Parks;
To encourage private sector interest and opportunities in provincial parks;
To collaborate with businesses and organizations to provide memorable experiences to visitors through high quality outdoor recreation opportunities and facilities;
To provide a variety of services in an efficient, cost-effective, consistent, and customer-oriented manner;
To collaborate with the private sector in sharing current provincial responsibilities for security and public safety services, and repairs, renovation, upgrading and enhancement of facilities currently in place; and
To offset the Province’s operating costs.
Alberta's provincial parks and recreation areas conserve our natural heritage, and provide popular outdoor recreation opportunities. They play a major role in Alberta’s tourism industry, having positive impacts on the economies of many rural communities. Alberta Parks and our partners provide excellent customer service, including:
Friendly and welcoming staff;
Dealing with issues professionally;
Communicating information to visitors, in person or over the telephone; and
Willingness to “go the extra mile” to add value to the visitor’s experience
For general information about Operating Agreements visit:
https://albertaparks.ca/albertaparksca/about-us/working-together/facility-operating-service-agreements/
