What's wrong with this picture?

The Livingstone Range
David McIntyre photo

David McIntyre, Letter to the Editor

I've attached a Valentine's Day image of southwestern AB's Livingstone Range. It's seen here as an incoming weather front first begins to make its presence known.

Within minutes of this picture's capture, the winds aloft descended to produce whiteout conditions, carrying snow eastward across the foreground landscape. This is a land characterized by headwaters trout streams, endangered whitebark and limber pines, impressive old Douglas-firs, treasured rough fescue grasslands and a veritable Serengeti of cross-spectrum wildlife abundance and species diversity.


This same revered, headwaters landscape is also an iconic - drop-dead-gorgeous - mountain range destined to become a nationally celebrated Canadian viewscape. It's also a cherished component of the internationally embraced Crown of the Continent. It's also home to the world's greatest concentration of migrating golden eagles.

Why has this landscape been targeted by SRD for clear-cut logging? What's wrong with this picture?

Today, protesters representing mainstream societal views are in Calgary and Edmonton. They're there fighting to save the Castle River landscape from further logging. They're asking for protection of the Castle landscape from abusive landscape practices. But what they're really asking is why science, watershed values and the overwhelming support of society aren't enough to turn the tide. People in Bragg Creek are asking the same multi-pronged question. Why aren't these these compelling, up-and-down the Rockies voices registering within the decisions being made by the current government? No one knows; the answer's being swept under the carpet.

For the love of Alberta's world-class landscapes, please use Valentine's Day to turn the tide.
The view looks southwest into Alberta's Livingstone Range, a landscape at a land-use crossroads.


David McIntyre
Email: ravensview@toughcountry.net