Spray Lake Sawmills’ chainsaws will remain silent after the government’s decision to halt logging in the Castle wilderness area Sept. 4.
Alberta’s minister of environment and parks announced the creation of a brand new provincial park and the expansion of Wildland Provincial Park within the Castle Special Management Area in southwest Alberta, ending timber harvesting in the region.
“We’re very disappointed by the decision of the government to cancel our existing arrangements that we had in place to sustainably harvest timber in the Castle region,” said Ed Kulcsar, SLS’s woodlands manager.
SLS had two timber quotas in the broader forest management unit, one timber licence specifically in the Castle area, which is now directly impacted by the decision.
Kulcsar said what the company is most displeased about is what they perceive as the government’s reneging on the previous agreement.
“A unilateral decision to reverse something that was developed through that process is what has us disappointed.
“We believe that plan represented a balance between economic, environmental and social goals, and also that plan was to create certainty so that we could move forward with business planning and investment plans.”
When asked about the economic impact, Kulcsar said his company is still ascertaining that.
“We don’t know the impact at this time. It’s too early; those calculations will need to be done.”
CBC News reported Sept. 4 that before the decision was struck, the company was set to cut down about 99,000 cubic metres of logs in Castle, “which the government said is the equivalent of the wood used to construct 1,900 single family detached homes with roughly 1,700 square foot of space.”
The official opposition was also not pleased. In a press release filed Sept. 8, the Wildrose Party bemoaned the government’s decision.
“There is more we can do to protect our environment, but this heavy handed approach has ripped jobs out of our area with little to no thought done by the NDP government,” said Pat Stier, Wildrose Livingstone-Macleod MLA (the Castle area is within Stier’s riding).
“Albertans here, like across the province, want stability and certainty. They cannot just survive off of seasonal tourism.”
In contrast, Alberta’s PC Caucus voiced their solidarity with the government.
“The PC Caucus is glad that the government is proceeding with protecting the Castle wilderness area, and urges the Alberta government to engage in respectful dialogue about implementation with current industry, tourism, recreational, conservation, and cultural users of the area,” as stated in their release sent Sept. 5.
Shannon Phillips, minister of environment and parks, was quoted in a media statement speaking on the environmental and economic importance of the region.
“Protecting the Castle is critically important for the biodiversity and water quality of this entire region. Under Parks’ legislation, and with the input of all Albertans, we will permanently protect this special place for future generations to enjoy as we transition the land to support good local jobs in tourism and recreation.”
The Castle area covers nearly 104,000 hectares – almost one-fourth the size of Rocky View County – and is described in the release as an ecologically diverse region of mountains, foothills, forests and grasslands with rivers and lakes, along with being culturally significant to First Nations.
Along with the ban on commercial logging, the government’s decision puts a moratorium on new oil, natural gas and mining ventures in the area.
Kulcsar said SLS would be in further talks with the government through the 30-day consultation period to determine their course of action.
