Coalition calls for limits on off-road vehicle use in Alberta
原始发布日期： 2016-01-25 发布者：李方字变大 字变小
Recreational off-roaders ride the trails of the McLean Creek area southwest of Bragg Creek, Alberta in May 2010. Stuart Gradon / Calgary Herald archives The move, which is supported by dozens of scientists and environmental groups, comes months after the NDP government announced the expansion of an existing wildland provincial park and the addition of a new provincial park in the Castle. It shut out logging, mining and future oil and gas surface development, but it still allows off-highway vehicle use in the provincial park. “Alberta’s Eastern Slopes — our mountains and foothills — are a unique, globally important landscape that support threatened species such as grizzly bear, westslope cutthroat trout and woodland caribou,” said Kevin Van Tighem, a conservationist and author, in a news release. “They are also the source of drinking water for Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and across the prairies.” Well-known naturalist Charlie Russell has also added his voice of concern. “It makes me wonder where our society is going,” he said, noting it appears people are sacrificing the areas for business interests. “We are destroying ourselves.” Other groups such as Alberta Wilderness Association, Livingstone Landowners Group and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative have also added their voices of concern. They are asking the provincial government to immediately ban off-road vehicles from protected areas on the Eastern Slopes, including the new Castle parks; permanently close and decommission trails in westslope cutthroat trout habitat; and reduce exsiting road and motorized trails in the areas by May. More to come … cderworiz@postmedia.com twitter.com/cderworiz (Calgary Herald) |