CPAWS Southern Alberta

10/08/2026

This Thursday, we want to highlight one of ’s most at-risk species:

The .

This beautiful — and, admittedly, a little bizarre — bird dwells in the southeastern corner of our province and is listed as endangered under both the Alberta Wildlife Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act.

It’s the largest of the North American grouse species and its uniquely adapted to sagebrush habitat found in our 🪶

However, they are sensitive to disturbance and to habitat loss. Much of their habitat has been lost, or degraded, through cultivation, resource extraction, and other human development. Today, there are fewer than 100 individuals remaining in Alberta.

There have been significant efforts to improve remaining sage grouse habitat, including the decommissioning and reclamation of oil and gas wells.

“We’re seeing more reclamation on the landscape than I’ve ever dreamt of in my career. The hope is to keep our population on the landscape long enough for it to respond to this reclamation work” - Joel Nicholson, Senior Wildlife Biologist with Environment and Protected Areas (EPA).

It wasn’t so long ago that sage grouse numbered in the thousands in and were found over a wide range in southern Alberta 💛

This is just one reason — and an urgent and important one — that we need to keep fighting for effective species at risk legislation and the integrity and expansion of and protected areas.

🎥 BBC

10/06/2026

The latest (and last!) blog in our series is out now 👀

This time, we're tackling a thorny question: Striking the delicate balance between growing 's tourism economy AND protecting the landscapes, and communities, which make our province such an incredible destination.

Spoiler alert — it requires far more than a single policy. We believe that sustainable tourism demands a coordinated approach that incorporates:

🏔️ Comprehensive land-use planning;
🦉 Expansion of Alberta's ;
🪵 Responsible development assessment and management;
🍃 Climate adaptation and mitigation;
💬 Accountable, informed, and transparent management;
🪶 Indigenous leadership and meaningful consultation; and
🥾 Local economic opportunities and equitable community benefits.

These 'pathways' can't operate independently, either — each of the above addresses a different aspect of our tourism economy and ecosystem — and progress on one depends upon progress across all.

Head to our website at https://cpaws-southernalberta.org/implementation-pathways-for-sustainable-tourism-in-alberta/ to learn more 🔗

📷 Mitchell Leong

10/02/2026

👀We spy a wetland surrounding the stream channel of a tributary on Daisy Creek — Critical Habitat for and Trout — that’s been logged right *up to the edge* of the wetland.

With absolutely NO protective buffer in place.

Wetlands like this one are all part of the same hydrological system in the Upper Watershed that support native trout survival. With the trees removed, they can easily dry out. We need to protect them just like we need to protect creeks, streams, and other waterways.

10/01/2026

New article in Canada's National Observer featuring our own Conservation Science and Program Manager, Josh Killeen 📰

"Tucked inside a new federal law meant to speed up project approvals are changes to critical habitat protection that experts say could weaken an already struggling system.

Last week, the federal government tabled Bill C-39, the latest piece of legislation aiming to expedite major projects.

Buried among its many changes are amendments to the Fisheries Act that would allow developers to pay outside parties to make up for habitat loss they caused. Experts say it would undermine a framework already failing to protect dwindling homes for wildlife...

'If we're not even considering other options beyond assuming that things need to go ahead exactly as they are, and to permit them through offsetting, then we're not even really trying to find solutions,' says Josh Killeen."

Read the article in full on the National Observer website 🔗

KananaskisCountry

10/01/2026

New article in Canada's National Observer featuring our own Conservation Science and Program Manager, Josh Killeen 📰

"Tucked inside a new federal law meant to speed up project approvals are changes to critical habitat protection that experts say could weaken an already struggling system.

Last week, the federal government tabled Bill C-39, the latest piece of legislation aiming to expedite major projects.

Buried among its many changes are amendments to the Fisheries Act that would allow developers to pay outside parties to make up for habitat loss they caused. Experts say it would undermine a framework already failing to protect dwindling homes for wildlife...

'If we're not even considering other options beyond assuming that things need to go ahead exactly as they are, and to permit them through offsetting, then we're not even really trying to find solutions,' says Josh Killeen."

Read the article in full at the link below! 🔗

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/01/news/feds-c39-habitat-loss-offsets-questioned

KananaskisCountry

New policy proposed in Bill C-39 will allow developers to buy credits or pay fees to compensate for the habitats they destroy.

10/01/2026

New article in Canada's National Observer, featuring our own Conservation Science and Program Manager, Josh Killeen 📰

"Tucked inside a new federal law meant to speed up project approvals are changes to critical habitat protection that experts say could weaken an already struggling system.

Last week, the federal government tabled Bill C-39, the latest piece of legislation aiming to expedite major projects.

Buried among its many changes are amendments to the Fisheries Act that would allow developers to pay outside parties to make up for habitat loss they caused. Experts say it would undermine a framework already failing to protect dwindling homes for wildlife...

'If we're not even considering other options beyond assuming that things need to go ahead exactly as they are, and to permit them through offsetting, then we're not even really trying to find solutions,' says Josh Killeen."

Read the article in full at the link below! 🔗



https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/10/01/news/feds-c39-habitat-loss-offsets-questioned

09/30/2026

Conservation, as we have said before, must be an act of reconciliation 🪶

It also must be one of decolonisation if we are to begin healing, and making material reparations, for the wounds inflicted on land, water, wildlife, and the First Peoples of Turtle Island by colonisation.

Today, on , we encourage you to reflect — to read, listen, learn, or commit to an act or service — that furthers the principles of Truth and Reconciliation in and 🧡

It is not a holiday. It is an opportunity to consider the ways in which all of us — in conservation and across sectors, industries, and society writ large — continue (knowingly or otherwise) to perpetuate colonialism.

At CPAWS Southern Alberta, we are proud that we have committed through our bioDIVERSITY work to continuously advance conservation that disrupts and, we hope over time, contributes to the dismantling of the social, economic, and environmental policies, institutions, and frameworks that sever the of and beyond from their land, culture, language, cosmology, and lifeways 🦬

We also know that we still have so much work to do. We are firmly committed to doing it and, consequently, our offices are closed today so that our staff can participate in the learning, and unlearning, that this day asks of all of us.

So, if you've made it this far, consider pausing, closing this app, and exploring the ways in which you can meaningfully participate ⛰️

09/24/2026

In case you missed our reels last week, here’s what you need to know about what’s happening to Alberta’s parks and protected areas right now.

The All-Season Resorts Act, which was introduced less than two years ago, is being used by YourAlberta (Government of Alberta) to open up lands in parks and protected areas to commercial development.

EVERY SINGLE designation under this new Act has involved the removal of public lands from the protected areas system.

This is absolutely NOT what Albertans have been asking for. In fact, the government’s own summary of consultation for the most recent All-Season Resort Area designation for the Silvertip Gondola stated that public feedback emphasized “that provincial park boundaries and protected areas are established through extensive planning and should be maintained to ensure long-term conservation.”

CPAWS Southern Alberta is urgently calling on the Ministry of Tourism and Sport to stop using protected public lands to accommodate large private commercial developments.

📨 Send your letter today to demand that the government:

1. Stop removing protections from Alberta’s parks and protected areas to accommodate private development.

2. Complete proper land-use planning before approving All-Season Resort designations, to avoid ecologically important areas (Wildlife corridors, areas already experiencing congestion, etc.)

Take action here: https://action.cpaws.org/page/200848/action/1

09/22/2026

Hey YourAlberta (Government of Alberta), there IS a way to grow tourism sustainably in this province.

Using the All-Season Resort Act (ASRA) as a backdoor to remove protected lands and open them to private development IS NOT IT. (🎥 In case you missed it, check out our Conservation Specialist Emma’s reels on ASRA from last week.)

But that doesn’t mean we can’t welcome visitors to Alberta’s incredible landscapes.

In our latest blog, Emma breaks down six research-backed principles for building a tourism economy that would actually benefit Albertans.

Rather than taking a ‘more, everywhere’ approach, these principles highlight the importance of making sure tourism dollars benefit local communities and economies, taking a big-picture approach to planning and managing cumulative impacts across the landscape, supporting Indigenous-led tourism, and building accessibility into the process from the start.

❗Don’t let the government and developers convince you that tourism growth has to come at the expense of conservation. It simply isn’t true.

🔗Learn more about what tourism in Alberta *could* look like if we start doing things right: https://cpaws-southernalberta.org/six-guiding-principles-for-sustainable-tourism-in-alberta/

📸 by Mitch Leong

Not every landscape can accommodate the same level of use — nor an ever-increasing level of use

09/18/2026

❗Breaking❗ More protected land stripped of its status to make way for private development.

Today, Alberta’s Ministry of Tourism and Sport approved the designation of lands associated with the proposed Silvertip Gondola as an All-Season Resort Area.

This decision removes land from Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park and removes the ecological safeguards that previously prevented the Silvertip Gondola from proceeding because it was incompatible with existing land-use protections. ��

Rather than choosing a more appropriate location for development, YourAlberta (Government of Alberta) has chosen to simply remove protections from this part of the park.

The proposed gondola would run directly through the Upper Silvertip Wildlife Corridor and up to the top of Mount Lady MacDonald. It is expected to bring 300,000 visitors a day into this sensitive area.�

This is the first new All-Season Resort Area designation since the original three (Fortress, Nakiska and Castle Resorts) were announced when the All-Season Resorts Act was launched.�
🚨All four designations have removed public lands from the protected areas system.��

The All Season Resorts Act is being used as a back door to remove public lands from the protected areas system, despite the MASSIVE public outcry during the campaign in 2020, and despite recent polling that shows the majority of Albertans want MORE protected lands, not less.

Yesterday, this land was part of Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, and today it is open for private development. ��

Our parks will continue to be chipped away if we don’t act now.

📧Send your letter today: https://action.cpaws.org/page/200848/action/1