A LANDSCAPE IN PERIL By
Piper Whelan
A MAJOR SHIFT IN ALBERTA’S COAL MINING POLICY HAS OPENED DOORS TO OPEN-PIT MINING PROJECTS, SPELLING DISASTER FOR THE EASTERN SLOPES AND EVERYONE DOWNSTREAM.
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t’s difficult to imagine it in your own backyard – a type of mining so destructive that it literally removes mountaintops. It happens elsewhere, in places where dense, ancient forests once covered a mountain range that defines a people, and now surface coal mining has forever altered the landscape. The irrevocable destruction of the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States may seem far removed from the Canadian Rockies, but thanks to a recent change in Alberta’s coal mining legislation, the form of devastation described in John Prine’s “Paradise” could likely take place on the Eastern Slopes. Now, those who make their living on formerly protected lands are warning all Albertans about 32 WESTERN HORSE REVIEW September/October 2020
the far-reaching consequences of proposed open-pit coal mining projects in the foothills and Rocky Mountains. “Open-pit coal mining takes away so much from everything and gives nothing back,” said Mac Blades of the Rocking P Ranch, west of Nanton, AB. His family has grazed cattle on forest reserve land near the headwaters of the Oldman River for a century, right in the shadow of a controversial coal project. “If there is a coal mine in our area, we would lose animal units for sure,” said Blades, whose main concern with these projects is the potential negative impact on water quality. With at least six mining projects in the exploration phase along the Mount Livingstone Range, the impact on the area is set to be enormous, from the coal dust and
With at least six mining projects in the exploration phase along the Mount Livingstone Range in Alberta, the impact on the area is set to be enormous – from the coal dust and traffic, to the loss of wildlife habitat and disruption to all users of the land.
traffic to the loss of wildlife habitat and disruption to all users of the land. “It will affect everybody, not just us. The whole environment will really suffer,” he said. “The mountains are such a gift to Alberta. Why destroy them?” Coal mining exploration and development in Alberta had been restricted in areas deemed environmentally sensitive through the 1976 legislation known as the Coal Policy. This Lougheed-era policy regulated coal mining projects in the province based on four categories of land.
