| Siffleur Wilderness Area | |
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 Siffleur Wilderness Area in July 2016 | |
  Location inAlberta | |
| Location | Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada |
| Coordinates | 51°53′59″N116°23′32″W / 51.8996860698°N 116.392128129°W /51.8996860698; -116.392128129 |
| Area | 41,214 hectares (101,840 acres)[2] |
| Established | 1961 |
| Governing body | Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation |
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TheSiffleur Wilderness Area is aprovincially designatedwilderness area in theCanadian Rockies ofAlberta.[3] It was established in 1961 and it, as one of the three wilderness areas of Alberta, has the strictest form of government protection available in Canada. All development is forbidden and only travel by foot is permitted. Hunting and fishing are not allowed.[4] The other two wilderness areas areWhite Goat Wilderness Area andGhost River Wilderness Area and together the three areas total 249,548.80 acres (100,988.82 ha).[5]
Siffleur is located near the west end and south side of Canadian Highway 11 and slightly south of the White Goat Wilderness area. It is near the north end ofBanff National Park and the south end ofJasper National Park.[4] Mountains rise to 3,300 metres (10,800 ft). The area has rugged mountains, glacier-carved valleys, mountain lakes, and alpine meadows. There are two distinct vegetation zones. Above 2,100 metres (6,900 ft), thetree line, are grasses, sedges and wildflowers. Below that are subalpine forests of spruce, fir, and lodgepole pine. At even lower elevations there are aspen and balsam poplar. Animals in the lower regions includewoodland caribou,moose,elk,white-tailed deer,mule deer,grizzly bear,black bear,cougar,coyote,timber wolf, andwolverine. Animals in the upper regions includegolden-mantled ground squirrels,bighorn sheep,mountain goat,hoary marmot,pika,white-tailed ptarmigan,grey-crowned rosy finch,water pipit andhorned lark. Eagles are seen in both the lower and upper regions.[2][3]
LikeSiffleur Mountain andSiffleur River, the name was chosen byJames Hector in 1858 for the shrill whistles of themarmot which inhabit the area.[6][7]
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