Southern mountain caribou, an icon of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, have experienced significant declines in population, in distribution across their range, and in their annual migration. They are listed as Threatened under the Alberta Wildlife Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act due to habitat loss and habitat disturbance from industrial activities.
The Redrock Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou populations must be able to migrate between their summer habitat high in the mountains to their winter habitat in the forested lower foothills. When their habitat is severely disturbed by human development, caribou avoid these areas and instead spend more time in less disturbed areas, which is typically high alpine habitat. It is particularly dangerous for caribou when they are forced into the high alpine in winter. Avalanches are a major threat to caribou and have already killed caribou in the region that were forced to stay in the mountains during the winter.
Despite known threats to caribou survival and recovery, the Government of Alberta has released a new land use plan that will assure the loss of two of the last three remaining populations on Alberta’s lands.
The draft Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan was released at the end of March 2025. The stated intent, defined by the Government of Alberta, of sub-regional planning is to outline land use provisions to enable caribou recovery. However, the draft plan’s proposals for industrial development will eliminate the ability of the Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou populations to survive and recover.
Albertans can, and should, use their voice to advocate for the recovery of these caribou
The plan proposes that Weyerhaeuser, the USA-based timber company, be allowed to log nearly all of the remaining old growth forests that the Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou require to survive the winter. Even if this habitat could grow back in time (which it cannot), there would be no caribou to occupy it.
The first few years of logging described in the draft plan would eliminate the ability of Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway caribou to exist in the winter ranges.
TLDR; Important Key Points
- The Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan’s original purpose was to conserve and recover the threatened Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway Southern Mountain Caribou populations.
- Adoption of the draft Sub-regional Plan would, however, further endanger these caribou.
- Timber cutting and other industrial developments would destroy caribou undisturbed critical habitat.
- The plan would allow Weyerhaeuser Company to continue removal of caribou biophysical critical habitat through clearcutting.
- Caribou would no longer be able to occupy their forested foothills winter ranges.
- Relegation of caribou to mountainous areas during winter would increase caribou mortality.
- The draft Sub-regional Plan would eliminate the possibility of recovering the two caribou populations and risk their extirpation.
First three periods of Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan timber harvesting on Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway southern mountain caribou winter ranges, in relation to caribou radio-telemetry location points and movement lines (2014 – Jan 2025) (Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, 2025b). Notes: 1) Redrock-Prairie Creek winter range boundary drawn to separate forested foothills from mountains and is identical to the boundary of Weyerhaeuser’s Forest Management Area, 2) 2014 date chosen to coincide with release of the national southern mountain caribou recovery strategy (Environment Canada 2014).
What about other parts of the plan?
Coal
The plan indicates that there are two coal zones, with only one zone restricted to underground, indicating that surface mining will be allowed within the Eastern Slopes in the sub-region. Coal zones overlap with key wildlife and biodiversity zones,encroach in caribou habitat and threaten water quality and quanitity within the Smoky River Watershed.
Oil and Gas
Rules and limitations for oil and gas development, and other access management within the sub-region have unclear implications for caribou. The draft sub-regional plan does not describe the current availability of undisturbed critical habitat, nor does it project how much will remain under the draft plan’s provisions for road or oil and gas development. The sub-regional plan will permit continued construction of new disturbance features (e.g. well sites) without identified limits, even though human disturbance is already higher than levels that could allow caribou populations to recover.
The Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan would allow ongoing construction of new roads in the caribou winter ranges, further disturbing caribou habitat. The plan provides an outline of a road access network within caribou ranges; however, the maximum new road development amounts are not actually included in the draft plan. Rather, they have been detailed in a “Supplementary Public Land Directive” which limits the permanence of the road development limits and gives management authority to the AER and Forestry Ministry, rather than Environment and Protected Areas.
The listed maximum number of roads permitted within caribou habitat could be exceeded if restoration is initiated on existing features, such as seismic exploration lines. Considering the long time-lag between initiating restoration and the achievement of ecologically relevant undisturbed critical habitat, the sub-regional plan would enable ongoing loss of undisturbed habitat for decades.
Are there any good parts of the Plan?
Yes! There are some redeeming features of the plan that should absolutely be retained. The plan proposes the creation of two conservation areas, one encompasses Caw Ridge, Sulphur Ridge and Coal/Horn/Torrens Ridge (Conservation Area A), and the other is in the upper foothills around Sheep Creek, montane areas west of the Smoky River and Sulphur River, and alpine and subalpine areas of Lightning Ridge (Conservation Area B). These proposed conservation areas are in caribou summer habitat and contain important alpine and subalpine habitat for other species such as bighorn sheep and mountain goat, and grizzly bears. The creation of these two conservation areas will benefit many species within the sub-region and protect summer habitat for caribou in the sub-region.
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The Biggest Coal Risk to Date: New Coal Policy Direction in Opposition to Albertans' Values
Government of Alberta MUST develop a coal policy that protects Albertans and our Future
Over the past five years, Albertans have been loud and clear that they oppose ANY new coal exploration or mining in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains and Eastern Slopes. Tens of thousands came together for a collective, concerted push against the Government of Alberta's recission of the 1976 Coal Policy and the subsequent mine exploration, which was successful in forcing the province to implement a moratorium in 2022.
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