ginger

The AWA, Alberta's grandad of conservation, chimes in: https://albertawilderness.ca/letter-to-premier-kenny-reinstate-albertas-coal-policy/

done, also please note, if you do an overlay of the "Category 2" lands recently opened up to metallurgical coal mining by the UCP's rescission of the 1976 Coal Policy there is a striking correlation to the map of parks to be closed

I'll admit this is not always my favourite author or publication but this does cover this strangely under reported topic: https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/08/03/What-Kenney-Killed-Embrace-Coal/?fbclid=IwAR1kLMvwVJuila5HmmkEXXj3gPxz6ll6UkPTNx_sImYQGS9MnFp-Ne7HRxk

A little more technical discussion from a senior environmental lawyer: https://environmentalandresourcelawblog.blogspot.com/2020/06/potential-implications-of-albertas.html

Thanks Spark, i think we are 95% ad idem.

Thanks for all the input. I normally find comments from Sparkplug very well informed but I've got to respectfully say I'm not with him on this one. While it is true that there would be a comprehensive AER/enviromental review of any development, the important point is the that without consultation with anyone (except I guess the coal industry)the UCP has made open pit coal mining possible on Category 2 lands all along the eastern slopes. For most of my adult life that was completely forbidden by Lougheed's 76 policy. My experience from participation in a number of proceedings before the AER and its predecessor is that most applications get approved. So the point Im making is that the fundamental policy was changed on a Friday afternoon in the the middle of a pandemic without any consultation or notice. The political /policy decision has already been made. All of the progressive land stewardship work (much of it implemented by Conservatives) including the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan has been bypassed by a press release from Sonya Savage. The change is likely to enable at least some developments, even after environmental assessment. The time oppose the policy change is now

I'm hoping our community is tuning in to the UCP's calamitous decision to rescind the 1976 Coal Policy. CBC has done a good job reporting on it: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/bringing-coal-back . You will note that this change in policy enables open pit metallurgical coal mining on the "Category 2" lands along the Rockies from the Pass to north of Jasper. The category 2 lands were previously closed to mining under the 1976 policy. It takes awhile to absorb the enormity of this catastrophic change but let me try to illuminate with it one example. Atrum Coal, an Australian company, is currently exploring a site for a large,open pit,"mountain top removal" type coal mine about 2k north of the Upper Oldman , about 5k NW of the Oldman/Livingstone confluence. Here is the investor presentation regarding the project; https://www.atrumcoal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ATU_Investor-Presentation.pdf If you managed to read through the presentation without fainting you will see that the plan is not only to build the mine, but also a handling facility close to the river, which will feed a 36 km covered conveyor belt to take the coal down to the Pass, presumably though the Dutch Creek/Hidden Creek areas. Sorry for the drama but please be aware that right now, today, they are drilling at the site to delineate the coal reserves. A development would require an AER/Environmental approval process but i think it is fair to say that approval is likely given the change of government policy. There may be legal avenues to dispute the rescission and there are groups actively considering that. However, ultimately a government has the power to implement policy. This is a political issue. Okay, i'm dizzy again, I'll stop.

Great work! Always smart to just call it in. Once i made the mistake of confronting the poacher which resulted in a slashed tire.

Thanks guys, will try more stealth and emergers. Also, i don't mind if the fish win the derby once in a while, it's a very pretty place.

Ive gone out a number of times recently to a well known excellent cutthroat stream in SW Alberta. The bad news is that the stream is clearly under a great deal more fishing pressure than "back in the day". The good news is that it still holds lots of fish-- once the cuttie wake up time comes (generally between 10am and noon) the average pool often has several nice fish rising at once. My problem is that lately I've been having MUCH more difficulty getting them to take my dry fly offerings. I don't think I'm spooking them , they are coming up to naturals the whole time I'm thrashing away. I've gone to finer tippet, am staying well back and am trying to be real careful about drag. About 1/4 of the time lately they seem to be taking mayflies that i can see. The rest of the time they are enthusiastically coming for something i can't see. I can go through my whole fly box, everything from size 10 to 22, all the usual suspect flies for cutthroat, and maybe get a few refusals but mostly no interest at all. Once in a while I resort to nymphs so i can catch one fish, but I don't really like to do that and even nymphs sometimes don't work. I really don't care about catching a bunch of fish. I'm generally happy if I see a few and there are plenty to see in this stream. So I'm happy. But I'm getting more and more curious about what they are eating and what I'm doing wrong. When I started fly fishing (around the time the Beatles were first on Ed Sullivan) cutties were known to be enthusiastic, maybe a bit dumb, and pretty willing to take almost anything floating that wasn't dragging ridiculously. That is clearly over on this stream. (NB: My ham-handed tactics are still working fine on a more famous cuttie river in SE BC.) I would be very interested in advice or comments . Thanks

reminds me that TU and Parks Canada are among my favourite organizations

I got rx Maui Jims through my optometrist at huge expense ($850) a few years ago. I think the brown polarized produces a great picture for fishing and general use.. I was careless with them and they started to get pretty scratched. I noticed that some of the scratches were caused by the arm ends touching the inside of the lens when the glasses were crushed in a soft case. On a flyer, i sent them back to MJ through my optometrist saying "design flaw". They sent me brand new rx lenses and frames in about 3 weeks without comment. So Im a believer (and am careful to now use a hard case)

Looks like the application has been resubmitted : http://aep.alberta.ca/land/land-industrial/programs-and-services/environmental-assessment/documents/Benga-PublicNotice-Oct31-2017.pdf

Forgive me if this is irrelevant but I had a great experience with Maui Jims recently.. I had a pair of the brown polarized with fancy progressive prescription lenses that I got through my optometrist. I thought they were near perfect ( although way too expensive). Stupidly i stored them carelessly in a golf bag and they got badly scratched up which you would not expect to be under warranty. However I pointed out to them that some of the scratches were caused where the ends of the arms touched the lens when they were folded and suggested to them it was sort of a design flaw, In about two weeks they sent me brand new lenses and frame without any comment.

I'm with the the Cube. Im guessing the river is brown till at least month end. But the rain forecast for the weekend has decreased a lot, at least on the GFS model: http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~ovens/loops/wxloop.cgi?mm5d2_pcp3+///3

Re confronting poachers: a few years ago I posted here about what happened when I got mad and confronted a poacher near the Douglasdale baseball diamonds. In short , I said some rude things to a poacher who continued to bait fish after I had pointed out to him in a semi - friendly way that it was illegal. He went back to the car park and slashed tires. But it turned out he slashed the tires of of another fly fisher who hadn't been involved at all rather than mine. I felt sick about the whole thing and learned that the best thing to do is to stay back, say nothing and just call em in.

Thanks to Trout Unlimited/BRC for this study. Also the number of redds in the Mallard Point side channel speaks to the efficacy of their Mallard Point project. I think many of us noticed that big Browns were back this year. So support TU/BRC and ATTEND THE FALL SPLASH coming up Nov. 24

I guess i assume grow because like me he wants a conservative government elected in 019

I agree with Jordan that a large number of Albertans are in the centre or, to be more precise, just right of centre-- fiscally conservative but much less so socially. I am one of them. I am not a Wildroser. But I totally disagree that the formula for displacing the NDP is a PC rebuild. Recent history is all we need consider. For me,the collapse of Alison Redford, a true Red Tory, and the more astonishing collapse of the somewhat further right Jim Prentice make it overwhelmingly clear that the only way to get back in power is to make sure everyone on the right side of the spectrum votes for the same party, This is not a novel or outlandish concept--of course it is exactly how Harper got his job. I'll admit that historically I disliked Kenney's far right "rat pack" antics and I continue to be dumbfounded that anyone thought the niqab position was a good idea, but I think Kenney's experience, enthusiasm, hard work with ethnic groups,intellect,fundraising ability and friendliness have earned him a shot. I support a VERY large conservative tent.

SCEL: This is fantastic info. Are Bilberries what we commonly(incorrectly?) call Huckleberries? Thanks.

Current, get current, last week's proposal appeared to be to fast track two things 1. a channel around High River (ie your alternative?) 2. a dry berm on the Elbow in the vicinity of the mouth of Quirk creek. Dry berms on the Highwood seem to have been put aside, at least for now. I would think our community might want to focus on the utility of the Elbow dry berm and I, for one, am heavily influenced by Van Tighem's comments.

Another completely different route is a pellet smoker. Traeger is the leading brand. Perfect temp control all the way between fairly cold smoke(ie<100winter and about 140 summer) to 425f plus. About 10 different kinds of hardwood pellets. Op costs are WAY lower than buying charcoal. If you watch the bbq shows carefully you'll see that most of the pros with big mobile pits also have a Traeger or two and pellet smokers have won some big contests. The best thing is that all it takes make real bbq is throwing a switch. I don't think you can get cold or semi cold smoke in an egg so you won't really be able to smoke fish. The Traeger with a digital temp control (which you want)costs about $900. I've ended up with two of them.

Lots of good points TF particularly on the fish and silt/cobble migration. I did look at the power point before my first post. I agree it's a type of dam and assume you agree that if the dry berms are subject to the same engineering, environmental and other regulatory scrutiny as conventional dams that is a bit of a start anyway. I also get the hanging culvert point but I'm assuming that these structures would be a lot more sophisticated than the simple culvert under a road grade scenario. Maybe I'm wrong but we are not going to decide that from a slide show. I don't get the point about sacrificing Eden valley at all--I would have thought that having a flood control structure upstream might save some of the type of damage they suffered in the recent event. Also, I agree that home buy-outs are much preferable to any in-river structure but I don't think the thousands of homes that went under water in High River, Bragg Creek and the Calgary Elbow floodplain are going to be relocated. In any event TF, I think to very large degree we are on the same side. My point is that the implementation of some flood mitgation measures is virtually certain and a nuanced approach from our team could help. Regulatory tribunals almost always ignore the extreme "stop this at all costs" position. What I should have said first off is thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Does anyone know if dry berms have been used on other trout streams and if the fishery has been affected? Clearly they will be awful to look at on a local basis but on my limited understanding they do not affect normal flow patterns at all and it isn't completely obvious to a layman that it's devastating for the fishery. Dams must be much worse than dry berms and it must be recalled that Bow is not a bad fishery despite the fact that it is a multiple dam tailwater. I know these comments border on treason on this forum and to be clear I've spent a lot of time on the Highwood and would certainly prefer it not be touched in anyway. On the other hand, having recently had some first and second hand experience with flood damage I would like too see mitigation measures at least explored. In any event, they will be explored and the fly fishing community will be marginalized in the process if it takes a strident "don't even consider touching it" position.

I have an off grid cabin with a solar system which was down for a long while so I relied almost completely on my Honda 2000i for a couple years.. I'm a complete believer mostly because of the reliability- it always starts first pull hot and third pull cold. On at least two occasions black bears have treated it like a beach ball but it still goes. With the eco throttle on it is quite quiet on idle but I wouldn't say super quiet. One thing I would note is that under a big load it will throttle up a lot and get kind of noisy which might be an argument for getting the 3500 or going solar.