Clear Cut in Bragg creek/K-country

[hps4evr]

Starting this coming summer there will be clear cuts around a lot of popular hiking/cycling trails in the Bragg creek area. im posting this link because it gives all the details as to when and where it will happen. It also has email addresses for people you can send questions and concerns to. the FAQ link in the email has the emails. there is a map of the planned clear cut as well. There is an open house planned for Thursday January 26th in Bragg creek to voice your opinion and concern.
although it does not enter the Mclean Creek OHV area, and doesnt directly affect the 4 wheel drive community, it may be a sign of things to come. I also know a lot of 4 wheel drive enthusiasts are into more then just 4wheeling. i was just hiking a trail that is in the clear cut area and it would be a shame to see it gone. this past summer i used many of the bike trails in the clear cut area and it would be shame to see them disappear.
anyways, this is an opportunity for us to have a say in what happens in our play areas.
 
http://www.sustaink.ca/index1.asp

[Spinalguy]

Here is a link to all logging proposed until 2026 (only 14 years away in total). The legend is divide by years and areas. i heard that Maclean Creek will have no trees left by 2026 but i can not see that on the map. i see that everything in Waiporous area (look for Water Valley as a landmark) will be logged out. i also see what appears to be the Livingstone/Indian Graves area as well.
i do know that logging is currently being done in Maclean.

[Hi Lo Silver]

You have to realize that logging, just like the oil and gas is one of Alberta's natural resources and has brought Alberta huge money in economic values. If they aren't reaping the benefits in our own back yard then whose back yard should they reap from?  Until some alternate material is invented we'll have to enjoy the new views logging will open up. 

[w squared]

Also understand that every single area near Calgary has already been logged at least once in the past. Most of what we think of a "pristine mountain forest" has grown back after being cut.

[Sugarphreak]

It is a renewable resource and offers more than just economic benefits. Modern day clear cutting is extremely regulated and is essentially modeled after forest fire events.

A healthy forest has a natural burn cycle and without artificial events such as logging the trees within the area will simply become a fire hazard just waiting to happen. Keep in mind that many species of trees actually need fire to re-procreate as the cones are activated by high temperatures.  Problems like bug infestation,  dry dead-fall and blow-down timber in addition to diseases that were previously controlled by natural forest fire events (which we put out to save peoples homes and land) are now mitigated by doing clear cut logging.

These areas will be logged, then replanted... it is a sustainable and beneficial way to use our forests.

Really any interruption to trails and recreational areas is temporary at worst, it isn't like they are disappearing. When I lived in BC many people I know were shocked to hear that areas they were in had been logged not once, but sometimes two and three times before... yet they were seemingly natural and healthy looking forests.

Just my take on it anyway

[cuzican]

You have to realize that logging, just like the oil and gas is one of Alberta's natural resources and has brought Alberta huge money in economic values. If they aren't reaping the benefits in our own back yard then whose back yard should they reap from?  Until some alternate material is invented we'll have to enjoy the new views logging will open up. 

X2

[Vinman]

Hey, lets look at the positve here, no more Rocky Mountain Pinstriping

[Spinalguy]

oops...here is the link:
http://www.srd.alberta.ca/LandsForests/ForestManagement/ForestManagementPlans/documents/SprayLakeSawmills/8f.PDF

[Elsifer]

The West Bragg area and McLean creek areas do look to be logged, but it's not the whole areas as some people on the TV area claiming.

And the logging is happening in stages. So. When a small area is cleared, a great opportunity to re-align some trails. For any usergroup.

[rizzicon]

I singed up on the sustaink site. I don't think they should be logging inK country at all.

[JohnB]

I singed up on the sustaink site. I don't think they should be logging inK country at all.

OK...  You realise the Government already has long standing contracts with the logging companies for these areas?  Are you willing to have our taxes increased so that the government can buy out the contracts?

[frenchy]

OK...  You realise the Government already has long standing contracts with the logging companies for these areas?  Are you willing to have our taxes increased so that the government can buy out the contracts?

That sounds like a lot of paperwork.
We're going to have to import some paper since we will not be cutting down our own trees 

[hps4evr]

OK...  You realise the Government already has long standing contracts with the logging companies for these areas?  Are you willing to have our taxes increased so that the government can buy out the contracts?

sure. tax away. tax me so i can use the area, tax me so i can use Mclean Creek. i dont mind. if the tax dollars go towards keeping the area clean and stops clear cuts then im in. i understand all the valid points people have made. even talking with others about the subject. one friend even noted that it may be insurance companies putting the idea in the the right person's head. Bragg Creek could be the next Slave Lake if a forest fire comes through. all the same. i still believe that it should be brought to the public's attention so we can voice our concerns. K country is a multi-use area for all of us to use. if they want to clear cut it should be brought to all of us to decide when and where.
the oil/gas industry and logging industry has made a lot of the roads and trails that exist today. those trails eventually get erroded and turn into fun trails for us to use. other roads give us back country access to some amazing areas. it would be nice to see them make more roads further away from the current areas that have allready had a lot of clear-cutting. it seams to me they just want the easiest and closest area to use. Alberta and BC are very large provinces. plenty of room for all of us to do what we want/need to do.
if we dont get a chance to say anything whats to say the government wont close Mclean Creek or K-country so they can clear cut the whole area. i grew up on the prairies and i know what its like to watch my dog run away for three days id hate to see the same thing out here. this is my opinon on the subject. again, i know forest fires are important for the forest. i know stopping forest fires from hitting Bragg Creek is important. i know the logging industry is important for our economy. but the few freedoms we have left are important as well.

[Sugarphreak]

Some valid points, I think having public forums is always important when it comes to public land use.

Although I don't really understand the objection to clear cuts. Putting aside the economic benefits for a moment; doing it this way instead of letting mother nature level an entire valley with fire all at once makes it better for us anyway. Plus as a renewable resource it does grow back and usually opens up engineered roads through the area which take into account water & fish ways making them ideal for our use later on. While it is an eye sore for two or three years before the replanted trees start to make it look more like a young forest, that is temporary and purely aesthetic. We are not actually losing the land nor the beauty in the long term at all. I see operations like this as a win-win for the area and it's users.  

Where I grew up they actually created a demonstration forest to show how silviculture could be use in a recreational area and be sustainable:
http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Tr/Tr017.pdf

If you google "Snowden Demonstration Forest" you will find endless results of people using it for bike riding, hiking, horse back riding... it is a real sucsess story. I used to mountain bike there myself, one of my favorite spots. You'd never guess you were cruising through old clear cuts.

[w squared]

While it is an eye sore for twenty or thirty years before the replanted trees start to make it look more like a young forest, that is temporary and purely aesthetic.

Fixed it for ya.

Cut blocks are UGLY. There's no way around it.

What needs to happen is a REAL strategy to make all uses sustainable. When a block is going to be logged, the recreation uses should be looked at, and appropriate alternative area should be opened for recreational use - and also wildlife habitat needs to be looked at. If habitat is being destroyed/altered, what habitat of comparable sort has opened up in the past few years?

It's not as simple as "logging is good" or "logging is bad". It's a matter of "logging done right can be good for the people, environment, and economy" or "logging done poorly can be bad for people and the environment, and the economic benefits will not be sustainable."