Bearspaw First Nation voices concerns over Fortress Mountain resort plans in Kananaskis

A proposed master plan for a new resort community at Fortress Mountain Resort could see Albertans enjoying all-season access to the mountain area.

Bearspaw First Nation has voiced concerns over proposed all-season resort plans that aim to turn Fortress Mountain into a year-round destination complete with alpine coasters, hotels and gondolas.

In a letter addressed to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport dated Feb. 26, Bearspaw First Nation, one of three bands that make up Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation, alongside Chiniki and Goodstoney Nations, says they were not asked to provide input on the resort’s environmental assessment or master plan released earlier this year.

“It is more than disappointing that Bearspaw First Nation was not given the capacity or asked to provide input that could have been incorporated into both the environmental assessment and master plan,” wrote Bearspaw First Nation CEO Rob Shotclose in the letter.

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The proposed development plans, that at full buildout expect peak daily visitation of around 10,000 people, are currently under provincial review following a public engagement period that ended on Feb. 27.

Keying in on the resort’s environmental assessment, Bearspaw First Nation says the report “does not meet the standard that should be required for such a project,” noting that Indigenous traditional knowledge, which the Nation says “is critical for a holistic assessment” of the development’s environmental impacts, is omitted from the report.

“The environmental assessment makes no attempt to consider cumulative effects or incorporate Indigenous traditional knowledge from Bearspaw First Nation,” the letter reads.

Referencing a study completed by Bearspaw First Nation in 2016, Shotclose notes that grizzly bears, listed as a threatened species in Alberta since 2010, are seen as significant in Stoney Nakoda culture and that the proposed plans would increase the likelihood of human-wildlife conflicts and encroach on grizzly bear food sources, habitat and migration routes in the area that currently sees low use.

“These are realistic results from the project,” Shotclose writes.

“Ongoing taking up of lands and over-densification in environmentally sensitive areas, including unoccupied Crown lands, impacts Bearspaw First Nation by impeding its citizens’ ability to fully exercise treaty rights and removes lands available for consideration in Bearspaw First Nations’ ongoing treaty land entitlement negotiations.”

Along with environmental concerns, the letter addresses what the Nation says is a “high probability” of cultural sites, including burial sites important to the Nation, that could be located in the resort’s nearly 1,430 hectare lease area.

“Pre-existing assessments have been done without the assistance of the Nations and do not presently incorporate traditional knowledge of the sites,” Shotclose writes.

Pointing to the master plan released by the resort’s owners, Fortress Mountain Holdings, Bearspaw First Nation says the only reference to “Indigenous” is an Indigenous cultural and event centre listed in phase 3 of the resort’s plans.

“Bearspaw First Nation notes that as the Nation who is most connected to the lands where the project is being proposed, along with the other Stoney Nakoda Nations, that the Nations were not contacted while the master plan was being developed for input, even with respect to the contemplation of a cultural centre,” the letter reads.

“To us this appears to be tokenism,” Shotclose added.

While an interview was declined, Vanessa Gomez, press secretary for the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, confirmed in an email statement that the ministry received Bearspaw First Nation’s letter and sent a response on March 11.

“The Bearspaw First Nation submission will be meaningfully integrated alongside feedback gathered through public engagement under the all-season resorts regulatory process,” she said in the email.

“Formal consultation with Treaty 7 First Nations and the proponent for Fortress Mountain is underway and no decisions will be made until all regulatory obligations are met and the all-season resort regulator has evaluated the project.”

Currently boarded up and only operating winter cat-skiing experiences since 2011, Fortress Mountain is located entirely within Spray Valley Provincial Park and is adjacent to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country.

Fortress is one of three locations that was designated as an all-season resort by the province in late 2025, alongside Nakiska Ski Area, located about 15 kilometres north of Fortress on Highway 40, and Castle Mountain in Castle Mountain Provincial Park.

While the designation gives resorts the go-ahead to submit tourism projects that can run year-round, the act requires developers to consult with Indigenous communities on all proposals during the application process, according to the government.

“Since early February, we have been undertaking formal Indigenous consultation with the Nations, in accordance with regulatory requirements, and we look forward to continuing to learn through this process,” said Danielle Vlemmiks, Fortress Mountain’s project director in an email.

She said that after a formal consultation process is complete, the resort will continue engagement with Treaty 7 Nations.

“At this stage, it would be premature to anticipate those outcomes. We are currently coordinating site visits for interested Nations and look forward to learning from these engagements and considering any feedback or recommendations that are brought forward,” she said.

Shotclose said the Nation also sent the ministry a letter of concern written by Bearspaw Chief Darcy Dixon in December 2024 when the All-Seasons Resort Act, or Bill 35, was passed.

Within the letter, Chief Dixon raised questions about how cultural concerns would impact the government’s final decision on resort proposals, what First Nations’ ability to veto projects with a negative impact on traditional lands would look like and how protocols for economic opportunities would be put in place.

“Bearspaw First Nations concerns remain valid,” Shotclose said, referencing the 2024 letter.

“Alberta’s all-season resort policy contemplates that all-season resorts are meant to further Indigenous economic participation, leadership and cultural inclusion in Alberta’s tourism sector. There is absolutely no evidence that the project, through the master plan, has even contemplated how this would be achieved,” Shotclose adds.

Stretching from Banff National Park in the west to Kananaskis Country in the east, Stoney Nakoda traditional lands encompass a big portion of the Bow Valley Corridor, according to the Nation’s traditional land map.

“The Bearspaw First Nation have a strong cultural connection with Kananaskis or Ozade in the Stoney language,” writes Shotclose, noting the Bearspaw First Nation people require their traditional lands to “continue to exercise its cultural and traditional practices” while protecting them for future generations.

“Without Bearspaw First Nation, these documents provide an impoverished picture of the impacts of the project, and in Bearspaw First Nation’s opinion, do not support sound and defensible decision-making by this government as to whether to approve the disposition being sought.”

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. This position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.