Subject: Climbers Access to Eastern Slopes of Rockies - i.e.
The Ghost
CASA, is notifying the climbing community that motorized
access / random camping to the Ghost could be affected. This
is separate from the TFA process which has delayed the work
this fall.
This is a long term planning initiative that has implications for
the areas we climb. There is a consultation session tonight - I
know it is last minute but if you can at all make it please come
out. There will be a group of us that are planning to be there at
4:00. It is at the airport Radisson Hotel 2120 16 Avenue
Northeast Calgary
See below for the note from Al Black, Chairperson of CASA.
Climbing access threatened on the Eastern Slopes of the
Rocky Mountains
The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) is a
government initiative to develop a management plan for the
lands in all of southern Alberta (see
https://www.landuse.alberta.ca/RegionalPlans/SouthSaskatch
ewanRegion/Pages/default.aspx). An advisory council has
provided a long list of recommendations, and the government
is now seeking comments from the public on the
recommendations. A series of open houses will be held
throughout Alberta this month, and the public is also invited to
comment via an online survey. See the end of this document
for a list of the open house dates and locations.
Potential Impact for Climbers
The Climbers Access Society of Alberta is calling your
attention to the SSRP because it profoundly threatens our
climbing activities. We believe the SSRP either fundamentally
misunderstands or has completely ignored the activities of
climbers and other soft-tread users. The SSRP could
eliminate random camping. It could reduce or eliminate our
ability to access climbing areas by motorized vehicles (e.g. the
Ghost). Most importantly, the SSRP could mean climbing area
closures.
What CASA is Doing
CASA is committed to engage and work with all levels of the
Alberta Government in regard to the SSRP, from its current
state to its final implementation in order to ensure that our
access to climbing is not affected. The SSRP is an important
initiative of the government with far reaching implications. It
will take a lot of effort from a number of people over a number
of years to effect change in the plan.
What You Can Do
Attend an open house this month and speak up! Let the
government know that as a climber, you want to maintain
responsible vehicular access and random camping along the
Eastern Slopes. Use the Ghost as an example.
Fill out the survey! CASA can help to make this easy for you.
The two background documents are each 70 pages long. The
survey consists of 250 or so questions (!) CASA is working on
summarizing the relevant parts of the background documents
and will compile a list of the survey questions that are most
relevant to the interests of climbers. We will post all of this
information on the CASA website by early December.
In the long term, we may have to go through several iterations
of this kind of feedback process or ask for other kinds of help,
but we need to have an impact on the SSRP process now if
we are going to be able to have an effect in the future.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact one of
the representatives on the CASA board. Alternatively, you can
contact me directly by email at chair@climbersaccess.ab.ca
and I’ll be glad to answer your questions as best I can.
Ahead of time, I’d like to thank everyone for his or her support
for this initiative. Working together, I believe we can preserve
our access to climbing in Southern Alberta.
Sincerely,
Al Black (Chair, Climbers Access Society of Alberta)
Open House Dates and Locations
The Govt. of Alberta will be accepting feedback at their open
houses in:
Calgary - Tuesday, November 13 (Radisson Hotel Calgary
Airport)
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Registration for this event closed on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 at 04:00 PM.