Court challenges are expected to begin next week over the Alberta government’s decision to rescind the coal policy, which restricted exploration and development of open-pit coal mines in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Read more about Coal Mining in Alberta's Eastern Slopes
Crowsnest Pass mountains from Blairmore
The oral portion of the public hearing for Benga Mining Ltd.'s proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Project in the Crowsnest Pass concluded on December 2. The next step in the federal impact assessment process is for the Joint Review Panel to draft the Impact Assessment Report, Consultation Report, and recommend potential conditions for submission to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Grassy Mountain is the first of at least six mountain-top removal coal mines proposed by large Australian mining companies in various stages of regulatory approval in the region. There are more than 50,000 ha of the Old Man River headwaters under lease for future mountain-top removal mining.
Edmonton, Alberta, December 10, 2020 – Local grassroots non-profit Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition has filed a request for judicial review regarding the City of Edmonton’s rezoning of 99 acres of river valley parkland for an Epcor industrial solar plant. Read more about Grassroots Conservation Group Taking the City to Court
Yesterday, the Alberta government took another step towards turning Alberta’s Eastern Slopes into little more than a string of coal mines. Nearly 2,000 hectares of coal leases were offered for sale in the Rockies of southern Alberta. This offering, together with existing coal leases and applications for coal leases, confirms the government’s ambition to sacrifice the southern Alberta mountain landscape for coal. Read more about Continuing the Sacrifice of the Eastern Slopes to Old King Coal
EDMONTON, AB – The ongoing precarious state of Wood Buffalo National Park was internationally recognized today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which stated in a report assessing all of its World Heritage Sites, that its conservation outlook is of “significant concern”. This assessment came only one day after the Government of Canada was due to submit a State of Conservation update report to the UN on the federal government’s implementation of the Wood Buffalo National Park Action Plan to recover the park. The Action Plan was announced nearly two years ago, but Indigenous communities and environmental organizations have consistently expressed concerns about the need for more resources and timely actions to reflect the scope and severity of threats. Read more about Conservation of Wood Buffalo National Park of ‘significant concern’, local Indigenous communities and environmental organizations say more action is needed
Last week the Government of Alberta released “Alberta’s Crown Land Vision.” The Alberta Crown Land Vision appears to be a precursor to changes in two key areas of legislation: updating parks and public land legislation, and introducing new recreation legislation (Alberta Trails Act) focused on the creation of a recreation user-based fee framework. Read more about Alberta’s Crown Land Vision released, but groups call for more clarity
Canada is working to meet its commitment of 17% conserved areas by the end of 2020. New creative measures have been developed to help meet these goals. Join Kecia Kerr from CPAWS Northern Alberta and Matt Munson from the Dene Tha' First Nation as they share the relatively new concept of Indigenous Protected & Conserved Areas (IPCA) and what it takes to develop the first IPCA in Alberta. Read more about 2020 Environmental Gathering Idea Talk: Indigenous Protected & Conserved Areas
From the Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition website:
Even though both the public and conservation science strongly support the elimination of motorized recreation in the Castle, the Government of Alberta put the phase out of OHVs on hold.
Read more about Say Whoa! to Motorized Recreation in the Castle
On October 23, the governments of Canada and Alberta announced that they had reached an agreement for the conservation and recovery of Woodland Caribou in Alberta. The agreement follows years of pressure from First Nations and environmental groups including a 2019 lawsuit calling on the courts to compel the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to recommend a safety net order to protect boreal caribou habitat. While recognizing the agreement as a necessary first step, environmental organizations remain concerned, particularly that the timelines contained within the agreement are not fast enough to protect threatened herds.
