Timberwolf revealed

Chris Davis, Pincher Creek Voice

Betty the Bear checks out the
Castle wilderness
C. Davis photo

A Lorax-like "Anonymous" for nature?


Timberwolf  held a media conference at the Alpenwood Guesthouse Retreat and Massage, which is located near Beaver Mines just east of the Castle Special Area border.

"Timberwolf is a newly formed environmental coalition acting in defense of wildlife and wilderness areas," reads part of the Timberwolf press release.

Volunteer publicist Daphne Smith acted as MC for the event.  "With all due respect for those who have gone before us in this struggle," she said in her opening statements, "We feel the time has come to adopt a more confrontational and aggressive set of tactics than those used to date."  Smith then introduced Mike Judd.

Mike Judd addresses the press with a plan positing the wildlife in the Castle
Special Area as legally entitled to their lands.
C. Davis photo

Mike Judd is the face of Timberwolf.   He's lived his whole life in the Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta, about 30 of them in the Castle area. From a property near Beaver Mines he has made his primary living as an outfitter and trapper, giving dog-sled tours, and guiding hunters and trail riders.  He's also an accomplished impressionist-influenced painter.  He has been at the forefront of a lifetime of environmental battles in the Castle area, and despite losing every one, including being arrested recently, he's still at it.

Timberwolf logo

Judd outlined a planned legal action against the provincial government in the form of a land claim on behalf of "this affected ecosystem".  "This is going to be a comprehensive claim similar to occupancy claims to land made by First Nations," Judd elaborated.  "but the focus is on the plant and animal community subsisting within the area that was described in the claim."  (See "Who is Timberwolf?" for more information)

Biologist and aquatic ecologist Dave Mayhood spoke of watershed concerns, particularly on the native cutthroat trout population, concerns also shared by the next speaker,  retired Fish and Wildlife biologist Lorne Fitch.

Roll tape:

After the press conference, we were invited to a nearby bluff where a grizzly named Betty was paying a visit from the Nanton area, presented as the celebrity guest.  Betty was raised in captivity, apparently quite tame (for a bear) and quite appreciative of all the attention.

Betty says hi
C. Davis photo

She posed for photos and video with the snow-covered fresh scars of newly clear-cut areas visible on the hillside in the distance behind her.

Daphne Smith meets Betty
C. Davis photo