| Moose Mountain Wildland Park proposed
About 350 people came to the Bragg Creek Community Centre on June 15 to hear a proposal from the Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition (BCEC) for a new protected area in West Bragg Creek to deflect plans for clearcut logging.
Forest ecologist Dr. Brad Stelfox displayed maps, charts and summaries detailing population growth in Alberta since 1905, illustrating how agricultural, industrial, residential and recreational uses are competing for limited land and resources in the West Bragg Creek area.
Dr. Ralph Cartar, president of the BCEC, argued against the proposed Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) plan to clearcut portions of West Bragg Creek and the Elbow Valley, near such popular recreation areas as Allen Bill Pond, Moose Loop and Telephone Loop, as part of a proposed 10-year Forest Management Plan (FMP). Cartar said the plan was unnecessary as part of a Fire Smart strategy to protect the Greater Bragg Creek from a wildfire – his research shows that clearcutting may be effective in ponderosa forests, but the lodgepole pines typical of Kananaskis would burn whether they were 10 or 125 years old.
He also stated that clearcutting creates problems for the watershed area that provides drinking water to 450,000 Albertans, as silt-filled runoff will strain Calgary’s water system. "We are endangering ourselves as Bragg Creekers by allowing clearcutting upstream," he says. "Is this the most rational use of a forest close to a major city?"
Biologist and guide Peter Tucker and engineer Eric Lloyd presented a plan to protect the area by creating the Moose Mountain Wildland Park, which would stretch from near Sibbald Flats south to Turner Valley. Lloyd and Tucker researched several categories of park designations in the province, and found that wildland parks allow for recreation and public use while restricting industrial use.
But Gord Lehn, spokesperson for SLS, said many people get the wrong idea when they hear the term clearcutting. "It conjures up images of moonscapes, which is not what it’s about. We progressively reforest, and we leave river and creek buffer zones. Also, we use visual screens from recreation areas. People who enjoy recreating forget that most of the trails they use for access were logging roads in the first place that we then transformed into trails."
Lehn stated that the Fire Smart strategy was mandated by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, and that SLS was merely the instrument for carrying out their plan. He also said that only 25 per cent of Kananaskis Country would be clearcut over the next 90 to 100 years, and that this process would help protect it from the threat of pine beetle infestation.
"The plan is not complete yet," Lehn says. "There would be further community involvement in the process, including a chance for Bragg Creek residents to sit down with SLS and discuss the options."
Citizens have until Friday, June 23 to contact their MLA and SLS with feedback on the clearcutting proposal. View the complete FMP at spraylakesawmills.com, or go to braggcreek.ca for more information on the proposed Moose Mountain Wildland Park.
AIDS Society calls for Cannabis audit
The Canadian AIDS Society is calling for an audit of Health Canada’s medicinal marijuana program.
The society recently released a report showing that 85 per cent of Canadians using cannabis for medicinal purposes do so illegally due to a lack of availability. It states that the government’s $6 million cannabis production facility is helping fewer than 200 individuals. The society also recommends the inclusion of compassion clubs as lawful distributors of cannabis.
Compassion Clubs of Canada welcome the recommendation, citing overly centralized production and poor quality as primary reasons for the government program’s lack of success.
Grant Cluff, chairman of the Calgary Medicinal Marijuana Centre, believes government regulation needs to change, allowing compassion clubs to grow and distribute medicinal cannabis legally, but he does not expect the Tories to consider it a priority.
"I support what the AIDS society is doing, but I think it’s going to fall on deaf ears," says Cluff, who has multiple sclerosis. "The truth of the matter is, when you put aside laws and politics, that little bud replaces Tylenol 3. It recovers my symptoms and allows me to walk. The government should recognize the importance of compassion clubs."
Compassion clubs grow and distribute marijuana to MS and AIDS sufferers under the table. Because they have guidelines and don’t "deal" to just anybody, the government tends to look the other way, according to Rielle Capler of the B.C. Compassion Club Society, which was the first of its kind in Canada.
"There are probably less than a half-dozen well-established compassion clubs in Canada. Several have been raided and in courts have had the charges dropped," Capler says. "There is a respect for compassion societies that run to certain standards, and acknowledgement in the courts that people need this medicine."
Alberta flunks Sierra Club report card
Alberta has received an F from the Sierra Club for its lack of action on protecting biodiversity and preventing climate change – the worst showing of any province.
The Sierra Club has been releasing the annual RIO report card, which grades governments on their commitments to meeting international obligations, since 1993.
The federal government also received Fs in several categories, including its commitment to reduce greenhouse gases, protect biodiversity, conserve marine resources and review and reform policies on pesticides and toxins.
Quebec received an A-plus for its new plan to address climate change. The province has promised to introduce tough new fuel efficiency standards for vehicles based on California’s model, and to implement a new tax on oil and gas companies that will be put into a green fund to help address climate change. |
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