Company to host open house on contentious logging plans near Bragg Creek

The public will get a chance next week to review contentious plans to harvest trees in an area near Bragg Creekthat's popular for its network of trails for cycling, hiking and cross-country skiing.

West Fraser Cochrane, a wood products company formerly known as Spray Lake Sawmills, is slated to harvest lumber from popular recreation areas, West Bragg Creek and Moose Mountain, in 2026.

As part of the engagement process, the company is hosting an open house on May 8in Cochrane, where it will present its operating plans.

Information packages published on West Fraser's website include a closer look at West Bragg Creek, where plans show 362 hectares of logging, and Moose Mountain, a planned 376 hectares.

The materials include maps that show where harvesting and planned roads will cross popular trails. Those familiar with the area will recognize the names: Fullerton Loop, Strange Brewand Race of Spades.

West Fraser declined an interview request but provided a statement.

"Public input is important as it helps inform our plans with insights from local residents and stakeholder groups as to the values that are important to them," read the statement from Joyce Wagenaar, the company's director of communications.

She wrote the company is looking for "actionable feedback" on plans specific suggestions the company should consider for trail users before it submits the final plan to the province in spring of 2026, before beginning the harvest later that year.

For a closer look at each plan, load the PDF documents below:

• West Bragg Creek
• Moose Mountain

Bragg Creek resident Jeff Woodgate says that when he heard about logging plans a year ago, he couldn't picture it, butthe maps, recently published online,have made themreal.

"That's what it was for me," Woodgate said.

"I'm angry about it. It's upsetting, and I think that pretty much anybody that does utilize these trails is going to look at these maps and be as upset as I am."

He's one of the people behind Guardians of Recreational Opportunities in Wilderness (GROW) Kananaskis, a group thatformed to oppose this logging plan.

As the company has moved through its planning phases, a consultation document shows how changes have been made to lessen the impact on certain trails like taking the harvesting impact on the Race of Spadestrail from 48 per cent down to three per cent.

Woodgatebelievesthat'sall part of the company's negotiation process.

"They make some adjustments to appease, but the overall trail system is still hugely affected," he said.

Woodgatenotes that park users pay for a Kananaskis conservation pass to access these trails, and some of the money flows back to groups who maintain and build up trails thatare now affected by these logging plans.

"It's an insult and it's difficult to swallow."

In a statement, Pam Davidson,press secretaryfor Ministry of Forestry and Parks, writes the Kananaskis pass funds many initiatives throughoutKananaskis Country, not just trails.

"We understand and appreciate how much Albertans value their outdoor recreation areas, and Alberta's government works hard to balance economic activity with recreation and conservation outcomes," she wrote.

Woodgatesays GROW Kananaskis plans to draw attention and convince Albertansto write to their MLAs. An onlinepetition has received more than 15,000 signatures.

This is a critical time, Woodgate says, before the plan goes past a point of no return.

"No doubt it's going to be a change to the landscape," said Conrad Schiebel,president of the Bragg Creek Trails Association."This is a much-loved area."

Schiebel says volunteers have worked tirelessly through the years to carve a network of trails used year-round by locals and Calgary day-trippers.

Faced with this impending logging project, he says the association has to be neutral, based on pre-existing agreements with the government and the nature of Alberta's multi-use landscapes.

'This isn't our first rodeo with logging'

This means working with West Fraser Cochrane. He says collaboration is his way to fight for the best interest of trail users and the forest.

"This isn't our first rodeo with logging," Schiebel said. "The first one was 10 years ago and fairly disruptive, and there was a lot of learning that came out of that process."

Since then, he says, another thing has changed: public opinion.

He says gaining popular consensus is going to be a bigger hurdle than it was a decade ago.

Schiebelsays theBragg Creek Trailslogging committeewill help figure out what mitigationis needed to save what's special: pockets of old-growth treesand areas with unique groupings of plants that, for the untrained eye, are easy to overlook.

"It's going to hurt for a little bit, but I think we can hopefully come up with a plan where some of the character is preserved."