Dear editor:
Logging in the Ghost Valley concerns me for so many reasons:
· damage to county roads never designed for industrial traffic;
· safety concerns for the residents who will be forced to share these narrow roads with logging trucks;
· the destruction of an area truly unique in offering an accessible wildness experience to Albertans;
· and most importantly, the risky land use choices our government allows in a watershed upstream of 1.6 million people.
Timber harvest could be done differently in the Ghost Valley. Access could be limited and a properly designed haul road already in place on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation could be used. Selective logging could be implemented for the entire Richards Road area, with an extensive and substantial "buffer" along the entire Ghost River escarpment. Spray Lake Sawmills could employ the "Model Forest" concept, similar to the Foothills Model Forest in the Hinton/Edson area, an excellent example of modern forestry in our province.
Times have changed. The Ghost Valley is now an upstream water source for the ever-growing populations of Cochrane and Calgary. The water produced by the eastern slopes is more valuable to a greater number of people than is the timber harvested from these slopes. Floods in 2005 and 2013 have revealed the role healthy upstream watersheds play in timing of flow, protecting us from flood risk.
Areas like the Ghost Valley deserve updated, ecologically sound management by the Alberta government. It is crucial that the Alberta government, namely Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD), update forest management rules and regulations to bring them in line with the current realities of burgeoning downstream populations. AESRD must then progress to oversight and enforcement of regulations.
Indeed, the future of all Albertans depends on enlightened forest management.
Rod Wallace, Richards Road, M. D. of Bighorn
