Icefield
NO-Trace Policy
Did you know you have
chosen a way of sightseeing that is the most protective of the
environment?
Helicopter tours provide
access to many people who otherwise could not visit remote sites, while
creating the least environmental impact to the delicate ecosystem of our
area’s scenic wonders.
We’re proud of our efforts to be responsible environmental stewards.
Through the use of technology, voluntary efforts to avoid sensitive
sites, and with the highest regard for safety, we know we are helping
assure enjoyment of our area’s wild and scenic areas for generations to
come.
Icefield
Helicopter Tours product is SUSTAINABLE, and our operation is as GREEN
as it can get.
SUSTAINABILITY is when we travel to the back country, we
leave NO TRACE of our tours. We do not create trails to access the
back country, we do not remove anything in the wilderness or cause
change to the wilderness character. We encourage all back country
travelers, that we transport, to leave NO TRACE and to bring out as
much refuse as they can find at no charge.
GREEN. Here at our heliport we have many initiatives in being
Green:
Solar
and wind powered with a back up generator. We operate mostly on
the 1750 amp hour batteries which are arranged in two battery
banks of (12 batteries each of 2 volt cells with a total of 24
batteries). The back up is a clean burning propane generator
operates less than 6 hours per day with very little exhaust.
We
conserve water through the use of efficiency Corona Toilets
which use one liter of water per flush. The bathroom lights and
ceiling fans are set on a motion sensor to conserve battery
power.
We recycle as much of our waste as
possible. (Paper, cardboard, cans, bottles, plastics and other
products.)
Cooling
of our main office is done through the use of special
see-through blinds, not air conditioning which uses our battery
power.
Water
is collected from a local source spring and is not treated but
filtered. This area is semi-arid so rain water collection is not
reliable.
Waste
water is not treated but disposed through a septic field which
filters through the use of natural ground soils. Solids are
decomposed by using natural biological means in a holding tank
and then flushed though the septic field.
We cut
the grass on our 7 acre lot with a manual push mower using no
electricity or fuel, just man power. We only seed with natural
grasses and plants watered with untreated spring water.
Our
refrigerator and stove appliances are also efficient. The
electric refrigerator uses less than 750 watts of power per day
while we use clean burning propane for the stove and oven.
Our
night lights are clean burning propane and 20 watt low light
bedroom lights.
Printing is done on recycled paper.
Fuel
storage is in double walled enviro tanks.
Sprinter van (9 passengers) transportation offers a small 4
cylinder diesel engine giving high fuel economy.
Heating
is with hot water transferring through a series of pipes along
base board radiators with a small clean burning propane
efficiency heater.
The
passenger building construction is wood with R40 insulation,
double paned glass. The building is sided with cement boards
and steel roof for fire protection.
The
staff building is a recycled (30 year old) double wide trailer
refitted with new steel siding. The interior houses seven bedrooms,
a bathroom/shower, a dining room/living room, and a kitchen.
The
pathways, drive way, and helicopter landing pads are all filled
with local crushed limestone for dust prevention.
The
landscaping soil and washed river rock was found locally and
redistributed on the property.
As for product, all our tours follow our
beliefs by promoting the NO TRACE policy. We feel that the
Heli-Yoga and
Heli-Hikes along with our Wilderness Stops all promote
our NO TRACE policy.
The helicopter tours do not leave a
foot print no do they change the character of the area or cause the
wilderness damage.
With our kindest regards,
Ralph
and Susan Sliger.
Awards:
2003 Alberta Tourism Award - ALTO AWARD
Stampede Web Package
- Marketing Partnership
2005 La Chambre Economic de L'Alberta
- Prix Tourism
2005 Lauriers de la PME
- Finalist
|
CLICK HERE
