Controversial Castle logging project halted

Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, Diana McQueen, has confirmed the three year clear cut logging plan for the Castle region will cease following the first year.

Cochrane based Spray Lake Sawmills began logging in the protected area in the winter of 2011/2012.

“Logging is not the best way for the Castle Special Place to be managed. Permanent protection will result in far greater economic opportunities for places like Pincher Creek, Beaver Mines and the Crowsnest Pass,” says Peter Sherrington, a resident of Beaver Mines and a member of Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition (CCWC).   “People want to live and work in beautiful places, and the Castle is one of the most beautiful regions in our province, and in the Crown of the Continent.”

The area was designated as a protected area under the Special Places 2000 in the year 1998 and the announcement of the logging project was met with protest by environmental groups and concerned citizens.

Four people have been arrested for their actions protesting the clear cutting.

The Castle Special Place, located north of Waterton Lakes National Park, is home to elk, grizzly bears and the endangered Bull Trout.

Spray Lake Sawmills will continue to remove trees in a limited area of the region until the end of 2012.   The CCWC will return to court in November in the hope of stopping logging in the protected area immediately.