In southwestern Alberta along the spine of the Rocky Mountains lies a ribbon of forested wilderness called the Castle Special Place. It is an ecosystem rich in biodiversity and incredible landscapes including alpine lakes, old growth forest and wetlands. It is a unique place of irreplaceable spiritual, recreational and ecological values but it is under threat from industrial exploitation and irresponsible recreational use.
The Castle is a special place because:
Rare north-south valleys within the Castle provide critical wildlife corridors that allow the movement of large animals and keep wildlife populations in touch with each other. This flow of individuals and of genetic information is essential to their survival and their ability to cope with changes in their environment, including disturbances, disease and climate change.
There are also important east-west wildlife linkages between the Castle and British Columbia's Flathead Valley, uniting the two valleys into a single regional ecosystem.
Although the Castle was designated as a protected area in 1998, it is not legislated as such under Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation (ATPR). Currently, the area is managed by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD). SRD does its best to manage the Castle, but is not mandated to prioritize ecological integrity nor enforce regulations associated with recreational activities. As such, the Castle has suffered degradation from industrial, recreational, and other activities. It is not too late for the Castle, but it will continue to face further threats if it is not legislated as protected area under Parks and Protected Area legislation.
CPAWS SAB is currently working with several environmental groups and campaigns to stop logging in the Castle and obtain legislated protection for this Special Place. A market action campaign www.albertafoothillsnetwork.org that was launched in the spring of 2011 is ongoing and will be until logging has been cancelled. Please consider signing on to the market action campaign if you represent a business, and do not purchase wood from Spray Lake Sawmill if you are a consumer.
We continue to work with various organizations to stop the logging. Recently, a collaborative of groups congratulated the new Premier, Alison Redford and are looking for meaningful ways to work with the Government of Alberta to secure the Castle’s protection. Much of that work continues to be based on the hard work of the Castle Special Place Working Group whose work was to create and submit a conceptual proposal for protection of the Castle. This work was completed in 2010, but this conceptual proposal still forms the foundation of our recommendations to the new Government.
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