ACTIONS

Grassy Mountain Coal Mine (Benga Mines) Hearing. »»

Timberwolf Wilderness Society participated in the Benga Mine Ltd. hearing in the fall of 2020, on the application for the contentious Grassy Mountain Mine coal project in the Crowsnest Pass region of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta. This project involves removal of waste rock from the mountain surface to access coal, and depositing that waste in adjacent valleys that are nearby the headwaters for Gold and Blairmore Creeks. Long-term selenium contamination in Gold Creek is expected to harm endangered Westslope Cutthroat trout populations. Climate change is also of concern as increased winter precipitation and rain on snow events raise the probability of extreme events, such as early spring floods.

The Decision: Timberwolf Wilderness Society welcomes the finding of the provincial-federal Joint Review Panel (JRP) that approval of the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Mine is not in the public interest. The JRP found that the environmental effects of the proposed mine on surface water quality and threatened westslope cutthroat trout and habitat alone were sufficient to outweigh the "low to moderate" positive economic impacts of the project. It denied the proponent's application on those grounds, even though it found that there would be additional significant adverse effects beyond those two.

Timberwolf, as a full participant and major player in the proceedings, acknowledges the outstanding contributions of the many other intervenors that contributed evidence crucial to this outcome. This appears to be the first time in Alberta that a regulatory body has placed the greater importance of protecting a native species and its habitat above economic interests in its decision.

Where Do We Go From Here? Timberwolf believes that wilderness is the right and best use of public lands on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. These lands now need to be restored to protect this iconic landscape as our source of water, wildlife, natural refuge, and inspiration. The Grassy Mountain site should be an integral part of a recovered natural ecosystem stretching from the Montana border to Kananaskis Country, with Crowsnest Pass as its principal service centre. We urge people of the Crowsnest Pass to recognize this outcome as an opportunity to reorient its economy and purpose to that end.

Proposed Wilderness Bill

Call for a Wilderness Bill to Protect Alberta's Headwaters:

Letter to the Editor Lethbridge Herald (May 27, 2021)

Mike Judd, Director, called for a Wilderness Bill to protect Alberta's water sources in a recent letter to the editor in the Lethbridge Herald. In his letter he points to the extensive fragmentation and destruction of public lands in the headwaters he and friends witnessed in a tour between the Crowsnest and Highwood rivers along the eastern slopes. Pipelines, cutlines, clearcuts, trails and roads crisscross the region acting as a conduit for motorized recreation that degrades habitat and cements an industrial footprint on what once was a reserve for non-motorized humans, and species at risk animals alike.

Letter to the editor of the Lethbridge Herald. »»

Athabasca Rainbow Trout & Bull Trout Critical Habitat

Endangered and at risk populations of Athabasca Rainbow trout and the Saskatchewan-Nelson rivers Bull trout, respectively, require Critical Habitat Orders to facilitate their recovery. Dave Mayhood, a Director of Timberwolf, on April 5 2021, issued a Demand to Comply statement to Canada's Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Coast Guard to ensure compliance with the Species at Risk Act (SARA) with respect to habitat are released.

Peridae Energy - Shell Canada Ltd. Waterton Transaction

Southern Alberta resident, Mike Judd, submitted a statement of concern to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) on Nov. 6, 2019 regarding the proposed transfer of Shell Canada Ltd. (Shell) licenses in the Waterton field to Pieridae Alberta Production Ltd. (Pieridae).

Shell applied to AER to transfer their licenses to operate all of Shell’s midstream and upstream assets in the southern Alberta foothills area – including the Waterton, Jumping Pound, and the Caroline fields (the Fields) to Pieridae. Before Alberta approved the transfer, the province should have made certain that Pieridae was able to pay for the cleanup.

The transfer from a subsidiary of one of the world’s largest companies (with a stock value in the billions) to Pieridae, that initially traded at $0.86 on the Vancouver stock exchange (CVE: PEA, 2019/11/18 closing price), massively increased the possibility that an insolvency situation could slow or completely prevent the multi-billion dollar environmental cleanup of all three fields, that will ultimately be required.

Timberwolf sues Fisheries Minister to release long-delayed action plan for threatened trout:

Decline & Loss of Southwestern Alberta’s Signature Native Trout, the Westslope Cutthroat

Supporting document - Decline & Loss of SW Alberta's Signature Native Trout, the Westslope Cutthroat »»

Land Claim

Timberwolf Wilderness Society, a coalition acting in defense of wildlife and wilderness areas, initiated legal actions to protect the Castle Wilderness region. Land claim proceedings were brought forward on behalf of rare and endangered plant and animal species living in the Castle region.

Mike Judd, a second-generation outfitter from Beaver Mines, Alberta, is a spokesperson for Timberwolf Wilderness Society. "As far as we know this is the first time in Canada anyone has filed a land claim on behalf of the resident wildlife. Legal proceedings to date have failed to protect the Castle. Timberwolf is pursuing new and innovative legal strategies that will hold the Alberta Government accountable for the environmental devastation taking place in the Castle and require the Alberta Government to take action to protect the Castle."

READ MORE »» Land claim documents

Legal Protection and Species at Risk

Shaun Fluker, as Assistant Professor with the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, confirm the Alberta Government has an obligation to provide legal protection for the endangered and threatened species in the Castle and is not fulfilling this obligation. "Alberta is signatory to the 1996 National Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk which obligates Alberta to establish legal protection for endangered and threatened species. The Wildlife Act (Alberta) provides no meaningful protection for endangered species in Alberta despite its legal status as an endangered species under the Wildlife Act is perhaps the clearest evidence foe this." Professor Fluker agrees that new legal strategies are needed to protect the Castle.

Dave Mayhood is an Aquatic Ecologist with Freshwater Research Limited: "Several of the very few remaining pure native Alberta cutthroat trout populations live in the Castle drainage. These tiny but critical stocks are highly likely to go extinct if the land continues to be abused. They must be protected if native cutthroats are to survive here. The Carbondale drainage in the Castle River Country has been almost denuded by decades of logging and wildfire. Its fish and wildlife are under severe threat from its dense network of roads. More logging and more roads in this basin are unconscionable."

Legal actions to hold the government accountable to the law regarding species at risk habitat are underway.

Letter to Province: Castle Mountain Development opposing further development of the Castle Mountain Ski Resort.

Grizzly bears. There is potential for grizzly bear denning sites within the proposed snowcat ski terrain in the Syncline Valley, an area well known to hold grizzlies, and that appears to be favourable for denning...