Mohkinstsis/Calgary, Alberta
October 8, 2025

Permit Granted For Habitat Destruction

Yesterday, on October 7, 2025, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) issued a permit under the Species at Risk Act, approving the destruction of critical habitat to make way for 14 river and stream crossings, including the Highwood bridge. This means that West Fraser Cochrane can now carry out the first stage of its logging plan in the Upper Highwood.  
 
The part of the logging plan that is within Loomis Creek has not yet been approved and has been submitted under a separate application.  

Illegal Bridge Construction Over Critical Habitat

In the summer of 2023, Spray Lakes Sawmills (now acquired by West Fraser Cochrane) illegally constructed a bridge over the Highwood River, a waterway that is designated as Critical Habitat for threatened Bull Trout under the Species at Risk Act. This bridge was built to access areas planned for logging. No Species at Risk Act critical habitat destruction permit was issued for this work, despite this being a legal requirement.  

Not only was the bridge constructed without the required permit, it also failed to meet provincial mitigation standards — see here for documentation of the destruction of riparian habitat, bank erosion, and sediment control failures documented at the Highwood bridge site in the summer of 2024.  

DFO Investigation and Bridge Removal

In response to concerns raised by CPAWS and many others, DFO opened an investigation into the bridge. This investigation led to the removal of the bridge in 2024 and some reclamation work in the damaged riparian area.  

Despite the DFO investigation starting over two years ago, they have still not made the results of that investigation public. Yet they have still gone ahead and issued a permit for the bridge to be re-constructed. 

Loomis Creek and Bull Trout at Risk

The importance of this area for threatened bull trout is well understood, and our recent work in Loomis Creek made clear the major risks to bull trout populations from this logging plan. A permit for habitat destruction for this new planned bridge should not be issued given that the project does not meet  requirements for permitting under the Species at Risk Act. 

“The permitting of critical habitat destruction in the Upper Highwood shows that DFO continues to put the profits of resource extraction companies ahead of the survival and recovery of listed species.” 

—Joshua Killeen, Conservation Science & Programs Manager, CPAWS Southern Alberta 

It’s also worth noting that provincial regulations include a ‘Restricted Activity Period’ to protect bull trout from in-channel activities from September 1^st to April 30^th.  If bridge construction does proceed, even though it flies in the face of the DFO’s own legislation, we hope that West Fraser Cochrane will respect this important restriction and not build during this time. 

 
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For further information please contact: 

Joshua Killeen 
Conservation Science & Programs Manager 
CPAWS Southern Alberta 
jkilleen@cpaws.org 

CPAWS is Canada’s voice for wilderness. Since 1967, the Southern Alberta Chapter has provided science-based support and advice to conserve Alberta’s parks and wild spaces. Our chapter has reached more than 150,000 students with award-winning environmental education programs since 1997.