Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) are praising concerned Bragg Creek residents for their local stewardship, after reporting the presence of logging trucks on the hamlet’s public roadways.
Beginning Jan. 7, a small fleet of empty logging trucks from Spray Lake Sawmills (SLS) travelled through Bragg Creek, via the West Bragg Creek Road, to pick up the remaining logs from 2013’s harvest.
Once loaded, the trucks would exit the area using SLS roadways, eventually linking up with Sibbald Trail.
The presence of the trucks did not go unnoticed by residents of the hamlet, who wasted no time contacting ESRD. Duncan MacDonnell, a spokesperson for ESRD, said that upon being contacted by the government, the mill immediately ceased using the public roadways.
Ed Kulcsar, woodland manager at SLS, said the reason for the reroute was to limit the disruption to the cross-country ski trail system that snakes through the area.
“We thought we were doing the right thing,” said Kulcsar. “Accessing the harvest by travelling (through the hamlet) would have allowed us to complete the haul in less time, and allowed ski trails to be groomed sooner.”
Kulcsar said there were six to eight trucks that headed through Bragg Creek. Each of the empty trucks made two trips.
With this schedule, Kulcsar said the final haul from that harvest block would have been completed in about two and a half weeks.
With the trucks now back to their original route, Kulcsar said the trucks may only be able to complete one haul a day.
This will disrupt the ski trails in the area for about five weeks.
Kulcsar said there was a misunderstanding between the community and the mill in the commitment SLS made to not travel the public road systems.
“The agreement was that no loaded log trucks would go through the community,” he continued. “And no loaded trucks travelled through Bragg Creek.”
Seeing the trucks — even the empty ones — was “crossing the line” for Doug Sephton, who runs a website and twitter feed for the hamlet.
“People are outraged that the harvesting is happening in the first place,” he said, adding that he was pleased with the quick response of the provincial government. “What made (SLS) think they could get away with this?”
Whether loaded or empty, Kulcsar said SLS said their fleet of trucks follows safety and load regulations set by Alberta Transportation, as well as monitor their truck movements and speeds.
Although resolved, questions about this issue can be sent to [email protected].
