In June 2011, we noted an article that was published in This is Fly magazine, written by Darcy Toner (Faceless Fly Fishing – Calgary), which highlighted the threat of logging in the Castle Wilderness of south western Alberta.
That threat is imminent.
Despite significant ongoing opposition (84.5% of residents, according to a U of L survey) from local businesses (including fly shops), environmentalists, fly fishers and individuals, logging is slated to begin very soon.
Yesterday, the Calgary Herald addressed the topic in an editorial “Orphan Child”, which we have posted below.
Also over the weekend, this notice was posted on the Chinook Waters Fly Fishing Club Facebook Page: “For those interested there is a protest against the Logging in the Castle Watershed on Wednesday Jan 11th at 11AM at the corrals (on Hwy 774 just into the forest reserve on the way to the ski hill).”
Here are two related stories, one from last week and another from last fall.
By Jen Gerson, Calgary Herald January 4, 2012
By Meghan Potkins, Calgary Herald October 25, 2011
More information at these links:
 |
| Rebecca Holand and her husband Jacques Thouin stand inside their Beaver Mines General Store Friday September 3, 2010. They are among many Castle area residents upset over proposed logging by Spray Lake Sawmills. Photograph by: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald |
Editorial: Castle area remains orphan child
Area in a tug-of-war over logging use
Calgary Herald
January 8, 2012
Despite overwhelming public opposition, the Alberta government has approved logging in the Castle region, which will begin soon. The area, north of Waterton Lakes National Park, has been a zone of contention between preservation and development dating back to the late 1950s.
In 1993, the Natural Resources Conservation Board, a quasi-judicial agency, recommended the Castle for designation as a wildland park in a trade-off that would have allowed approval of a fourseason resort. Neither the park nor the resort came to fruition, and the Castle region has remained the orphan child of the developing land framework in southern Alberta.
"Coupled with inadequate and outdated land-use policy, the Alberta government has consistently ignored the needs of the Castle Wilderness," says the Alberta Wilderness Association. "The cumulative impact of decades of petroleum development, logging, indiscriminate off-road vehicle use, commercial development and government mismanagement have been significant in the Castle Wilderness."
No comments:
Post a Comment