TerryH

We’re a force.

Those of you who like me are concerned about potential coal mines on the Eastern Slopes might want to have a look at this video and share it widely. Understand too that it’s not just the Grassy Mountain mine. There are several other mines being planned including one on Cabin Ridge, which is right smack between the Upper Oldman and the Livingstone Rivers. All this destruction in order to send coal to China and dollars to Australia.

THE LATEST NEWS FROM CPAWS SOUTHERN ALBERTA VIEW AS A WEB PAGE WHAT WE DO TAKE ACTION DONATE Albertans like you have fought hard to protect important landscapes across Southern Alberta. Your voice has protected the Castle. You helped shape common-sense management plans for the Porcupine Hills and the Livingstone Range. Now, the government is considering rolling back decades of progress to appease a vocal minority. This small user group wants increased motorized recreation in the region at the expense of wildlife, water and other types of recreation. The Minister of Environment and Parks must hear from Albertans who support the existing plans. Write the Minister and your MLA and tell them you support conservation and responsible land management. The government must uphold the existing Castle Parks and Porcupine Hills-Livingstone Plans. WRITE YOUR LETTER HERE Read more about the government backing out of the Castle Management plan: “The Alberta government has quietly paused a planned phase-out of off-highway vehicle trails use in the Castle Parks area while the government meets with stakeholders” Help us protect the Castle and other important places by donating today! Your support will help keep Alberta wild! Sincerely, Katie Morrison, Conservation Director CPAWS Southern Alberta UNSUBSCRIBE | WEBSITE | CONTACT US | PRIVACY POLICY | DONATE © 2016 Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Southern Alberta :: 88 Canada Olympic Rd S.W., Calgary, AB T3B 5R5

X2 on Auto Marine. Have had several repairs done there - they know their stuff.

I’m in the process of replacing our smoke detectors. The current ones are the wired interconnected ionization type. The replacements I’ve ordered are the dual sensor type with battery backup (Kidde model PI2010CA, $45.99 at Rona) so a bit of an upgrade. My CO detectors are the wall plug in type, so they are closer to floor level. I agree with Uber.

Agreed, disinfecting water system is a good idea. I do it at the start of every season. However, I suggest drinking the vodka and using a bleach solution for the disinfection.

Hey Don in the good old days I used to carry a tin cup on the outside of my pack so I could drink from the creeks - no carrying fancy water bottles back then. Of course that was before they invented beaver fever and giardia too.

There’s water available at the Bellevue campground on Hwy 3 right across from The Crowsnest Angler. Potable water is also available on main street Blairmore (west end) just across the street from Integra Tire.

I've had repairs done at Auto Marine in Calgary and can recommend them. They know what they are doing and you can be confident a patch isn't going to blow off while you're out in the middle of a lake.

I agree about the runoff-- should be a good one this year. It's 10:20pm Clive, what's an old fart like you doing up this late? Actually, what am I doing up this late?

That's the rule in national parks. Not so in Alberta fishing regs.

Hey Monger, that wouldn't be a lake that starts with M in a state that starts with M?

Here's a question of interest - does CO2 from metallurgical coal mined in Alberta, shipped to China and burned there, contribute to the world wide level of GHG? It will be interesting to see how the Dippers deal with that question when it comes time to approve a new coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass. Think about that when you start paying higher power bills because we're shutting down coal power generation plants before their design life.

It's not just the Bow. The graphs for the Crow, Castle, and Oldman all look the same - flows well below the lower quartile.

On a similar matter, I was pleasantly surprised to see a CO having a chat with a group of quaders in the Castle area this past week. I can' t say with any certainty that it was an enforcement issue, but it was sure good to have a CO presence. It's long overdue.

Interesting product, however, I'm not sure it will necessarily solve your problem. I use a magnetic release net holder, and usually if I encounter a problem walking through the bush, it's the net bag that gets caught up in the tree branches, not the cord. Anyway, if you find one, let us all know if it works for you.

Try this on -- maybe in a protected area, you don't kill anything. Rather like what goes on in a National Park, or even all the other Provincial Parks.

First off, let me make it clear that I am not anti-hunting -- I've done some myself over the years. I also accept that hunters, just like most fishermen have an interest in preserving our wilderness areas and therefore serve a role as stewards. However, as an aside, I'm not sure I buy the argument that wildlife populations need human hunters to remain healthy. If so, then I guess we should reinstate hunting in Waterton, Banff, Jasper, Kananaskis etc. Also, it is an unfortunate fact, that hunting activity in the Castle area seems to generate an inordinate amount of "RV city style" random camping not to mention off-trail quad activity. Not sure either is a good thing. Anyway, the point of my original post was simply that we appear to be heading toward a process that will ultimately try to keep everyone happy rather than do the right thing to protect the area. Unfortunately in this era of polls, governments don't lead anymore -- they just try to please everyone and get re-elected. Hope I'm wrong on this one.

Nice fly! Seeing the spun deer hair and inset eye reminded me of a neat tool I bought but haven't gotten around to trying yet for burning out the recess for an eye. Doing it with scissors always seemed a bit tricky. Terry http://www.caddisflyshop.com/cautery.html

As soon as I hear the government say "we must engage with all stakeholders" or words to that effect, I know they won't be making any meaningful difficult decisions. So get ready for ohvs and hunting to continue in the Castle region.

Some loop wing Green Drake emergers -- one of my favs.

I've used one for years and won't hit the river without one. I like the Simms model because it locks when extended. As others have mentioned the shock cords models can pull apart on a soft bottom.

Roxio VHS to DVD - available at Best Buy for around $70. It has hardware that connects your VHS player to your desktop. Just play the tape and it creates a digital file that you can use to burn a DVD. I did all our VHS movies - over a 100. The software that comes with it is pretty crappy, but I got the job done.

A son tying flies for his dad -- now that's an interesting concept that I have to look into. In my family, the flies flow the other way. As far as pike leaders go, I use a 4' section of 30lb mono connected (Albright knot) to 2' of wire leader connected.