June 2006
Little new information has been provided nor any consultation occurred since June 2006, the deadline for public input on Spray Lakes Sawmills (SLS) Detailed Forest Management Plan (DFMP). The minister of Sustainable Resource Development will hold an Open House next June to release the approved DFMP.
Public concern (letters sent to SLS and SRD) called for consultation and a halt to logging in the eastern districts. Backed by concern over water quality and quantity from the City of Calgary, SRD has delayed approval of the DFMP.
Sept.-Dec.
SLS delayed submission of the plan to Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) from September to December of 2006.
During the delay, concern over the pine beetle increased. The review is continuing.
The DFMP called for extensive clearcuts in West Bragg Creek and throughout eastern and southern Kananaskis over 20 years and beyond.
February 2007
In February, 2007 Spray Lakes held an exhibition to unveil a revised plan. The focus had shifted from fire in Bragg Creek to the pine beetle in Sibbald. The plan to clearcut in the Sibbald district, harvesting pine before the beetles infect them was submitted to Sustainable Resource Development on Feb. 28.
SRD plans to speed the harvest of trees in advance of the pine beetle threat . They say that 75% of susceptible lodgepole pines should be harvested. Most of Kananaskis is lodgepole pine. Approval of the revised plan is expected in May.
2001 - 2026
The government directs policy for resource development, but transferred management of the forest resource to SLS in 2001 through the Forest Management Agreement (FMA). The DFMP shows where, when and how they will exploit that resource over 20 years.
Under the FMA, the primary use of the forest management area is "for establishing, growing, harvesting and removing timber."
Logging in Sibbald will apparently begin in the spring/summer of 2007.
March- April 2007
The C5 Forest Management Plan is deferred until the Oldman Watershed Report is reviewed. Although some logging is to proceed.
On April 12, the Alberta government delares a "State of Emergency" over the pine beetle. In B.C. experts say that clear-cutting will do more severe damage that will last longer than will the beetle infestation. Here in Calgary, scientists say there is no emergency - the smaller drier trees in Kananaskis will not sustain the beetle.
July 2007
Adult beetles emerge and spread in July.
History
Captain John Palliser explored this area on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains between 1857 to 1860. He named a river after a native called "Kin-e-ah-kis". Legend has it that this man survived an axe blow to the head.
In 1975 The Alberta government, under Peter Loughheed, designated over 4,000 square kilometres of the area as a multi-use area. At the time Alberta Environmental Protection had significant influence over K-Country. It is no longer a key player. Alberta Sustainable Resources seems to take presidence over Tourism, Culture and Parks, the ministry now responsible for recreation.
Besides logging there is gas exploration and extraction as well as agricultural leases where farmers graze their cattle during the summer. But, the area is better known for the hundreds of kilometres of trails and the camping, cycling, horseback riding, kyaking, rafting, golfing, hiking, climbing, fishing and hunting that provide endless recreational opportunities for Albertans and visitors.
Over the last 15 years, government cutbacks and an increased focus on industrial development in Kananaskis led to layoffs of Park staff and deterioration and mothballing of facilities. The Ranger Station in the Elbow Valley is now abandoned.