Here are recommendations from the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society to protect our headwaters, also available as a .jpg for download:
Implement new forestry ground rules for all Eastern Slopes headwater forests that focus on restoring and sustaining watershed health rather than producing a maximum sustained yield of timber. Replace all commercial logging south of the Ghost River with restoration of our forested headwaters;
End new road building for industrial development in our headwaters;
Create new protected areas in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge’s headwaters to safeguard their water quality and quantity;
Stop new mining for minerals, coal and gravel near our headwaters and within key watersheds;
Repair and revegetate eroding trails, gullies, soil compaction, mud bogs and other damage caused by motorized off-highway recreation, and provide a limited number of well-engineered vehicle trails outside of parks and other important conservation areas.
Focus on developing economic opportunities that emphasize headwaters conservation like low-impact ecotourism with a focus hiking, biking, fishing, hunting and other sustainable activities.
Address the impact of climate change on our headwaters by repairing riparian areas and restoring habitat for fish and wildlife species such as Westslope Cutthroat trout, bull trout and grizzly bear;
Rename the ‘Forestry Trunk Road’ (also known as Hwy 734) Headwaters Trunk Road to honour and value the sources of our water.
__________________
“One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain.”
Thomas Sowell
|
Hybrid Mode
