Calgary's beloved Kananaskis country faces renewed clearcutting threats this winter, sparking public outrage and organized protests reminiscent of a similar battle two years ago. West Fraser Timber has announced plans to clearcut forests in South Kananaskis, with operations potentially beginning as early as December 1.
History Repeats Itself in Kananaskis Valley
The current controversy echoes events from 2023 when the same area around Loomis Creek and the Highwood River was scheduled for clearcutting. Despite significant public opposition at that time, the provincial government proceeded with logging operations. Evidence of previous clearcuts remains visible along Highway 40, where smaller cleared areas from the past two winters dot the mountain landscape.
Journalist Leon Everly recently visited the protest site, noting that while some past clearcuts escaped public attention, the current planned operations have gained widespread coverage across southern Alberta thanks to dedicated blockaders.
Diverse Coalition Forms Against Clearcutting
At the blockade site, protesters from various backgrounds have united against the logging plans. "For a city that is notoriously reluctant to go to protests, I was encouraged to find people from all walks of life coming together to save this forest," Everly observed.
The coalition includes watershed protection advocates, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, and residents from communities like Nanton and High River who depend on the Highwood River for drinking water. Fly fishing enthusiasts worry about impacts on world-class fishing, while hikers and campers fear the destruction of recreational areas.
Environmental Impacts and Management Failures
Protesters unanimously agree that clearcut logging represents poor forest management. The practice erodes soil, destroys wildlife habitat, reduces biodiversity, and transforms ancient ecosystems into barren fields. Clearcut areas typically get replanted with monoculture pine forests that primarily serve logging industry interests rather than ecological balance.
The clearcutting also threatens water security, diminishing the storage capacity of headwaters that supply most of Alberta and Saskatchewan. This concern particularly alarms residents of communities relying on the Highwood River watershed.
Critics point to provincial forestry management as the root problem, noting that existing practices fail to incorporate modern ecological research. Better alternatives like selective logging and ecological regenerative logging exist but remain underutilized.
The repeated battle over the same forest area highlights the provincial government's apparent disregard for public opinion, with protesters demanding that the Ministry of Forestry update management laws to reflect 21st-century environmental understanding.
