Star Creek Logging Haul Road

Canfor logging company has begun the construction of a main logging haul road in the upper Star Creek valley. It currently runs approximately 5km west to east from the tourist information centre west of Coleman. AWA has some serious concerns with this logging project in general and particularly the associated road infrastructure that already lacks sufficient mitigation measures around local watercourses.
The area slated to be logged will adversely impact Star Creek and its permanent and ephemeral tributaries. The haul road, that runs just south of Girardi Creek and crosses several of its tributaries, will have a negative impact as well. In the “Management of Class ‘A’ Watercourses – Fact Sheet”, Class ‘A’ watercourses are defined as critical fish habitat protection areas. Girardi Creek and Star Creek both contain pure-strain westslope cutthroat trout, a threatened species listed federally and provincially. Both creeks are designated as critical habitat in the federal Recovery Strategy (Recovery Strategy for Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) Alberta Population).These two creeks, without a doubt should be treated as Class ‘A’ watercourses and afforded the highest level of protection against any disturbance. Despite this, the haul road currently under construction has breached even a minimal level of buffer width next to Girardi Creek. The road is on a steep slope approximately 20 metres away, without any sediment fencing or erosion control.