Editor:
Our Bow Valley is a special place, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains, with many species of wildlife, including deer, elk, black and grizzly bears, wolves and cougars.
What draws people to live and visit Canmore is our mountain setting and our wildlife, not an urban town built out to the extent of the Bow Valley.
However, Canmore continues to grow with more development and ever larger houses each year. And we currently face the very real danger that development will squeeze out the remaining available space for our wildlife to move through the Bow Valley, which is the essential connector between Kananaskis Country, the Wind and Spray Valleys and the Nordic Centre Provincial Park and Banff Park.
Even in areas where corridors are not legally required, provincial guidelines, based on recent provincial scientific data, outline the necessary corridor width, steepness of slope and degree of hiding cover for wildlife to safely live and move through the Bow Valley
With connecting corridors still to be finally designated and protected in perpetuity, and ongoing pressure to approve development too close to them, the continued survival of our large mammal populations in this area is threatened.
Yet the stated commitment of the citizens of Canmore to protect our wildlife is strong. Our Environmentally Sensitive Areas, such as wildlife corridors and habitat patches, are included as areas in need of protection in our Municipal Development Plan, and have the vocal support of Mayor Borrowman and council.
In Canmore we are blessed with many natural and recreational options apart from the wildlife corridors, with easy access to walking, biking and cross country skiing trails, whether in town, at the Nordic Centre, or the adjacent provincial and national parks.
The only sacrifice we are asked to make to protect our wildlife and ensure their survival in the Bow Valley is a small one. That is to leave them at least the minimum space they need for their sole use.
In fact, we could even give them more than the minimum space if all of our community really wanted to.
At this, or any time of the year, we are grateful for the natural beauty that surrounds us, and for the joy it gives us aesthetically and as a daily source of recreation and renewal.
As we consider our New Year’s resolutions, here is a fervent wish for our Bow Valley:
sThat we make room for our wildlife by staying out of their only space to inhabit, and move from one valley to the next;
sThat we designate our remaining corridors with at least the minimum width, low steepness of slope and adequate hiding cover recommended by the province;
sThat we keep development well away from the designated corridors to avoid unwanted wildlife/human encounters.
Canmore is a special place on the planet. A place where so far we have supported our council and requested our developers to make room for the wildlife that is an intrinsic part of our Bow Valley.
My New Year’s wish is that we will continue to make room for our wildlife – not become another urban town where there is no room at the inn except for us.
Heather MacFadyen, chair,
Bow Corridor Organization for Responsible Development
