When will we open our eyes?
"When will we open our eyes to see the gift we already possess? Probably not until they are lost through our short-sightedness. Then at least our eyes will be open, but our vision will be blurred by the tears of hindsight."
- Dr. Jim Butler
"This is one of Alberta's last reasonably contiguous central Alberta forests. Aerial photographs of recent block clearcutting by Sunpine are chilling. Chilling because we constantly hear from the Alberta Forest Service that Alberta no longer allows such extensive, ecologically unsound and aesthetically bereft forest operations. It isn't true. Spray Lakes is destroying the ecological and aesthetic integrity of watershed after watershed between the Bow River and the Red Deer River. Sunpine is continuing the same destructive logging from Red Deer north."
-Vivian Pharis, Alberta Wilderness Association
By Dr. Jim Butler
The Rocky Mountain/Clearwater Forest contains important scenic and biological assets which will be lost or severely compromised if the future of this region is allocated solely as a commercial timber source. I personally favour the concept of a David Thompson Country designation, similar to that of Kananaskis Country, where the primary use is outdoor recreation, accommodating alternative resource uses when it does not compromise or degrade the primary use. The primary-use-designation idea is consistent with integrated resource allocation. With such a designation, the area's tourism and biological attractions would be preserved. Scenic drives can be designated, along with interpretive signs and tour manuals. A visitor interpretive centre is needed to direct and celebrate the range of attractions.
This is the last unallocated area of wildlands along the east slopes of the Alberta Rocky Mountains, and it deserves to be considered for something different. It is the most accessible wildlands we have for outdoor recreation purposes- a place where existing access roads have not eroded the area's primal integrity. Nights here still ring with the howls of timber wolves along with the voices of Boreal and Great Grey Owls. Trumpeter Swans and grizzly still call this place home. In spring, Calypso Orchids wave in lavender seas along the forest floors. The extensive aspen and poplar-lined roads are possibly the finest autumn colour attraction in Alberta.
My favourite Alberta trout streams flow though here. Rainbow, Bull, Lake and Cutthroat trout provide a tremendous variety for fishing enthusiasts. The area boasts some of the best fishing in North America. There are mixed-wood forests, open mountain meadows, magnificent old-growth conifers, profusions of wildflowers and one of the most diverse wildlife communities. What more could we want? And what limited vision gazes at these wonders and still advocates the short-sighted vies of an exclusively industrial destiny?
Dr. Jim Butler is Professor at the Department of Forest Science, University of Alberta
