Wilderness Defender: Canmore Corridors Need More!
January 16, 2017
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Dear Wilderness Defender,
Last November, we asked you to speak up to let the province know the importance of wildlife corridors in the Bow Valley. Many of you asked, at minimum, that the corridor affected by the Three Sisters Mountain Village Smith Creek development remain 450m wide below a slope of 25 degrees. The province has responded, saying that 350m wildlife corridor width under 25 degrees is sufficient. In this critical and already highly developed wildlife corridor, bigger is better, and we need your help to tell Alberta Environment and Parks that 350m is not big enough!
-Andrea Johancsik, Conservation Specialist
Write to Hon. Shannon Phillips, Minister of Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP), AEP.Minister@gov.ab.ca, and copy Cam Westhead, MLA for Banff Cochrane, banff.cochrane@assembly.ab.ca, to tell the Government of Alberta that a 350m corridor below a slope of 25 degrees is not enough. A functional, multi-species corridor consistent with 2012 BCEAG and recent scientific studies for the Smith Creek segment of the Three Sisters Along Valley Corridor should be at least 450m wide below a slope of 25 degrees. In fact, the best available science indicates the Three Sisters Along Valley Corridor should be even bigger – 850m wide.
Please send a copy to Andrea Johancsik at ajohancsik@abwild.ca.
Thank you for helping Alberta’s wildlife!
The Bow Valley taken above Canmore. Photo: A Johancsik, November 2016
The Issue
The Bow Valley is a crucial, yet vulnerable, segment of an internationally significant wildlife corridor. The proposed Smith Creek development could impact this corridor if it’s not wide enough for animals. Without an effective corridor for wildlife movement, there is a risk wildlife populations will suffer.
