Councillors in six northwestern Alberta municipalities are worried a “cookie-cutter” solution to dwindling caribou populations would cause a serious drag on the local forestry industry, reports The Edmonton Journal.
Preliminary plans from the provincial government set aside 1.8 million hectares for permanent protection in Alberta’s northwest corner.
After learning of the plan in 2016, councillors from six northwestern municipalities formed the Northwest Species at Risk Committee (NWSAR) to develop an alternative plan. NWSAR recently released a 117-page draft report which says the province’s proposed plan would result in 640 lost jobs in the forestry sector and a 38 percent reduction in land base if required to leave lands undisturbed.
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