K-Country - Logging proposal
delayed
Province expects Spray Lakes report to be completed by the end
of November
By Darlene Casten
Staff reporter
A logging plan that stretches from Kananaskis Country south to Nanton
has again been delayed.
Cochrane logging company Spray Lakes Sawmills has asked for a second extension
on their detailed forest management plan for the southern foothills.
The province agreed to extend the logging company’s deadline to
allow them to incorporate new pine beetle information into the plan. The
company had previously asked for an extension when it was discovered the
pine beetle information they had been provided was incorrect.
Duncan MacDonnell, public affairs officer for Sustainable Resources, said
an increased emphasis has been placed on pine beetle management since
the pests appeared in northern Alberta.
“The minister has made it a priority that mountain pine beetle be
addressed in these plans,” MacDonnell said.
Spray Lakes Sawmills has been given until Nov. 20 to submit their detailed
forest management plan, which will be reviewed by forestry officials.
“It undergoes a technical review,” MacDonnell said. “Every
aspect of the plan has to be looked at by a planning forester.”
It is expected the review will take three months.
The plan to log in Kananaskis has drawn the ire of an environmental group
based in Bragg Creek.
The Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition (BCEC) has held several meetings
protesting the logging plan for Kananaskis, which would see 30 per cent
of the parkland logged over 20 years.
BCEC president Ralph Cartar has said the logging could result in increased
runoff and subsequently diminished water quality for those living downstream
of watersheds that flow through Kananaskis. Some residents are also concerned
the logging will destroy recreation areas.
Cartar questioned the need for the pine beetle information and its intended
use by Spray Lakes.
“They are planning to remove trees that are the first in the bark
beetle’s line of attack,” he explained. “That will just
create a bottleneck because if you look at the B.C. experience you can
see that the beetles move more quickly through clear cuts and they move
into areas where they are harder to detect.”
Cartar also questioned the need for pine beetle mitigation in southern
Alberta.
“Our trees are a lot smaller and they likely wouldn’t do well
anyway,” he said.
Spray Lakes’ plan likely won’t address residents concerns,
he continued, adding that it will have to be the province who takes the
initiative and change the plan for east Kananaskis.
“Sustainable Resources Development should recognize the public outcry
on this matter and revisit their requirement of this land only be a tree
farm,” Cartar said. “It is an area for protection of habitat,
purification of water and recreation.”
According to MacDonnell, the province will look at how Spray Lakes Sawmill
responded to the concerns.
“There are standards that have to be met in the detailed forest
management plan,” he said. “One of the standards is the applicant
has to address any concerns in the plan.”
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Oilfields - Amalgamation open house set
for Wednesday
By Laurel Nadon
Staff reporter
Talks of amalgamating the Towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley are
going full steam ahead with the first public open house scheduled for
this week.
The open house will be held on Wednesday (tonight) at 6:30 p.m. at the
Oilfields High School in Black Diamond.
Dianne Kreh, town manager for Black Diamond, said it’s an important
way for the town councils to share with residents what they’ve learned
since amalgamation talks began in earnest last December.
“They want to provide the residents with the information they’ve
received to date and receive from the people any
concerns or questions they have that they (town councils) can answer or
they can research further,” Kreh said.
Black Diamond Mayor Rolly Magee stressed that they need as many residents
as possible to attend these open houses.
“Our goal is to get some more direction from the public and see
if there are some things council has missed,” Magee said. “We
may need to go back to the drawing board to do some more work.”
He added that they also plan to bring some decisions to residents such
as where the new town office would be located if amalgamation moves ahead.
The councils propose the town office would be in Black Diamond as it’s
the bigger building and would house both administrations.
Magee said in the past few weeks he’s gained a sense of where residents
stand on amalgamation.
“My feelings from the people in town have been quite positive ever
since we’ve sent the brochure out,” Magee said.
The open house will begin with an informal discussion time from 6:30 p.m.
to 7 p.m. followed by a question and answer period facilitated by chartered
mediator Barbara McNeil from 7 p.m. to about 8 p.m. The night will wrap
up with more informal discussion time from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.
A second meeting with the same format will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 14
at 6:30 p.m. at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick in Turner Valley with
both meetings open to residents of both communities.
The information gathered from the open houses will then be brought to
the restructuring committee, which is a joint committee between the two
town councils.
“They’ll decide based on the public’s input where to
go from here,” Kreh said.
The amalgamation brochures, sent out in Black Diamond at the end of October
and in Turner Valley this week, share what decisions the towns have made
to date.
If the two towns were to amalgamate, they would retain their own names,
but public input would be used to come up with a municipality name much
the same as what’s been done in the Crowsnest Pass.
The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass resulted from the amalgamation of the
five towns of Bellevue, Hillcrest, Frank, Blairmore and Coleman in 1979.
The Black Diamond and Turner Valley town councils would merge into one
council with three representatives from Turner Valley, three from Black
Diamond and a mayor elected at large.
“They’ve assured staff there would be no job loss,”
Kreh said. “There may be some restructuring and retraining.”
Cutline: The Towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley are hosting public
open houses beginning this week to discuss amalgamation. Wheel file photo
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In this issue...
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End of an era
Highwood ends Knights’ reign atop Big Sky
• See Sports
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