The MD of Bighorn appears to be distancing itself from the Bow Corridor Ecosystem Advisory Group.
The municipal district advised BCEAG earlier this spring that it sees neither the need nor justification to send representatives to regular BCEAG meetings.
As to if they are officially withdrawing from the organization, Reeve Dene Cooper said if the decision is made to quit entirely, the MD will communicate that to BCEAG members.
Cooper said the MD of Bighorn feels BCEAG has lost its vision and the purpose it was set up for in 1995 and the municipality does not see its interests within the present work of the advisory group.
“We really feel the salt has lost its savour,” he said. “We have gone past what the organization was intended to do.
“For us, it is about sustainability and when you have 2,700 square kilometres of MD and half of it is already in a provincial park, we don’t have a habitat patch – we are a habitat patch.”
At a speech at the most recent Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association luncheon, Cooper spoke about how the municipal district is currently reliant upon non-renewable resources and must work to ensure a transition from a resource-based economy to commercial.
With very little developable land, he said, it is critical the municipality makes the most of what it has to create a commercial tax base.
That includes a piece of land in Dead Man’s Flats that has been subject to land swap negotiations with the provincial government since 2006. The lands in question are quite close to a wildlife corridor and highway underpass leading out of Wind Valley and toward the Bow River. The land swap with the province was focused on protecting the corridor and habitat patch system.
However, after years of negotiations, and one proposed swap with Alberta Parks that fell through after it went through public consultation, the MD is now preparing an area structure plan to develop the land, which would contradict BCEAG’s Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Patch Guidelines, which were last updated in 2012.
While negotiations with the province are ongoing, the MD is proceeding with drafting and adopting an area structure plan for the lands so they will be ready for development in future years, should an exchange not take place.
Cooper said he expects the ASP process to go into 2015.
“It will be a very open and thorough discussion on all matters connected with the lands in question,” he said.
Member municipalities that have accepted the guidelines officially through a motion of council are to use them for planning purposes.
Canmore councillors and Mayor John Borrowman expressed concern the neighbouring municipality appears to be disagreeing or not respecting the recommendations of those guidelines.
Borrowman said if the lands in Dead Man’s are developed it would be contrary to all the work done in the Wind Valley area and east end of Three Sisters to develop functional wildlife corridors in the region.
“It seems to me that the MD is only wanting to abide by the guidelines when it suits them and I don’t think that is right,” added Councillor Sean Krausert.
