Logging in the Castle threatening grizzlies
Edmonton – Laurie Blakeman, Official Opposition Critic for Sustainable Resource Development (SRD), says logging in the Castle Crown Special Management Area further threatens Alberta’s tiny population of grizzly bears – a species already listed as “Threatened” under Alberta’s Wildlife Act.
“You’d think there would be no logging allowed in a so-called ‘special place,” Blakeman says. “But there’s no legislation to make that mean anything. It’s a designation without any protective teeth.”
Blakeman says the danger to bears is very real – and growing.
“There’s a significant possibility of logging equipment crushing bear dens and the mother bears and cubs inside them,” Blakeman says. “Furthermore, logging operations are about to expand rapidly, and while there’s an agreement to avoid bear dens, SRD doesn’t know where the bear dens are located. Loggers, therefore, don’t know where the bear dens are either, putting even more hibernating bears at risk.”
There are less than 700 grizzlies left in Alberta, and only a few hundred of those are in a position to reproduce. The Alberta Liberals have repeatedly called for grizzlies to be listed as an endangered species, but the government has consistently refused to do so despite the species’ small numbers. From 2000 to 2010, the government counted 240 grizzly deaths caused by humans.
Blakeman says an Alberta Liberal government would protect the Castle and its grizzly population with legislation.
“Alberta Liberals believe the area should be a provincial park, with all the legislative protection that entails,” Blakeman says. “80 percent of the region’s residents oppose logging in the Castle. When will the premier listen and do the right thing? Once the grizzlies are gone, they’re gone forever.”
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For further information, contact:
Earl J. Woods, Senior Communications Advisor
(780) 904-5430
Denis Lapointe, Director, Southern Alberta Liberal Caucus Office
(403) 860-4330