Federation of Alberta Naturalists

It is now time to blitz the our Federal Government with mail about the 1275 proposed shallow gas wells that EnCana wishes to drill on the “protected” National Wildlife Area (NWA) at CFB Suffield.

From: the Canadian Environment Assessment Registry
CEA Registry Reference Number: 05-03-15620

For more information, read the full notice at the CEAA website.

For more information about the NWA, and CFB Suffield, check these websites, and see info at the bottom.

http://www.pnr-rpn.ec.gc.ca/nature/whp/nwa/suffield/dd02s00.en.html
http://www.army.gc.ca/Suffield/English/backgrounder_dnd.asp
http://www.annettemoen.com/greenway/wildlife-area.html

Please write letters, as soon as possible. They are still talking about an Open House session in Medicine Hat on the 15th of November, at Medicine Hat Lodge, but that is not yet definite. (EnCana told me DND was holding that up!) When writing to the Department of National Defence and the Department of the Environment please use CEAR Reference # 05-03-15620

Please also write or email letters to the following MP’s. For all of the following contacts their address is the same, and can be mailed without postage:

The Honourable William Graham, PC, QC, MP, Minister of National Defense
Graham.B@parl.gc.ca, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, K1A 0K2.

The Honourable Stephane Dion, Minister of the Environment
stephane.dion@ec.gc.ca, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, K1A 0K2.

The The Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister
McLellan.A@parl.gc.ca, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, K1A 0K2.

The Honourable R. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources
Efford.J@parl.gc.ca, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, K1A 0K2.

The Right Honorable Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada
Martin.P@parl.gc.ca, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, K1A 0K2.

Here are other addresses, if you are on a roll!! Be sure to send one to your MP, and any others you think might be interested!! Nature Canada has said they will have a letter on their website, if you want to know what to say.

Kenneth W.Vollman, Chairman & CEO
National Energy Board
444 7Ave. SW
Calgary AB T2P 0X8

Mr.Gwyn Morgan, CEO
EnCana Corp.
1800 - 855 2 St. SW
Calgary AB T2P 2S5
(403-645-2000)
http://www.encana.com/whoweare/leadership_team/lt_gwyn_morgan.html

Lieutenant-Colonel D.R.Drew, Base Commander
Canadian Forces Base Suffield
PO Box 6000 Station Main
Medicine Hat, AB. T1A 8K8

(Please remember when writing or emailing, to cc the following people. The knowledge that we are keeping in contact and that we know how many have responded will not allow the above official’s to deny the collective power of our group’s or the power of one person’s actions, collectively noted.)

cc: Sandra Foss, President, Federation of Alberta Naturalists (FAN), sefoss@telus.net
Mr. Glen Semenchuk, Executive Director, FAN, glens@fanweb.ca
Ms Julie Gelfand, President, Nature Canada, jgelfand@naturecanada.ca
Ms. Norma LaFonte, Coalition for Alberta’s Future (CFAF), nmlafonte@aol.com

Ecological Significance

“The CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area hosts over 1,100 catalogued species including 244 vertebrate, 462 plant, and 436 invertebrate species. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has listed 14 of these species as “species at risk.” Examples of species at risk include the Swift Fox and the Sprague’s Pipit (bird). Seventy-eight species of animals and plants that are listed by the Status of Alberta Wildlife 2000 as “at risk” or “sensitive” because of their declining abundance are found here

“The National Wildlife Area has long been recognized as ecologically unique and fragile by the Military who have zoned it “Out of Bounds” to all military training and defence research activities since 1971. Public access is also prohibited by authority of the National Defence Act.”

“In 1975, the province of Alberta, the owner of Suffield mineral rights, and the Government of Canada reached an agreement which permitted Alberta Energy Company (AEC) to develop oil and gas reserves on the Base. Before development proceeded, AEC had to identify archaeological sites on the Suffield Block so that protective measures could be taken. Archaeologists located 1,692 sites, including five medicine wheels, three bison kill sites, and nine stone cairns which are fenced out of bounds to military and industrial activity.

A committee consisting of members from Alberta Utilities Board, Alberta Land Reclamation Board, and Environment Canada inspects petroleum industry activities and programs on the Base. This committee annually advises the Base Commander on environmental protection requirements, particularly for the Middle Sand Hills, the South Saskatchewan River valley and breaks, and the Mixed Grassland zone of the wildlife area.”

“No major changes in land use are anticipated. Other land uses on the area include placement of live fire safety templates over the area in support of military exercises and defence research trials in adjacent areas, cattle grazing and shallow gas extraction. The area proposed for inclusion in the CFB Suffield NWA has been out-of-bounds to military training since 1972, and was precluded from deep rights access for petroleum development by the DND-Alberta Deep Rights Agreement of 1999. Cattle grazing and shallow gas recovery which operate under existing Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) will continue, subject to the environmental screening protocols specified in the respective MOAs controlling those activities and the Wildlife Area Regulations. Public access is strictly managed for public safety liability reasons.

Application of the Wildlife Area Regulations under the CWA offers direction for guiding land use on this important prairie grassland area. This will formalize wildlife and habitat protection that will enhance regional wildlife populations, thereby addressing the concerns of both Alberta and nearby Saskatchewan wildlife agencies, as well as non-government environmental organizations.

A better understanding of the response of the prairie ecosystem to long-term management and protection of the native habitat is anticipated as a result of the creation of the CFB Suffield NWA. This knowledge will be accessible to the public to support regional landscape management….

The Alberta Department of Energy has been continually advised on the development of the protected area status through negotiations with DND on surface access agreements governing petroleum development on CFB Suffield. The Energy Department will continue to issue statements to petroleum producers identifying access limitations to mineral leases on the designated lands.

Over the past 10 years, key non-government organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Canadian Nature Federation, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, the Alberta Wilderness Association, the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, the Society of Grasslands Naturalists, the Alberta Fish and Game Association, the Alberta Society of Professional Biologists, the Wildlife Society (Northwest Section), the Society for Range Management, the Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and industry including EnCana (formerly Alberta Energy Company), the Pipeline Grazing Association, and the Drowning Ford Grazing Association have also supported the designation of the NWA at CFB Suffield during consultations involving various environmental issues on CFB Suffield and the proposed NWA lands.”

Management

The CFB Suffield National Wildlife Area will remain under the administrative authority and ownership of DND subject to a delegation of authority from the Minister of Environment to the Minister of National Defence. EC will support DND’s administration of the area with advice, and wildlife research and enforcement expertise on a case-by-case basis. Interdepartmental cooperation and consultation on the operation of the protected area will continue. No major changes in land use are anticipated.

Posted November 3, 2005 by russ