CANMORE, Alta. — A group of Canmore residents is asking the Alberta government to follow its own legislation and refer two major developments in the mountain town for an environmental assessment.
Lawyers for Bow Valley Engage, a not-for-profit society, sent a letter to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas this week asking for the assessment under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act on the Three Sisters Village and Smith Creek projects.
"The project location in the Bow Valley is an environmentally significant area and unique within the province of Alberta," said the letter.
"Ecologically, it is a largely intact region within Alberta's settled areas and serves as a key, and last remaining, corridor for wildlife that move between Banff National Park and Kananaskis."
An emailed statement from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas said the department is committed to "sustainable conservation and environmental protections that support responsible development."
It said it would review the request and assess all the available information to determine if a new environmental assessment is required — although added that it had approved the wildlife corridor in 2020.
The statement said that land zoning decisions are made by municipalities, not the province, and encouraged residents to discuss their concerns with local officials.
Canmore town council had initially rejected the projects, which could almost double the town's population, but the Land and Property Rights Tribunal of Alberta ruled in May 2022 that both developments could go ahead.
The town, west of Calgary and directly next to Banff National Park, then unsuccessfully challenged that decision in the Court of Appeal of Alberta and it has since moved forward on the developments.
"There's been quite a bit of legal action," Karsten Heuer, a local wildlife biologist and president of Bow Valley Engage, said in an interview. "Those really focused on the private property rights of the developer."
He said, however, there's frustration in the community that residents and the elected town council could oppose the developments and still have them "shoved down our throats despite this being an area that's super important to wildlife and our premier national park right next door."
Heuer said there are outstanding concerns about the environmental and social effects of the developments.
"That really stems from the fact that the original approval that they say gives them the right to develop is 32 years old and the world has changed and it has changed in some pretty significant ways."
For example, he said, grizzly bears are a threatened species in the province and communities have been built in Canmore that have blocked other wildlife corridors through the town.
"Is it appropriate for us to potentially cut off the last wildlife corridor so somebody could sell second and luxury tourist homes?"
Heuer said there are also issues around affordable housing, biodiversity and the climate crisis, including a higher risk of wildfires.
"Who's going to pay the cost of those firefighting efforts to try to save all of those second and luxury tourist homes? It's going to be the Alberta taxpayer," he said.
"So, there are just some critical questions that need asking right now."
The request from Canmore residents comes just weeks after Stoney Nakoda First Nation, east of Canmore, filed a court application against the town and the Alberta government to halt the housing developments.
Its application in the Court of King's Bench, which is to be heard on Feb. 6, the First Nation asks the court to declare the developments invalid or void, alleging that neither level of government consulted with Treaty 7 members.
The First Nation alleges that the developments could damage wildlife habitat, connectivity and plant diversity, which would affect hunting and harvesting rights.
It added that the developments would also increase the population, encroaching on traditional lands and cultural practices, and potentially harming cultural sites and gravesites.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2024.
— By Colette Derworiz in Calgary.
The Canadian Press
