Logging in the Castle Wilderness Starts This Week: Be a Voice of Change
The Castle Special Place is a ribbon of forested wilderness along the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta. It is an ecosystem rich in biodiversity, with incredible landscapes including alpine lakes, old growth forest and wetlands, and is home to wildlife like grizzly bears.
For more than 20 years conservationists have been campaigning to increase protection of Alberta's Castle Special Place, but parts of the Castle are due to be logged starting next month.
Alberta's new premier, Alison Redford, has promised to bring change to the province and listen to the voices of Albertans and concerned Canadians. Let her hear your voice loud and clear for the permanent protection of the Castle Special Place and an end to the imminent logging plans.
Please sign this petition to express your concerns about the future of the Castle and make the Premier aware that people care deeply about this issue.
Dear Premier Redford,
I am writing today to express my concerns about the future of the Castle Special Place in southwestern Alberta. I urge you to permanently protect this incredible wilderness and halt plans for logging in the area that's set to begin in November 2011.
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The Castle Special Place is a unique place of irreplaceable spiritual, recreational and ecological values and it is under threat from rampant, unchecked motorized recreation and industrial exploitation. It is part of the essential headwaters of the Oldman Rive, which feeds more than 2 million across the prairies and is home to Alberta's threatened grizzlies.
But the Castle is becoming increasingly degraded. It's in need of restoration, and has passed a critical tipping point for effectively managing cumulative effects. Protecting the Castle will help protect the entire Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, and fight the effects of climate change.
The Government of Alberta should reverse the decision to clear-cut the heart of the Castle Special Place protected area. Thank you for your time.
