Article by Chuck Shipley,
Retired environmental protection, fish and wildlife officer
In the past twenty years, since I moved to Rocky Mountain House, the increase in industrial activity has been colossal. There has been little consideration for aesthetics. Clearcuts, drilling rigs, pipelines and pump jacks are quickly becoming our vista, interrupted by the odd tree and mountain.
If you believe that this is the best way to utilize one of the most sought-after recreational and outdoor tourist destinations in Alberta, you obviously agree with misdirected government policies. If you believe the current government development policies are wrong, you are one of the rest of us.
Our current government. conducts its business to satisfy industry. The vision is twenty to thirty years for petroleum developments on a given site and logging an area until the commercially valuable trees are all gone. Yes, there's reforestation, but ask the companies how long it takes for a seedling to grow into a tree of merchantable size at 4,000 to 6,000 feet altitude. We can't wait that long and the tourists won't!
Tourists from other countries who have virtually no wilderness to speak of actively seek areas like the West Country. The government currently is doing business for short-term gain and our children's long-term pain. When the petroleum and trees run out, there will be bare mountain slopes left and metal buildings and pump jacks to look at and, under foot, contaminated ground. Tourists do not want to visit industrial wastelands.
It could be argued that the energy and forest industries have made this province what it is. In the new millennium, their practices must be modified to reflect our changing values and our need to preserve wilderness for the future. Our beautiful West Country could be home to a truly sustainable tourism and eco-tourism industry. But only if we have the energy and courage to prevent its industrial destruction.
