April 24, 2010

I could almost see Gordon Lehn cringe at the term “clear-cut logging” as we discussed over the phone his company’s preliminary planning to log the Beaver Mines area of the Castle next year.

“It’s a terrible term,” he said as he described how, Spray Lakes Sawmills of Cochrane approaches the “timber harvest” in an area popular with Southern Albertans for outdoor recreation. It’s also important for its wildlife habitat and plant diversity. Several groups and agencies and the public generally have expressed concern that the Castle, a significant source of the South’s water supply, needs more protection.

But, Lehn said that during the Castle Special Place designation process, the area around Beaver Mines Lake was noted as a special management area, not protected.

Still, he believes his company “can be respectful of other uses so we don’t damage them.”

He said, "You don't have to have every tree gone. It's not a moonscape. People have a hard time separating what is visually pleasing from what is environmentally appropriate.”

By stripping branches and leaving them on the ground, “You get better moisture retention, minimized soil runoff and reduced soil compaction. The pinecones in the slash and the decomposition help reforestation. It’s by far the best environmentally.”

The intent is not to be messy, he said.

Meanwhile, groups concerned about the logging plans are raising the flag.

A citizens group seeking legislated protection for the Castle plans to distribute pamphlets to Castle area users warning that Alberta Sustainable Resources Department is scheduling “Beaver Mines Lake/Castle Falls for Clear-Cut logging.”

The pamphlet points out logging could proceed despite the lack of a pine beetle problem. As well, “The SRD Minister in 2007 deferred ap­proval of his department’s Crowsnest Forest 20-year plan for forests between Kananaskis Country and Waterton Lakes National Park until the State of the Oldman Watershed Report planning is done, due to public concern for water­shed protection, wildlife habitat and outdoor recrea­tion.”

The Oldman Watershed report was released Thursday.

Sarah Elmeligi, senior conservation planner for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s Southern Alberta Chapter, says, “My biggest concern is that the logging will be approved prior to the regional plan being completed. Then, even if the regional plan provides legislated protection for the Castle, existing logging leases will be grandfathered in.

“This process seems to undermine the regional planning process that all of our initiatives are directed to every time we propose the conservation of an area. It's symptomatic of a much larger problem."

A Spray Lakes forest management plan for Kananaskis logging in 2007 approved by SRD noted, “The demand by all sectors for access to Alberta’s Crown lands is growing, increasing the potential for conflict between resource users. The ongoing public debate regarding appropriate land use … is not one that the forest industry is able to address and resides with the government to resolve.”

Seems that hasn’t been done, certainly not for the Castle. Says Lehn, unless the provincial cabinet specifically directs otherwise, “we will continue with our current plans to commence harvest operations in the Beaver Mines area for the 2011/12 season.”