More than 400 area residents and visitors from outside the district attended a three-hour open house regarding the Bighorn County proposal in Sundre on Jan. 4.
The final public information session scheduled as part of the plan’s consultation process, the Sundre event saw participants providing input and feedback on the proposal to government staff taking notes and through submitted comment sheets.
The Bighorn Country proposal would create public land use zones and several new parks, including the Ya Ha Tinda Provincial Park west of Sundre.
The consultation process has included an online survey, meetings with some stakeholder groups, and open houses such as the one in Sundre.
McDougal Flats resident Murray Griffin attended the meeting at the Sundre Legion Hall. He said he believes if implemented the plan could damage the local economy.
“It’s terrible,” said Griffin. “Everything is wrong with it. If they put in too many regulations out there nobody will be able to afford to go out there or will go out there. And we don’t know what their hidden agenda is, because there’s always a hidden agenda.”
Sundre-area trapper Larry Nielsen said he doesn’t see the need for the Bighorn Country initiative to protect the backcountry.
“This community is very interested in protecting the backcountry and there is a lot of evidence that we’ve been doing that for years,” said Nielsen.
“I don’t think they (government) are going to listen to what people say. I believe this dissemination of information is a rouse.
“Do I trust the government to do what they should with our backcountry? Anyone who is opposed to the Bighorn Country proposal is being branded as an uneducated redneck that’s an abuser of the backcountry. In fact we have been protecting it all along and we are more passionate about protecting it than most people.”
Rick Blackwood is the Alberta environment and parks assistant deputy minister of the strategy division. He also attended the Sundre meeting.
“We’ve got a really broad range of opinions,” said Blackwood. “A lot of people were concerned with the speed of the process; they would like us to slow down. We’ve heard that from a number of different people and it’s been a really valuable exchange of information.
“We’ve heard a diversity of opinions. We’ve heard from people on how well loved this piece of ground is. They work there, they live there, they recreate there and they’ve done it for decades. We’ve heard a broad range of opinions based on those experiences.”
He said much valuable public input has been gathered through the open houses, including the one in Sundre, he said.
That feedback, in turn, will be used to update the plan before it is presented to the government for consideration, he said.
“This input will help us understand that place where people feel comfortable and places where they don’t feel comfortable,” he said.
“All that information is going to help us when we pull it together and say, ‘Here’s what we originally proposed and now how can we change it.' We will assemble all this information and then feed it up to our bosses and they will decide on what the process is from there.”
Sundre mayor Terry Leslie, who attended the meeting, said he believes the government should shelve the Bighorn proposal until after the spring election.
“People have some frustration because of uncertainty about what it is all about,” said Leslie. “What I’ve heard from people is it is too much, too soon, too fast,” he said. “I think folks would be looking to slow it up.”
United Conservative Party MLA Jason Nixon also attended. He said many guests told him they have concerns with the proposal.
“The process has been flawed,” said Nixon. “It’s too little, too late. The government has not responded to our community’s request to get lots of specific questions about the plan.”
Following the meeting Nixon issued a release, stating in part that, “The NDP has lost all credibility on their Bighorn plan. We (the UCP) will not accept a rammed through process that has been rejected by the communities. The NDP has shown that they are out of touch with Albertans who call Bighorn country their home.”
Shannon Phillips, the minister of environment and parks, says the Bighorn Country plan will benefit all stakeholders.
“This proposal will create new jobs, enhance mountain recreation and preserve the wilds of the Bighorn backcountry for generations to come,” said Phillips.
The public consultation portion of the Bighorn Country process ends on Feb. 15. For more, see talkaep.alberta.ca.
