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Retired fisheries biologist Lorne Fitch stands near the
entrance to a logging area in the Castle wilderness area of southern Alberta.
Fitch says the sediment from erosion caused by logging and logging roads is
damaging the sensitive water drainage of the Castle wilderness area.
Photograph by: Gavin Young , Calgary Herald
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Tensions linger over Castle wilderness logging
Part 1 of 3
By Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald, October 22, 2012
BEAVER MINES, Alta. — Walking up to a logging road built to clearcut a stand of Lodgepole pine, retired fisheries biologist Lorne Fitch and other members of the Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition receive an unusual welcome.
“Are you guys tree huggers?” yells a nearby rancher.
“No, we’re with Castle-Crown,” comes the response from the group.
The brief exchange shows the animosity over industrial development — in this case, forestry — in the Castle wilderness area, a watershed for dozens of downstream communities and a critical wildlife habitat that has been the subject of controversy for decades.
Earlier this month, the province halted logging in the area west of Beaver Mines after the current plan expires.
“We wouldn’t have any additional harvesting,” Diana McQueen, minister of Alberta’s Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, said in an interview last week.
Read more here
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