The Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative will host two free public information sessions on the proposed Draft South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, which the government released earlier in October as its proposal to manage land use.
The policy document covers public lands from the Rocky Mountain headwaters to Saskatchewan and from the Ghost River to the U.S. border.
Y2Y program director Wendy Francis said the goal of the information session is to make sure residents of the Bow Valley understand what the plan is about, how it affects them and how to get involved in shaping it before it is finalized.
The plan proposes an expansion of the Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, for example, and sets out to manage things like motorized access, managing non-motorized trail systems and new camping areas.
“Also, I think it is important to understand maybe what the plan isn’t going to do because we certainly had hopes that there would be some changes in the management of the Eastern Slopes as a result of this plan and the reality is it actually doesn’t propose a lot of changes,” Francis said. “We are hoping people will be concerned about that given what we know is happening to our endangered species, what is happing to the management of our headwaters and how that affects people downstream.
“This is a very important policy document that will likely determine how the Eastern Slopes are managed for the next 10 years at least.”
Francis said the process that led to the draft plan was started to address conflicts between land users.
“The plan was meant to address those conflicts and set out clear rules about what can happen where and set thresholds for how much development can happen so we are still protecting other values like wildlife habitat, water quality and recreational opportunities,” she said. “We are just concerned this plan doesn’t create those thresholds, for the most part, and allows business as usual to continue.”
The public panel sessions will feature Y2Y President Karsten Heuer and Adam Driedzic with the Environmental Law Centre.
Both will be in Banff on Tuesday (Oct. 29) from 2-4 p.m. at the Banff Seniors’ Centre and on Wednesday (Oct. 30) from 7-9 p.m. at Elevation Place in Canmore.
