Additional Castle Information Sessions

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malcolmzilla
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Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by malcolmzilla »

3 days notice:

The Alberta government has announced the first two public meetings to discuss recreation uses in southern Alberta and the Castle parks area.
Public information sessions will be held March 10 at the Pincher Creek Community Centre from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and March 11 at the Chain Lakes Provincial Park MD of Ranchlands Building from 2 to 5 p.m. Alberta Environment and Parks staff will be on hand to answer questions and more sessions will be added shortly, according to the department.
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by AJRJ »

I can't stress how it important it is to get to these sessions, and have our input heard. This opportunity is a direct result of the communities effort to have our voices heard.

I am saddened but not surprised that they are announced with very little notice, and conflict with existing rallies held by our OHV friends.

For the sake of our opportunity to enjoy our country, I hope that everyone makes a supreme effort to get to one or both of these sessions.

Please post up if you're interested in going/looking to carpool, whatever.

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malcolmzilla
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by malcolmzilla »

I can likely attend the Chain Lakes session, give me a shout, do we have a primer/position/fact sheet?
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by dirtyboy »

malcolmzilla wrote:I can likely attend the Chain Lakes session, give me a shout, do we have a primer/position/fact sheet?
403966087zero
I think being prepared for the meeting is a good idea. I don't want to go but feel it is very important so I'm planning to attend. :thumbsup:

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by Dobi »

I have just learned that the sessions will be similar to the SSRP sessions and will be separate tables with individuals from the GoA and a consultant taking feedback, not a town hall style We need numbers on our side to make this work. That is all they are counting. I will put together some key points to speak to or write down on the available input cards for people.

Please do your part and make it down to this event. This isn't just the castle, this is the Porkies, McLean and the Ghost. Whether we like it or not, this will impact us by next year in our own back yard.

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by dirtyboy »

Thanks Dobi, that sounds great.

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by Hendrix13 »

I'm heading from Cochrane to Blairmore on Sat morning for the Rally then back to Chain Lakes for the meeting. I got room for two more if interested. :canada: :thumbsup:

So far the OHV attendance to the Chain Lakes meeting seems pretty low judging by the response on Facebook and this forum.
In addition the anti-OHV crowd is organizing to have a large attendance at Chain Lakes on Sat.... :thinking:

Also, this meeting is to discuss Castle AND the Eastern Slopes. So that includes at least Porkies, Livingston, Indian Graves and potentially Mclean and Ghost.

To put it into perspective...It's about the same time to Chain Lakes from DT Calgary then it is to Ghost...and maybe 20 mins more then to Mclean. We can complain to each other all we want but it makes no difference...it's preaching to the choir.

This is our chance to make our voices heard to the people that are making the decisions on the ground..the land planners!
In this case...the more people that show up the stronger the message. :thumbsup: :canada: :applause:
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by malcolmzilla »

I'll take a seat with you. Might have one more as well.
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by Dobi »

here are some of my thoughts that can be considered as we ask questions and fill out cards at the event this weekend. I have not included much on the need for access for responsible OHV users, but will leave that up to you to ad-lib

Multi Use trails
– while it is easy to see that different users require different trail width, lengths and destinations, why is the government not pushing back on users that feel they should have exclusive use of an area
– why is there acknowledgment by the government that hikers should have a special trail system apart from mountain bikers and OHV users. Most multi-use trail systems in North America expect cooperation from all users to the trail system, and conflicts are very low on a multi use system
– Why is the government acknowledging that “quiet enjoyment” is a landscape feature that should exist, yet not doing anything to put a sound restriction in place on public lands. This is the case in every US state and most of Canada when it comes to public land

Linear footprint
– The concept of open road and the impact to grizzly bears comes from studies on forestry and oil and gas roads that were 60ft wide, had vegetation change, that led to bear deaths from vehicle impacts. The statistics in Alberta show vehicle impacts as the leading death cause of grizzlies. Why are we considering this as a problem when there have been no recorded OHV and bear impacts resulting in death within Alberta
– Grizzly population has sored in the last decade and Montana, Idaho and Washington are planning to re-instate the grizzly bear hunt as a method of population control, why are we still taking additional protection action to increase populations in Southern Alberta
– How has Porcupine Hills PLUZ gone from being identified as support range in the grizzly bear recovery plan to being heavily weighted as priority zone 1 in the footprint planning
– What local studies have been done to quantify the statement of habitat fragmentation from OHV trails? Ask the backcountry users and we can all attest to grizzlies and large mammals using and crossing our trails
– Given that the footprint of a hiking trail and an off road motorcycle trail are essentially the same, and both uses have impact on the “flight” of animals and perceived avoidance by grizzlies, why are hiking trails not being included and being turned into designated, mandatory trail systems
– Mountain bike trail systems typically have a linear footprint per km/2 that is 5 times higher than that of an OHV system given the distances capable by the different users, how will this be applied to the existing high density mountain bike trail systems that exist in the eastern slopes
Sediment
– How are engineered motorized trails that have bridges and erosion control in their design that eliminates sedimentation into streams not acceptable, but a lesser designed and unbridged equestrian or hiking trail acceptable
– What work has been done to quantify the sedimentation into stream that results from the hiking trails in Kananaskis, it seems that the majority of the backcountry flood program was spent fixing poorly designed trails that didn’t handle erosion
– Many studies done in the US by the USFS wilderness institute identify that horses cause 4 times more impact to trails than hikers, mountain bikes and OHV’s resulting in greater sedimentation in streams. What is being done to mitigate this high impact activity in the eastern slopes.
– What is the government going to do about all the old seismic lines that transect these waterways to stop erosion?
– What support will the government be giving to OHV clubs that have invested infrastructure into the trail systems in the eastern slopes if it needs to be removed or converted to hiking infrastructure?

Cutthroat
– Why is the government still allowing fishing in these streams when recent studies of trout in Montana show approximately 20% of released trout die from stress and injuries of catch and release
– Why is the OHV community being blamed for the decline of cutthroat when the real culprit is the installation of hydro dams creating habitat disconnect and the governments introduction of non-native trout species
– What work has been done to quantify the sedimentation of rivers from natural rain events. The streams in all of our national parks increase in turbidity with every rain event, even though there are no OHV trails.
– The level of total suspended solids (TSS) that are needed to reduce oxygen levels and kill fish have never been reached in the South Saskatchewan watershed, however these levels increase greatly as the rivers leave the headwaters and travel through agriculture land. What is being done to address the real issue of sedimentation upstream of the major cities
– During the floods of 2013 Calgary’s tap water was barely restricted, not banned and there was not even a boil water advisory in place. How can we be that concerned about the water intake quality when it has been proven that under absolute worse case scenario our treatment plants are capable of meeting demands.
– Why can’t I find any government issued statements of concern on the water quality of our headwaters in the eastern slopes. Surely the government has this data and the reports would identify that.

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by vwrally »

Excellent points and questions. We all know the answer to every single one is:

"Because the NDP government has an ideological agenda that aligns with that of extreme environmental protectionist zealots."

You should send that list to Mr. Pat Stier, and the AOHVA, such great input should be shared far and wide.

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by dirtyboy »

New draft management plan has been released:

https://talkaep.alberta.ca/CastleManagementPlan

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by AJRJ »

Well, looks like the Snowmobile clubs had some success, as well as possibly the use of OHVs by hunters (which would assume that hunting is continued to be allowed into the future)

For the rest of us we're "incompatible" :confused:

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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by Hendrix13 »

Simply ignorant. They are allowing OHV uses for every possible use other then recreation. Want to kill something...oh that's fine you can use you're OHV. It's snowing...oh yeah you can use your OHV. But if you just want to ride the EXISTING trails in the summer. Nope...can't do that.

They're not even excluding OHV's anymore.

The Government is simply discriminating against exactly one usergroup that they don't like, "YOU" :thumbsdown:

There is NO science to support this decision...none...zero.

I hope enough of us show up Friday and Saturday!!
Last edited by Hendrix13 on Fri Mar 10, 2017 4:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by Hendrix13 »

malcolmzilla wrote:I'll take a seat with you. Might have one more as well.
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Re: Additional Castle Information Sessions

Post by malcolmzilla »

I can't make the full pull to Blairmore and back, but I will be heading down to Chain Lakes, if anyone wants to pile in with me, room for three more yet, leaving SW Calgary at a bit before noon. Call or text, 403 966 087 zero.
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