Plans for clear-cut logging at Highwood Junction didn’t get the response opponents to the project were hoping for when the plan received attention in the legislature last month.
Dr. David Swann, MLA for Calgary-Mountain View, raised the issue in the House on May 18, questioning why the government would allow a company from BC to clear-cut in the Highwood region where logging would affect watershed, wildlife, tourism and recreation.
“When I heard more about the Highwood confluence and accelerating the take there, and not only threatening our water supply but also recreation and tourism opportunities that have been there, I couldn’t help but raise the issue, which I’ve done intermittently in the last year,” said Swann in an interview with the Western Wheel.
He said he wants to see a review of the decision to allow Balcaen Consolidated Contracting to clear-cut in the region, and proof of the benefit to Albertans. The company's logging quota area includes patches of trees south of Highway 541 along Highway 940.
With a company from BC doing the work and processing the logs in its home province, he said the Highwood plans will have almost no benefit to the Alberta economy.
“It will damage the ecological and the recreational and economic opportunities out there,” said Swann. “It does not make sense, and I’m calling for a review of the decision.”
Initially, the logging was intended to occur over five years, so he said the fact the plan has now changed to clear-cut everything within one year is troublesome.
“They’re trying to accelerate the process of extracting the logs, and that should send a message to our government,” said Swann. “It’s inappropriate and unsustainable, that kind of decision.”
He said Oneil Carlier, minister of agriculture and forestry, must decide to put a hold on the development and review the situation by August, which is when Balcaen is slated to start developed roads in the logging area.
The main concerns with the clear-cut include protecting endangered species like the east slop cutthroat trout, promoting environmental sustainability, and keeping the recreation and tourism opportunities open in the region, he said.
In addition, he said Foothills residents are voicing concern over flood mitigation.
“Clear-cutting logs does not hold water very well, and it’s kind of surprising when we, in the last four years, had such a major flood in the High River area that this would not also be a serious consideration,” said Swann.
He said the issue didn’t get the reaction he’d hoped for in the legislature.
When questioned about the logging in Kananaskis, Carlier said the government is continuously monitoring logging harvest operations and maintaining Alberta forestry standards. Carlier said he’s confident Balcaen’s plans live up to those standards, including leaving a tree buffer zone around creeks.
“I got the same kind of pat answers that tend to happen when people haven’t really thought deeply about the question and are just carrying on because that’s what they’ve done in the past,” said Swann. “I expected a little more attention, a little more specific response to that issue.”
Swann said he hopes Albertans will start a letter-writing campaign to protect water sources, recreation opportunities and the tourism industry for the Highwood Junction area.
If the matter is brought up to Carlier often enough, Swan said he may change his mind.
Stephen Legault, of Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, said he was disappointed by Carlier’s comments in the House, and what he called an “off-handed dismissal of the concerns.”
He said it might be different if it was extreme environmentalist protestors acting out against the logging, but the grassroots level of protest should be getting more attention.
“When you’ve got hunters and anglers and trappers and the local hiking group, and people who run businesses bringing these concerns up and saying, ‘Look, this is really important to us as Albertans,’ to be dismissed out of hand doesn’t seem in keeping with the new progressive approach that this government was supposed to bring,” said Legault.
His main concerns are to do with protecting the headwaters and the wildlife in the area.
Allowing water to run freely over the land without trees to slow it down and help it absorb into the ground leads to flooding, he said. The water will all run off at once, and it will take soil sediment with it so it will be difficult to grow new trees in the area, he said.
He said the issue also begs the question, “What are we managing Kananaskis for?”
When the area was first deemed multiple use by Peter Lougheed 40 years ago, there were considerably fewer people and tourists in the province, he said. Things have changed, and it’s time to change the way people view Kananaskis, he said.
“I’d be willing to bet most Albertans would agree with me that protecting watersheds and wildlife, giving us a place to recreate, and fostering the economic diversification that places like Kananaskis Country can bring would be important,” said Legault.
Kananaskis Country currently generates 3,000 full-time jobs and more than $200 million per year, he said. If clear-cut logging becomes prevalent in the region, the economic and recreational benefits of the region would be affected, he said.
Local residents have formed a group, Take a Stand for the Upper Highwood, which was borne out of a hiking group based in Black Diamond. They have been working closely with Legault and keeping tabs on the situation in the legislature.
Neil Williams, spokesperson for the group, said the fight has switched from being simply against the logging to wanting to protect the headwaters and the wildlife from clear-cuts effects.
They’re putting together petitions, both hard copy and online, for people to sign in the next couple of months, before road construction begins in August. He said he hopes their lobbying will be more effective in the coming weeks.
“We just wanted to have them put a little bit of a slowdown on the Highwood Junction and the logging there, which is a vital tourist corridor,” said Williams. “We’re not done yet.”
