Head-off clear-cutting the Castle Special Place. Write Alberta’s new premier today!
There’s hope for this southwest Alberta “Special Place” in this UN International Year of Forests. In the leadership race, Premier Alison Redford used this issue as an example of how the government hadn’t been listening.
SRD also confirmed that they did approve and issue a larger logging license in terms of land area, so it does now include Whitney, Mill and Gladstone Valleys inside the Castle / Forest Reserve boundary and that means three-years of logging approved in principle, with the detailed plans (Annual Operating Plan) to be approved each year of logging. Again issuing a logging license in the Castle or expansion of a license there without public consultation on whether or not the license should be there prior to the decision to issue the license. Castle logging would account for 7% of the logs SLS cuts during their five-year logging plan.
The AB Government completing the work it started with designating the Castle a Special Place protected area, as has been completed for the other 80 Special Place protected areas (i.e. legislating the protection under Alberta’s Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas & Heritage Rangelands Act or Provincial Parks Act, which includes Wildland Parks).
SLS logging for this winter season is double the Annual Allowable Cut in their Crown Timber Quota agreement with the province for the Crowsnest Forest (C5) in which the Castle Special Place protected area is located. Over their five-year General Development Plan (approved this year by SRD) it is 48% or about 6,799 truck loads (292,357 cubic meters) of logs over. (Castle is a total of 4737 truck loads of logs.) That 48% over ACC is a volume that was not logged in the prior 5 years, that can be applied for approval to be “carried over” to be logged in the current five-year General Development Plan. The approval for that carry over has NOT been given yet and what ever final amount is approved can be accounted any year in the five-years (e.g. 4th or 5th year). SRD replied: Provincially, SRD is considering a new directive for the implementation of Carryover. As such, no Carryover has been currently approved. GDP [General Development Plan] approval does not constitute blanket approvals for Annual Operating Plans or exceptions to future policy directives and existing AACs. So, we could have a situation, where like the previous 5 years, lumber markets remain low (e.g. low new housing starts in US & Cnd), Castle is logged now, but ample approved volume of logs elsewhere in the Crowsnest & Bow Forests in less contentious areas, that remain unlogged. Or a smaller Carryover is approved, but Castle is still logged out and other less contentious areas (those not mapped as protected areas or environmentally significant areas) also approved for logging remain unlogged.
Tim Juhlin, District Forester left message returning my phone message of a week or so ago, confirming approval of the Annual Operating Plan for the Castle, that SLS can start any time now, and that the carryover has not been approved as per explanation about.
Sierra Club Canada #210, 223 – 12th Ave., S.W.
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