What to do?

1. Visit www.savekan.ca for more info.
2. We, a group of tired and frustrated individuals, need you to get involved. We need people to invest ideas and energy in the Save Kananaskis Wild Lands Society.

We incorporated a non-profit society in the fall of 2007. If you can help this organization get off the ground, call Doug Sephton 403-949-4274 or send an e-mail to info (at) savekananaskis.ca.
3. Write to the government and tell them you want a park in Northeastern Kananaskis.

Click here to see photos, a map and a report on the current logging operation in the Sibbald Disrict of Kananaskis.

 

 

Recently, the government released three reports that will have an impact on North-eastern Kananaskis; the part where Spray Lakes Sawmills has been commercial logging and where we hope to create a park.

The Draft Management Plan for Provincial Recreation Areas in Kananaskis, released June 11, 2008, calls for creation of Provincial Parks, but in fact they're creating Park_ing lots. The draft plan calls for eight trailheads in the Elbow Valley - parking lots with an average border of 100 metres of trees to be designated as Provincial Parks. We estimate these parks total less than one or two percent of the unprotected north-eastern part of Kananaskis.

Give Alberta Tourism, Parks & Recreation (TPR) credit for doing something to ensure Albertans are able to enjoy our wilderness, but the elephant in the room is Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) who have jurisdiction over everything beyond the 100 metres of trees. They see the area as a resource rich cash cow not a highly valued natural area. They think the forest is old, decrepit and dangerous - at risk from pine beetles and forest fire. We think it's a little piece of paradise. We invite you to take a walk or ride on a trail in the Elbow or Sibbald districts to see for yourself. Stop along the trail and walk into the woods. You won't find any signs of pine beetle. You will find a variety of tree species and ages - a healthy and beautiful forest - a half-hour from Calgary. Don't use the Lusk Creek trail though (near the junction of Hwy 40 & 68). It's been turned into a logging road and the landscape around it has been deforested; it's a scarred wasteland.

The SRD Land Use Framework, released May 21, 2008, recognizes that the foothills are an important source of water. They think the way to protect the watershed is to cut down the trees. Scientists disagree. We think they're playing power politics and they should stop destroying the environment, a valuable recreation area and the economic opportunities Kananaskis holds for tourism, recreation and adjacent landowners.

The SRD pine beetle survey, released this week, says the infestation isn't as bad as forecast, but we still need to cut down the trees before the beetles get them. That's what they did in Sibbald. There are no beetles there. The SRD plan isn't attacking the beetle. They are proceeding with a commercial logging plan developed long before the beetle became an issue.