History

• reduces the threat of large-scale fires and mountain pine beetle,
• provides suitable habitat for bear and elk populations,
• maintains visual qualities of the landscape,
• diversifies stand age and tree species to provide habitat to a wider range of organisms,
• maintains the health of the watershed for the aquatic ecosystem and downstream users, and
• provides sufficient habitat to maintain or improve conditions for specified endangered flora and fauna.

AWA responds to the Preliminary R11 Forest Management Plan with a formal letter to SRD’s Kevin Gagne, copied to Bruce Cartwright, Area Manager, SRD. AWA explains that although the fire plan has taken a more ecological approach than most sub plans for areas on the Eastern Slopes, it has one major deficiency that AWA sees as hindering overall management for the Bighorn. A lot of time and resources have gone into this plan, but it has been developed in the absence of an overall management plan. Management plans were supposed to be a logical outcome of the broader Integrated Resource Planning carried out along the Eastern Slopes in the 1980s, following basic directives laid out by the 1977 Eastern Slopes Policy. Without overall management planning, a number of sub plans, like Access Management and Fire Management are being developed. They are often taking planning in directions – or establishing priorities – that were not intended by the Eastern Slopes Policy or the Integrated Resource Planning.

AWA feels strongly that large watersheds along the Eastern Slopes require overall master planning before sub plans are created in order to consistently interpret the Eastern Slopes Policy, to maintain its established priorities, and to establish planning directions in line with the policy.

AWA outlined a number of other problem areas it sees with the Preliminary R11 Forest Management Plan, such as calling for commercial logging in two portions of the Bighorn Wildland (Backcountry). This logging is apparently to eliminate forest seen as having dangerous potential to be invaded by the mountain pine beetle, or that is posing a fire danger to nearby commercial timber or to the more distant town of Nordegg. AWA has again questioned the scientific reasoning behind cutting forests to save them. We are also concerned that there are no provisions for maintaining old-growth forests.

Two AWA Board members and two staff travel to Rocky Mountain House to present the findings of the 2004-2006 Trail Monitoring Project to SRD’s Bruce Cartwright and his staff and to discuss five areas within the Bighorn that AWA believe need significant management and/or restoration work:

• Panther Ya Ha Tinda - trail degradation
• Scalp Creek - snowmobile frolic area
• Job Pass - trail erosion
• Headwaters cabin - site rehabilitation
• Blackstone Gap - increasing use and potential for abuse

AWA begins conducting a recreational user survey in the Bighorn Wildland. The purpose of the survey is to gather usage statistics as well as to understand the values and concerns of recreational users within the area. AWA will continue to conduct the survey throughout the summer, asking individual and user groups to participate.

• The willingness of backcountry users to abide by FLUZ regulations is decreasing. Neither regulated use nor voluntary compliance is reducing the amount of illegal use.
• Current levels of recreational activity are causing severe environmental degradation.
• There is a trend of increasing use of the trails. With the increase of use comes the likelihood of an increase in degradation.

These three lines of evidence strongly suggest that current management in the Bighorn Backcountry will not protect the environment from degradation caused by recreational impacts.

Shell Canada defers further coalbed methane (CBM) exploration in the Ram area after drilling one exploratory well. According to Shell, this is the first CBM exploratory well Shell has drilled in Alberta. In a letter to AWA, Shell states that they are deferring their CBM exploration of the Ram area to focus on other exploratory opportunities.

• Illegal ATV activity persists in the study area. (Hummingbird Recreation Area) Data from the traffic counters show that illegal activity is occurring anywhere from 4.8% to 31% of days monitored, depending on the trail section observed.
• The field work in 2005 involves surveying 58 km more of trails in 5 different trail sections and reveals that more than 13 kms (>22%) of trails have some level of damage to them.
• 79% of the damage, resulting from ATV and equestrian use, is in the moderate/severe to severe categories.
• The trail sections frequently cross creeks, streams, and rivers, but there are less than 8% (4 of 54) of these crossings that have any type of crossing structure in place.
• Frequently used random campsites have extensive structural and vegetation damage.

• AEF has a sizable public representation with their membership at approximately 12,000.
• Both parties agree that equestrian activity has a significant economic impact and that this should be emphasized in any advocacy or education efforts. This is supported by a recent (Nov.2005) Edmonton Sun article which states that approximately $200 million is spent annually on recreation with about $73 million of that coming from the equestrian community.
• Public land access and use is discussed with both parties agreeing that one problem with land access decision in Alberta is that they tend to be heavily influenced by local populations; yet, these lands are public and decisions should be made with broader influence from the general Alberta public.
• These public land access and use decisions appear to be more politically influenced rather than approaching these decisions from a landscape-scale management perspective.
• On the subject of multiple recreation use, an AEF representative feel that as far as mixed use with horses and OHVs, the concept is not workable.
• With respect to damage to recreation trails from equestrian activity, AEF suggests that some trail closures might be necessary to repaid damage from overuse.
• The damages in the South Ram River/Ranger Creek are discussed with AEF coming up with an idea to use this area to experiment with a reclamation and repair project, including possibly re-creating the historic trail.
• Vivian Pharis, an avid equestrian user, expresses great concerns with the damage she has observed at the Headwaters Historical Patrol Cabin near the headwaters of the South Ram River. She proposes the idea of a Headwaters Cabin Restoration Project.

• Parks Canada is particularly concerned with challenges associated with maintaining the rare mountain fescue grasslands, and the migratory patterns of elk.
• In 1970, more than 90% of elk migrated off the ranch in spring: by 2002, only 65% migrate. This is having a damaging effect on the grasslands and reduced prey for carnivores.
• Sustaining the rare mountain fescue grasslands, both as feed for the Parks Canada horse herd (numbering ~ 30 in summer, ~ 170 in winter) and for their ecological value.
• Providing winter range for migratory elk that enter Banff National Park in summer, and in turn providing a regional prey source for grizzly and black bears, wolves, and cougars.
• Providing a regional population “source” for wolves that may disperse to a population “sink” along the Trans Canada Highway and Canadian Pacific Railway in Banff National Park.
• Maintaining or restoring a herd of woodland caribou in the upper reaches of the Red Deer, Clearwater, Bow and Pipestone watersheds in Banff National Park. This herd has declined from ~30 to ~5 individuals in the last 15 years, likely due to predation from wolves using elk wintering on the greater Ya Ha Tinda landscape.

Parks Canada concludes the following course of action to be performed over the next 5 years:

• Build fuel breaks west and north of the ranch buildings to reduce wildfire risk to infrastructure, and provide containment lines for prescribed burns.
• Conduct the Hat Mountain Prescribed Burn east of Scalp Creek on the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch and adjacent Region 11 Alberta public lands.
• Conduct aversive conditioning of elk by horseback to move elk off of the main pasture grasslands into adjacent forests, fuel breaks, and burned areas. This may increase elk migration; and
  If the above steps are not effective, possibly replace the existing main pasture fence with an elk proof fence, and seasonally close gates to reduce elk use of the area.

AWA makes a  submission:

• AWA believes these problems identified in the environmental assessment have mostly originated from a long history of human interference. The EA methods involve further human intervention rather than attempting to restore natural systems which, in the long term, will be more effective and less costly.
• There is little ecosystem perspective on planning in the proposed actions. Planning on a much greater landscape scale is needed and work should involve coordinated planning efforts between Parks Canada and the Alberta government.
• Natural fire regimes should be re-established.
• Human activity should be managed to ensure maintenance of ecological integrity.
• Integrity of water, land, and wildlife habitat must be the primary considerations for planning and management of lands along the entire Eastern Slopes.
   

The 2005 Bighorn Historic Trail annual trail maintenance trip is cancelled due to record precipitation events during the spring and summer restricting access to the trail by destroying bridges, closing roads, and making riding the trail without damaging it an unacceptable risk. This is the first season that the trail maintenance trip is not made in 10 years of AWA stewardship. AWA plans to resume the trail maintenance in 2006.

• The Nordegg FireSmart Community Zone Plan is separate and distinct from the R11 Forest Management Plan.
• Watershed protection remains a priority for SRD and they believe the R11 plan will address a variety of values, including protection of watersheds, soils, fish and wildlife habitat, aesthetics, and natural disturbances.
• The R11 Forest Management Plan is not intended specifically for the protection of communities from wildfire. Prescribed fire will be the primary tool to meet plan objectives. Timber harvesting will be used only where practical and as permitted by the Eastern Slopes Policy and Integrated Resource Plans.
• The FireSmart-Protecting Your Community from Wildfire Manual is intended for use within communities in the Wildland Urban Interface Zone and has limited, if any, application to the broader Community and Landscape Zone scales as are being addressed in the R11 plan. One of the objectives of the R11 plan is to protect the values at risk within and adjacent to the planning areas by reducing the threat of large, high intensity, catastrophic wildfires.
• The minister encourages AWA “to continue to participate in the next stage of public consultations scheduled in September of this year,” and says that “the process is designed solicit public comment within a framework that respects existing integrated resource plans, legislation and existing landscape plans for the regions and, as such, will benefit from your (AWA) contributions.”

• Watershed concerns were expressed by all stakeholders present, as they were also expressed in the 1973 Eastern Slopes Hearings, and these concerns were not reflected in the R11 plan.
• SRD presenters had no knowledge of a new province-wide land management plan that is supposed to be ecologically based.
• The FireSmart concept presented at the meeting bore no resemblance to the science-based FireSmart program developed, of which SRD was a key sponsor. The presenters had no knowledge of this other FireSmart program.
• The province appears to be prepared to spend needlessly millions of taxpayer dollars on this program which encourages logging – a practice which current scientific research is showing increases wildfire threats in dry-forest habitats. And ignores the science behind the original FireSmart approach.
• The process is not an open, public one and is designed to claim public “approval” simply by being invited to participate and attending the session.
• 4 questions are asked of the minister:
  • Why is a piece-meal planning approach being used at the same time a province-wide planning process is being launched?
  • Why is Alberta loath to support ecosystem-based land planning, and unwilling to protect its watersheds?
  • Why is the R11 plan for fire protection of communities being based on logging, which contributes to increased fire hazards?
  • Why is the R11 plan not based on the government’s original FireSmart plan, where the onus is on building owners, not taxpayers, to protect their buildings?

• SRD representatives say this planning process started about a year ago as their was no active timber management plan except for fire suppression and a response is needed due to a build-up of materials creating wildfire threats, and to suppress mountain pine beetle infestations.
• SRD says at the meeting its stated goal is to reduce risk by 5% by such actions as prescribed burning, which would also reduce pine beetle risk and improve wildlife habitat.
• AWA is one of a number of “environmental/cultural” groups lumped together as SRD sees these groups as having common values which could be represented to SRD. Those groups attending include ALERT (Alberta League for Environmentally Responsible Tourism), North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, Red Deer River Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club, and Sunchild First Nations.
• Other types of stakeholder groups to attend other meetings were classified as Adjacent Land Managers, Commercial (Accommodations/Helicopter Operators), Commercial (Trappers/Recreation Industrial), Fish and Wildlife Associations, and Recreation.
• Early on in the meeting, both the representative from ALERT (Martha Kostuch) and AWA (director, Vivian Pharis) express strongly their view that, from their lengthy experience in such presentations, this meeting has the appearance that SRD has a pre-determined plan to increase the allowable cut of forests in R11 by 5% under the guise of managing wildfire and mountain pine beetle threats.
• Vivian and Martha jointly also state concerns that planning based on arbitrary boundaries, rather than on a more expansive landscape-scale, ecosystem-based approach to maintain ecological integrity in the area.
• Again, Vivian and Martha jointly raise skepticism that SRD is merely asking for the public, via this closed process, to provide more or less tacitly, a façade of support for its pre-determined, agency-developed plan.
• Martha emphasizes that the main drivers behind this process appear to be FMA and timber management, not management driven by natural ecosystem-based values as it should be.

The Province cancels the land reservation for the development of the Abraham Glacier Wellness Resort. The Province will not accept any new applications for the area until the Whitegoat Lakes Development Concept Plan is completed.  The Concept Plan is a document that dictates what the county and province consider for development within the Node. This decision means that even if the Abraham resort proponent wishes to reapply, there are now several new applications ahead of him.  Suggested modifications to the Concept Plan include the establishment of a wildlife travel corridor, limits of small to medium sized accommodation, and the elimination of some discretionary uses, including the establishment of a heliport.

AWA says that although the resort has been denied, high standards must be applied when reviewing new applications for the Node. The area is too sensitive and too valuable to be ruined by unsuitable projects.

AWA meets with Minister of Community Development Gary Mar to discuss, among other items, designating Bighorn as a Wildland Park in celebration of Alberta’s centennial year. Mar indicats that, with the current government, it is extremely difficult to get any new protected areas in Alberta. Although Mar says that he wants Alberta's parks to be the "lens through which the world sees Alberta" he says his focus is to maintain existing parks in Alberta with upgrades to infrastructure and programming. This is backed up in following months with the release of the budget allocating ~60milion dollars to parks for infrastructure, staffing and fire prevention.  Unfortunately, there is no mention of the creation of any new parks or protected areas.

AWA meets with Gary Mandrusiak, Clearwater Wildland Fire Prevention Officer with SRD. He informs AWA of the county’s efforts to minimize impact of fire on the community of Norgegg and region with the new Firesmart initiative. The program involves the clearing of hundreds of acres of forest in and around the area. AWA worries about the need for these measures, if it will work, and if alternatives have been adequately contemplated.

• The project near Nordegg WILL happen.
• Timing is dependent on when final approval is received.
• SRD will mitigate all activity.
• AWA representative believes the project has a feel of being done to preserve the forest economy, not for general forest health management.
• Wildlife is receiving no concern in the planning, and the plan is heavily focused on a fire-management perspective.

A statement is released August 5^th, 2004 by 1006335 Alberta Inc. (Don McCarger) that he is appealing the decision by the County’s SDAB to refuse the development of the Abraham Glacier resort. If successful in his appeal, the proponent would begin building the resort.

At the hearing on May 27, affected persons and groups were given the opportunity to make oral presentations to the Subdivision and Development Committee (SDAB) in support or opposition to the resort development.

There was overwhelming opposition to the resort development by groups and individuals. Among the main points of emphasis were the size, type and location for the resort, as well as the need to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to identify the impacts on wildlife, vegetation and special features in the area.

The 10th anniversary of AWA’s stewardship of the Bighorn Historic Trail.

Icefield Helicopters appeal Clearwater County's decision to restrict their heli-tourism activity over sensitive areas of the Bighorn Wildland and the National Parks.

The Municipal Planning Commission of Clearwater County declines the application made by Icefield Helicopters (Rimrock Holdings
Inc.) to increase their activity over sensitive areas of the Bighorn
Wildland and the National Parks.

Alberta Government decides Abraham Glacier Resort does not need to undergo an environmental impact assessment.

Alberta Caucus approves Bighorn access plans, including trails for motorized recreation in Prime Protection Zone

Abraham Glacier Mineral Spa and Resort proposed for the Whitegoat Development Node on Abraham lake.

From the initial meeting in April 2000 and 12 subsequent meetings of the Public Advisory Committee (PAC) set up for the Nordegg Forest Harvest Plan, 10 issue areas were identified and the become the framework for developing the PAC’s recommendations. They are fire hazard reduction; traditional rights and claims; historical resource protection; ecological integrity; tourism/recreational needs; aesthetics; access; harvesting operation; public participation; and other considerations.

AWA demands promised Bighorn Wildland Recreation Area be protected by legislation.

Government initiating limited access management plan, industry developing cooperative access plan, conservation groups planning protective strategy.

Land and Forest Service holds a public open house in Nordegg to announce initiation of the Nordegg Forest harvesting planning process for the area south and west of Nordegg. A public advisory committee is established and is made up of stakeholders such as Nordegg, County of Clearwater, motorized and non-motorized recreational users, commercial tourism, First Nations, trappers, and timber operators. Early in the process, the PAC agrees that one of the main priorities for harvesting should be fire hazard reduction, and the name of the project is changed to the Fire Hazard Reduction Plan.

The public process results in the development of the Nordegg Wildland Urban Interface Plan, which results in approximately 34 hectares of land thinned, pruned, and downed fuels removed near a north sub-division.