Waterton - Glacier International Peace Park

In 1932, the United States and Canada joined together to create
the world’s first International Peace Park: Waterton-Glacier
International Peace Park (WGIPP).

At the time of inscription, the peace park commemorated the
peace and goodwill our two nations share. Today, Waterton
Lakes and Glacier national parks use peace and goodwill to work
towards shared management - protecting the water, plants and
animals that are found in the IPP. You will find the Waterton
/Glacier International Peace Park an oasis of solitude and
tranquility, a powerful setting for personal reflection on peace.

People have always been at the forefront of the WGIPP.
Beginning in 1911, Waterton’s first park official, John G.
"Kootenai" Brown, forged a friendship with Henry "Death on
the Trail" Reynolds, an American Ranger from Goat Haunt, MT.
Upon meetings and visits with one another the two men discussed
the idea of joining Waterton and Glacier. Both men felt that the
upper Waterton valley, which is intersected by the Canada/US
border, could not and should not be divided.

Brown and Reynolds recognized both parks share the same geology, climate, wildlife and ecology, and should be managed as one protected area. Reynolds had a memorable quote on the matter when he said, “The geology recognizes no boundaries, and as the lake lay... no man-made boundary could cleave the waters apart." Although both men would pass away a few years later, their idea of joining Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Parks would live on. The idea of an international peace park would eventually be re-ignited in the 1930s by the Alberta and Montana Rotary Clubs.

On December 6, 1995 UNESCO designated the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park as a World Heritage Site.