A spokesperson from the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) attended Cochrane’s Dec. 9 council meeting to present the mayor and councillors with information regarding the draft of the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP).
Karsten Heuer, president of Y2Y, spoke of the organization’s suggestions on improving the draft SSRP, which was released by the provincial government Oct. 10.
The plan covers the Ghost watershed and south towards the Canada-U.S. border, encompassing much of the area affected by June’s flooding.
Prior to the release of the draft plan, Y2Y was on the look out for three key conservation policies: an increase in protected lands along Alberta’s headwaters, the connection of protected corridors along Alberta’s eastern slopes, and a stop to clear-cutting headwaters in Southern Alberta.
Heuer said he and his team at Y2Y were disappointed in the direction of the draft plan.
“We thought it was going to be a new plan,” he added. “We didn’t think it was just going to be the status quo.”
He said the draft plan covered “nothing in terms of grasslands, nothing in terms of connectivity and there’s really nothing in terms of headwaters protection along the eastern slopes.”
He connected the dots between natural and economic systems — the wealth of a community can be linked to an intact environment.
“We live in, probably, one of the world’s greatest opportunities to keep the attributes that keep people coming to this region,” he said.
“The Province of Alberta has made very similar notes on this issue,” he continued. “Five years ago, they realized that if we continue with the status quo we are not going to keep the attributes that drive along the wealth — both in terms of natural systems and economic systems in the west.”
Heuer quoted the Province of Alberta in a statement made five years ago:
“We’ve reached a tipping point, where sticking with the old rules will not produce the quality of life we have come to expect. If we want our children to enjoy the same quality the current generation has, we need a new plan.”
Yellowstone to Yukon aims to preserve and maintain the habitat in the mountain region that stretches from Yellowstone National Park (which is primarily located in Wyoming) to Yukon. This includes the conservation of native plants, wildlife, wilderness and natural processes.
“Our interest is as much about having people be part of the landscape as it is about having wildlife,” he said.
Council accepted this presentation as information.
Representatives from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (AESRD) were in Cochrane Nov. 28 to speak with residents about the draft SSRP. According to the Alberta Government’s website, more than 100 people were in attendance. Comments, concerns and feedback on the plan were gathered.
This feedback can be access online at aesrd.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/what-we-heard-gathering-comments-in-cochrane/.
