CONSERVING THE BIGHORN

Just when it seemed Alberta’s NDP government has its hands full with contentious files, it drops another hornets’ nest into the mix — a $40-million plan to create eight new parks and recreation areas in Bighorn Country along the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

To see just how divisive it is for the province to propose protecting this 4,000-square kilometre parcel of spectacular terrain including mountains, foothills, grasslands, forests, lakes and rivers, read any news article on last week’s announcement and the accompanying online comments.

Conservationists are overjoyed at the proposal and call it west-central Alberta’s longoverdue answer to Kananaskis Country, the park system created 40 years ago by former Conservative premier Peter Lougheed in the foothills and front ranges west of Calgary.

But many Albertans accuse the NDP of planning to restrict community access to the area. Quadders and snowmobilers are especially wary, having already seen some closures to motorized access in southwest Alberta’s Castle Wilderness Area earlier this year.

UCP house leader Jason Nixon, whose Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre constituency covers much of the Bighorn area, accused the government of once again ignoring consultation with Albertans.

But the plan calls for areas with a variety of permitted activities, including off-highway vehicles and hunting. As for consultation, the province is inviting online feedback on the proposal before Jan. 31.

There’s no doubt that the new parks won’t endear the NDP to large swaths of the population; no one ever said governing is easy.

To its credit, on this file, the province is willing to do the right thing for future generations after decades of inertia from Conservative governments.

Like Kananaskis, this parcel of wilderness is mostly unspoiled but without protection, it remains at risk to commercial and industrial encroachment, environmental damage from ATV use in critical areas and the demands of a growing population looking for recreational alternatives to Banff and Jasper. The time to protect this land and plan for its responsible stewardship is now.

The Bighorn is home to vulnerable species from grizzly bears to bull trout. It’s the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan and Red Deer rivers — the source of drinking water for more than 1.5 million people, including Edmonton. As the climate changes, maintaining our water security will become critical.

Protecting the Bighorn is the right thing to do for Alberta’s future.