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Frequently Asked Questions Castle Special Place – Conceptual ProposalA consensus-based, broad, local citizens’ initiative – Castle Special Place Citizens’ Initiative – has proposed that southwest Alberta’s Castle Special Place be legislated and protected within the province’s network of protected areas and parks, as Alberta has been done with its other 80 Special Places. The proposal was developed in response to the Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation’s September 2007 announcement that he hoped to see more locally-driven citizens’ initiatives bringing forward proposals, as was successfully done for the new provincial recreation area and park at Drayton Valley. Should the Minister decide to proceed, as with all new protected areas and parks the Department undertakes, the Department would carry out public consultation and negotiations with existing disposition holders. It is proposed that the present types of recreational uses, including hunting and fishing, and the summer grazing permits continue within the ecological limits of the Castle Special Place. Oil and gas activities would continue in conjunction with the existing leases in accordance with the September 2003 agreement between the provincial departments responsible for energy and legislated protected areas. Castle Mountain Resort is located outside the proposal. More than 99 per cent (1023 km2 or 395 mi2) of the Castle Special Place protected area is proposed as a Wildland. (An example is the Bob Creek Wildland in the Whaleback area west of Claresholm.) The remainder is the existing West Castle Wetlands Ecological Reserve and the five current Provincial Recreation Areas (PRAs). It’s proposed that Beaver Mines Lake, Castle Falls, Syncline and Lynx Creek PRAs be upgraded to provincial parks. Castle River Bridge remains as a PRA; Syncline Cross-Country Ski Area is proposed as a PRA; and it is proposed that these two be linked with Syncline park into one unit through a small provincial park along the river. These non-Wildland sites all total one per cent or 12 km2 (4.5 mi2). The Castle Special PlaceThe Castle Special Place was mapped and designated as a protected area by the Government of Alberta in 1998 as a result of public consultation during its Special Places 2000 program. It is public land located in the very southern end of the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve, abutting the north boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park. Appendix I of the conceptual proposal has the Government's announcement of that decision and their background information on it. News - Conceptual Proposal CompletedOctober 2009, the Working Group of the initiative completed the conceptual proposal and in November submitted it to the Alberta Government for consideration. The province’s South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council (RAC), which provides the government with advice on the land-use plan being developed for southern Alberta, also received the proposal. The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs in Alberta, City of Lethbridge and Oldman Watershed Council have recently passed resolutions supporting the conceptual proposal in principle and in addition to the support in principle from ID#4 (Waterton). The Working Group completed the proposal after consideration of the comments it received from a June 2009 mailing of the draft and Frequently Asked Questions document to 102 organizations and interests beyond the 35 on the Working Group, including to the five municipal governments. These documents, including the invitation to comment, were also posted during that time on this website. In addition to written communication, representatives of the Working Group presented the proposal at the council meetings of the following municipalities: Municipal District of Pincher Creek, Town of Pincher Creek, Municipality of Crowsnest Pass and the City of Lethbridge. Tips for reading the Conceptual Proposal
This proposal was developed through 12 months of extensive dialogue and information sharing, during which the Working Group discussed and weighed alternative approaches and trade-offs. Be sure to read the rationale provided for the specific recommendations. If you do not understand the rationale, please contact the facilitator Carole Stark, Chinook Institute for Community Stewardship at carole.stark@chinookinstitute.org or mail to Chinook Institute, Box 8618, Canmore, AB T1W 2V3 for clarification.
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