Rally calls for moratorium on logging in Kananaskis County after scheduled clearcut moved up from 2026 to December

A rally was held Saturday afternoon in Lineham Day Use Area Kananaskis, to call for a moratorium on logging in southern Alberta due to drought and water shortages.

The group is demanding an immediate pause on the plans by Spray Lake Sawmills to log over 1,100 hectares in Kananaskis County's Upper Highwood drainage.

The group says the cutting schedule has been accelerated from 2026 to December 2023.

“We are asking and demanding a moratorium on all logging in the Eastern Slopes to pause and allow for an updated plan,” said Land Lovers Network Organizer Colin Smith.

The group says extreme drought and water shortage conditions are expected to continue, necessitating a pause in logging.

“This is one of many areas in southern Alberta that is being logged beyond sustainable practices,” said Calgary Climate Hub member Jenny Yeremiy.

The group worries logging could fill the waterways with debris while exposing the snowpack.

“The water that is on the ground, the snowpack that we see right now, which is too low, we’re not expecting too much snowpack this year, this can evaporate. It can not even make its way to the river,” said Yeremiy.

The pause is needed, the group says, because clearcut logging of more than 1,100 hectares in the Highwood Watershed is scheduled to start as soon as Dec.1.

The group says Alberta has 51 regions in water shortage management stage four (of five) drought, with limited snowpack and years of increasing drought anticipated.

“This is not a time to be taking a project like this lightly,” she said.

Organizers for the rally say "meaningful consultation" with impacted communities and stakeholders, including the Ivarhe Nakoda community of Eden Valley, the towns of High River and Okotoks, recreational users and downstream water rights and allocation holders are needed.

Spray Lake Sawmills, the original developer in charge of the logging project, was recently bought by West Fraser.

West Fraser told CTV News “West Fraser completed the purchase of Spray Lake Sawmills on November 17, 2023. We are now in the process of learning more about its operations including its forest management plans.”

In an emailed statement Tuesday, Alberta’s Ministry of Forestry and Parks said Spray Lake Sawmill’s forest management agreement allows it to grow, harvest and remove timber from areas overlapping the West Bragg Creek and Moose Mountain trail systems.

“Harvest operations in West Bragg Creek and the Moose Mountain areas aren’t expected to begin until 2026, and no harvesting can begin before Spray Lake Sawmills’ operational harvest plan is approved by Forestry and Parks,” the statement reads.

“As Spray Lake Sawmills develops their operational harvest plan, they are required to involve stakeholders and the public.”