Joint News Release: Proposed Alberta government plan would wipe out two southern mountain caribou populations
March 26, 2025
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The Government of Alberta released the draft Upper Smoky Sub-Regional plan which, if approved, would enable the U.S.A.-based timber company Weyerhaeuser to entirely clearcut the last winter range forests occupied by the Red Rock-Prairie Creek and Narraway mountain caribou populations. The proposed plan would also increase oil and gas developments in these caribou ranges.
The Red Rock Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou have already undergone large declines in distribution, population size, and annual migrations due to extensive habitat loss from industrial activity in their critical winter ranges. Southern mountain caribou are a species at risk, and the habitat loss enabled by the proposed sub-regional plan would lead to the extinction of the two caribou populations. Red Rock-Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou are two of the last three southern mountain caribou populations on Alberta’s provincial land.
The timber harvest proposed in the draft Upper Smoky Sub-Regional plan would allow Weyerhaeuser to clearcut the remaining critical winter habitat and eliminate the ability of these caribou to annually migrate to the foothill’s forests. The animals would be forced to winter in harsh mountainous areas, which provide poor winter habitat and expose caribou to high mortality risk from avalanches and other sources.
In addition to timber harvesting, the draft sub-regional plan encourages increased oil and gas, mining and other developments across the caribou winter ranges. The plan identifies measures to restore tree growth on some oil and gas seismic exploration lines, however, restoration will be too little too late for caribou, since the winter range would be entirely logged, and business as usual oil and gas development would continue.
Southern mountain caribou require old forests which are relatively undisturbed by human developments. Large portions of the winter range of these caribou populations have already been logged. And the cumulative effects of all industrial developments have created landscape disturbances which currently exceed what is required by caribou populations.
The Upper Smoky Sub-Regional Plan is meant to uphold Alberta’s commitment to caribou conservation and recovery as outlined in the provincial A Woodland Caribou Policy for Alberta (2011), the federal Recovery Strategy for the Woodland Caribou Southern Mountain population (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Canada (2014), and the Agreement for the Conservation and Recovery of the Woodland Caribou in Alberta (2020) signed between the Governments of Canada and Alberta. The proposed plan does not even list caribou conservation or recovery as objectives.
A Caribou Task Force was established to advise the government on Upper Smoky sub-regional planning, including conservation and recovery actions for caribou and other sensitive species. This task force included representatives from First Nations, Metis groups, industry, municipalities, and various land and resource users and interest groups including CPAWS Northern Alberta and the Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA). These multi-stakeholder conversations were held in good faith from 2019 to 2021.
The proposed sub-regional plan does not reflect task force recommendations related to caribou conservation and recovery, or for the conservation and management of other species.
A redeeming feature of the draft Upper Smoky Sub-Regional Plan is the proposed establishment of conservation areas in mountainous areas adjacent to the existing Willmore Wilderness Park and Kakwa Wildland Park. The proposal to create these conservation areas should be applauded. We note, however, the proposed conservation areas do not comprise caribou winter range and those areas will not, in and of themselves, adequately provide for caribou conservation or recovery – southern mountain caribou need intact winter habitat.
If adopted as currently presented, the Upper Smoky Sub-Regional Plan will ensure the continuing loss of southern mountain caribou in Alberta. We urge the Government of Alberta to significantly revise this plan and fulfil the provinces’ obligations to protect caribou.
“The plan doesn’t even list caribou recovery as an objective and would approve the clearcutting of nearly all remaining forests in the caribou’s winter range. It is devastating that stakeholders from task force meetings honourably dedicated so much time to recommending measures to recover the caribou populations, only to receive a plan that will assure extinction. If approved, the plan will allow Weyerhaeuser to eliminate two of our last southern mountain caribou populations. In addition, there are no meaningful provisions in the plan to limit the footprint of oil and gas and other industrial activities within the caribou ranges.”
-Tara Russell, Program Director, CPAWS Northern Alberta
“This sub-regional plan was supposed to protect and support the recovery of Alberta’s last remaining southern mountain caribou populations. Instead, the government has introduced a draft plan that does the opposite — enabling even more industrial development in caribou critical habitat. This level of habitat loss will push these caribou populations to extinction.”
-Pamela Narvaez-Torres, Conservation Specialist, Alberta Wilderness Association
“The Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway southern mountain caribou populations have already significantly reduced their use of essential forested winter range in the face of encroaching timber harvest and oil and gas development. The Government of Alberta is currently buying time by killing wolves to avoid caribou extinction until caribou habitat can recover. This Upper Smoky Draft Sub-Regional Plan proposes to further accelerate timber harvest in the last of the core winter range. The result will be the extinction of the two caribou populations. Perpetual wolf control will do nothing to protect caribou from avalanches if they are forced to winter in alpine summer range and if there is no plan to conserve the remaining caribou habitat.”
-Kirby Smith, Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Conservation Affairs Committee Member and Retired Government of Alberta Wildlife Biologist
“This draft subregional plan would expand oil and gas development on Crown lands, in an area where some of Alberta’s last remaining southern mountain caribou dwell. Earlier this month, Alberta was calling attention to its huge reserves of both natural gas and oil. Let’s make smart, responsible choices about how to develop those resources. Biodiversity is critical and must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of increased fossil fuel production. This is especially true at a time when the majority of the world is moving away from oil and gas in favour of locally-produced, secure, low-cost, clean electricity to power more aspects of everyday life.”
-Chris Severson Baker, Executive Director, Pembina Institute
“At a moment when Canadians are talking about values, including our relationships with nature and ensuring that resources are sustainably managed to support workers in the long-term, this government caribou plan is a kick in the gut. Caribou are bellwethers of healthy forest ecosystems, and continuing to enable their demise by failing to set limits for industrial resource expansion is grossly irresponsible, as well as heartbreaking.”
-Rachel Plotkin Boreal Project Manager, David Suzuki Foundation.
For more information contact:
Tara Russell, Program Director, CPAWS Northern Alberta, trussell@cpaws.org
Pamela Narváez-Torres, Conservation Specialist, Alberta Wilderness Association, cs2@abwild.ca
Kirby Smith, Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society, Conservation Affairs Committee Member and Retired Government of Alberta Wildlife Biologist, kirbkate@gmail.com
Chris Severson-Baker, Executive Director, Pembina Institute, ExecutiveDirector@pembina.org
Rachel Plotkin, Boreal Project Manager, David Suzuki Foundation, rplotkin@davidsuzuki.org