Middle Sand Hills Archive
2010-09-01 National Wildlife Area Missing from Proposed Endangered Owl Habitat Designation
A proposal by the federal government that would limit habitat protection for the endangered Burrowing Owl has raised alarm among conservation groups. In a letter sent to Environment Minister Jim Prentice today, members of the Suffield Coalition voiced concern that his department’s apparently selective identification of critical habitat overlooks burrowing owls in the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Suffield National Wildlife Area.
2010-09-01 Critical Habitat for Burrowing Owl in CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area
Letter from the Suffield Coalition (Alberta Wilderness Association, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Nature Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta Group for the Environment, Grasslands Naturalists, and Nature Canada) to federal Minister of the Environment, calling for identification of Critical Habitat for Burrowing Owl in CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area.
2010-08 Continuing Failure to Protect Burrowing Owl Habitat in Suffield
Wild Lands Advocate update, October 2010, by Nigel Douglas
2010-05-25 Suffield Coalition Concerned About Delay in Government Response. National Wildlife Areas Needed to Help Fight Extinction
The Suffield Coalition today expressed concern about the failure by the Government of Canada to make a decision on EnCana’s proposal to drill in the Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Suffield National Wildlife Area. The Joint Review Panel (JRP) ...made its recommendations on the project in January 2009. There have been no decisions made by the Government since, and there are growing concerns that the project might be approved without fully accepting all of the recommendations made by the JRP.
2010-03-12 Suffield National Wildlife Area – Conservation Makes Economic Sense
As shale gas discoveries greatly expand already abundant reserves of natural gas, the economics of EnCana's application to drill an additional 1,275 gas wells within Suffield National Wildlife Area are becoming ever more questionable. The Suffield Coalition has long
2010-01-15 Suffield National Wildlife Area and the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan
January 15 letter by the Suffield Coalition, making recommendations to the Alberta government for increased recognition of the Suffield National Wildlife Area in the future South Saskatchewan Regional Plan.
2010-01-12 EnCana Avoids Trial on Charges of Canada Wildlife Act Violation in Suffield National Wildlife Area
Calgary (January 12, 2009) – The Suffield Coalition is disappointed to have learned last week that the Crown has stayed the case against EnCana on charges of violating Canada’s Wildlife Act. EnCana was scheduled to be tried on March 19, 2010, almost five years after EnCana installed a section of pipeline in the CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area without a permit (in March 2005). Numerous adjournments and a preliminary hearing were held in Medicine Hat, but now there will be no trial.
2009-04-20 EnCana to Appear in Court for Tenth Time Canada Wildlife Act Violation
Suffield Coalition News Release
2008-10-24 EnCana’s Approach to the Environment in Suffield: “Deny, Delay, Deter, Deflect”
Suffield Coalition News Release
2008-10-22 Government of Canada Objects to EnCana Application at Suffield Hearing
Suffield Coalition News Release
2008-10 Help Save Suffield
The Middle Sand Hills Area of Concern lies forty miles north of the city of Medicine Hat, to the west of the South Saskatchewan River, and to the south of the Red Deer River. It is approximately 2480 square kilometers in size. Relatively untouched until recent years, the near-native conditions in the Middle Sand Hills area are reminiscent of the Great Plains as they once were. The extensive mixed grasslands, sand hills, coulees and wetlands that comprise the Middle Sand Hills Area of Concern are home to 1,100 native prairie species, including 13 federal Species at Risk and 78 provincially listed at risk species.
2008-09-30 Environmental Coalition Launches Suffield Video Days before Hearing
Suffield Coalition News Release
