4 Castle logging protesters arrested

Four people have been arrested at a logging protest near the Crowsnest Pass in the southwest corner of Alberta.

When RCMP arrived, about 50 peopleincluding protesters, police, media and officials from the Alberta governments Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) were at the site.

A protest camp wasfirst set up last monthto block access to logging roads in the area. Last week, people were served notice that they wereconsidered trespassers.

RCMP said most of the protesters voluntarily left on their own today. Four others were arrested and taken to a local RCMP detachment and released. No charges were laid.

The battle between the conservationists and logging project in southwestern Alberta has beencoming to a headfor a while now.

Thegovernment is going aheadwith the logging plans in the Castle Wilderness area, work contracted out to Cochrane-based Spray Lake Sawmillswhich is set to harvest 120 hectares of trees in the area before the end of April.

Protestors have been fighting it formonths and set up a picket line near the proposed site in January, delaying the logging.

Protestors say the Castle area, which has seen little logging over the past two decades, is an important ecological and recreational area for Albertans.