Editor:
It is good news that after 16 years of negotiation, the MD of Bighorn has signed an agreement with Alberta Environment and Parks to provide protected and safe connectivity between the south Bow Valley wildlife movement corridors, under the Trans-Canada Highway by way of the 2002 G8 Legacy wildlife crossing structure, to the Provincial Regional Habitat Patch adjacent to the Bow River.
This land swap agreement is essential for the continued biodiversity and survival of our Bow Valley wildlife population, with provincial protection now provided for the habitat patch next to the Bow River and for MD land that otherwise would have impeded wildlife movement under the G8 wildlife crossing of the TCH.
So many thanks are in order for those who have actively supported a provincial land swap over the years, including: the MD of Bighorn for choosing to put conservation of wildlife first, AEP for keeping negotiations open, Mayor John Borrowman and Canmore town council for their commitment to seeing all of the Three Sisters Wildlife Corridors functional with their connectivity protected in perpetuity, and to the citizens and volunteers in Exshaw and Canmore who made their voices heard in the Bow Valley and in Edmonton.
Heather MacFadyen,
Bow Corridor Organization for Responsible Development Chair
