For Immediate Release May 7, 2007
Bragg Creek - Tag A Tree campaign will kick-off Saturday, May 12, 2007
Location: Bragg Creek Centre
10 A.M to 5 P.M.
Get a free tag and hang it on a tree in Kananaskis. Make Kananaskis a park
Schedule of events
11:30 A.M. - Family Bike Ride from Redwood Meadows to Bragg Creek (5 km)
12:00 - 1:30 P.M. - Entertainment and food
1:00 P.M. - Speakers on water, environment and recreation include David Swann, MLA Calgary-Mountainview; Ralph Cartar, President of the Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition; and Brad Clute, Sustainability Coordinator for Mountain Equipment Co-Op.
1:30 P.M. - First official tree tagging
2:00 P.M. - Tag a Trail. Bow Cycle will lead three Elbow Valley bike rides for different skill levels. A Mountain Guide will climb Prairie View and hikers will head for the foothills. Ralph Cartar will lead a nature walk in West Bragg Creek. The Inside Out Experience Bus will shuttle from Bragg Creek to Kananaskis and back.
Come celebrate and Save Kananaskis - It's Worth It.
More info at www.tagatree.ca
Three arguments for logging and the status quo in Kananaskis
1. Where will the lumber come from?
Logging is an important part of the Canadian economy. There is so much lumber produced in B.C., that the Softwood Lumber tax has kicked in. It applies when the price of lumber falls below a set price. Supply and demand isn't working for the lumber industry. It's going to get worse when the full effect of the pine beetle works through the system.
Kananaskis is a very small area, with relatively few trees. Taking it out of the supply chain will have little effect on lumber supply. Logging is important. Spray Lakes is a pretty good company. They are in the wrong place.
Lumber and carbon leases would be bought back or traded. Existing infrastructure would remain in the park.
2. Industry make trails and open up scenic vistas.
Logging roads are not good trails. Building good trails requires skill and care. The national park trails and those in Kananaskis built by trail builders are more attractive and more interesting than access roads. A lot of people invested a lot of effort to build and maintain trails and to say loggers built the trails in Kananaskis, does trail builders a disservice. Clearcuts are long-lasting and ugly.
3. Kananaskis is a multi-use area and it should stay that way
When Kananaskis was created, it had a large and active staff to build and maintain recreational facilities. Budget cut-backs since the mid-90s have shifted the emphasis from recreation to resource development. The Ranger Station near Allen Bill Pond, once the hub of activity in the Elbow Valley, is now abandoned. The Pond is no longer a pond. The few staff that remain can't maintain trails and facilities.
The principal authority for the area has shifted from the Environment Department to Sustainable Resource Development. The Parks Department, now part of the Tourism, Recreation, Culture and Parks Department, has relatively little influence over access. If they did, they wouldn't allow bulldozers, just as they wouldn't allow the TransRockies bike race to ride through the area. Parks and Recreation should be one ministry and they should have principal authority in Kananaskis. They will have to determine what kind of park to create and who should have access to it.
Premier Stelmach says he won't touch the brake on resource development in Alberta. If we don't get control of this runaway train, at least in Kananaskis, we're heading for a wreck further down the road. Global warming, seen through the impact of the pine beetle, is having a serious impact on the logging industry right now.
In the News
"Pricey parcels drive Calgary land rush"
In the last ten years, suburban development west of Calgary has moved 12 km closer to Kananaskis. At that rate, Calgary will reach the Kananaskis boundary in about 40 years. The watershed and the natural environment in Kananaskis will be critical to the health and well-being of the city.
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Contact:
Doug Sephton
P.O. Box 781
Bragg Creek, AB T0L 0K0
403-949-4274
info@braggcreek.ca
