Over the past few months, the Calgary Journal has been talking to the community about sports and active living in our city. As part of that project, we partnered with journalist-in-residence Doug Horner, to look more closely at the fight over logging in Bragg Creek near a popular trail network.
Recreation advocates argue logging will disrupt the trails, which were built mostly with volunteer time, donations, and public funds, while others support logging as part of the province’s resource-based economy.
Read our feature story
There’s a lot to unpack with the issue, such as whether the logging needs to happen in the proposed area and if the provincial government should direct more attention to outdoor recreation spaces.
Below are five takeaways from Doug’s feature story about the ongoing trail battle in and around Bragg Creek and what it all means for outdoor recreation in the province.
Does Alberta need an outdoor recreation advocate?
Two popular trails systems are under threat
In May, logging company West Fraser Cochrane announced plans for two harvests around Moose Mountain and West Bragg Creek to start in the fall 2026. The initial proposal involved clearing 738 hectares, but was reduced to 556 hectares last month after public input over how the logging would affect the popular, multi-use trail network in the area.
Advocacy groups like Guardians of Recreational Opportunities in Wilderness (GROW) and the Moose Mountain Bike Trail Society voiced their concerns about the harvest’s effect on the roughly 300 kilometres of expert-built pathways and their trees during an open house in the spring.
Under two provincial forest management agreements, West Fraser Cochrane has the right to log 475,000 hectares of public land. Considering the expansive area the company has access to, recreationalists wonder why the company doesn’t just choose another place to log.
Trail advocates want no logging in the area whatsoever
Although trail users have praised the company’s willingness to communicate and reduce the harvest area, many do not want to see logging of any kind in the area.
In addition to being a year-round destination for thousands of outdoor enthusiasts, a combination of volunteer time, donations and public funds have helped develop the extensive trail network, fostering both a sense of community and connection to the land.
The controversy prompted GROW to start an online petition to prevent the harvest entirely, with nearly 20,000 people signing on in support. The day after the May open house, hundreds of GROW members hiked and rode their bikes up a trail on Moose Mountain to protest the logging plans.
Some trail users support logging
Not everyone is opposed to the harvest plans. Some Bragg Creek Trail Association members recognize the economic necessity of logging and feel the harvest presents a chance to improve some aspect of the trail network.
““By collaborating we can change those threats into opportunities and we can work together to help each other,” said Mike Duszynski, the executive director of Bragg Creek Trails.
Over the years, both logging and oil and gas companies have helped to build and maintain area infrastructure.
One example saw the provincial government task the Spray Lakes Sawmill — which was recently bought by West Fraser Cochrane — with clearing some of the forested area in West Bragg Creek to create fire barriers for nearby communities in 2012 and 2013. Spray Lakes even helped build one of the area’s trails.
Recreation not a provincial priority
Despite Alberta having the right conditions to create a leading outdoor recreation sector, it hasn’t been a priority for the provincial government. Often, industries like oil and gas, forestry, ranching and mining dominate.
A 2021 report by the Tourist Industry Association of Alberta concluded the Alberta government’s philosophy on recreation as a secondary priority “has created a reactive approach to crown land outdoor recreation and an underrealized outdoor recreation economy.”
Because of the government’s goal of balancing ecological preservation and industry, Kananaskis is a mosaic of of provincial parks, ecological reserves, recreation areas and public land-use zones. But the agency responsible for the protected areas, Alberta Forestry and Parks, hasn’t seem interested in adding new trails, with few new ones appearing since the area’s creation in 1977.
Multiple stakeholders in the mix
NDP MLA for Banff-Kananaskis, Sarah Elmeligi, also said the area is plagued with competing promises to companies and recreationalists.
First, the provincial government made a promise to what is now West Fraser Cochrane by renewing their forest management agreement for another 20 years. Then, they made a commitment to recreation groups by creating the Kananaskis Day Pass to help fund recreation infrastructure and environmental protection.
The area is within Treaty 7, home to the Blackfoot Confederacy and Stoney Nakoda First Nation. It’s also part of the Eastern Slopes region of the Rocky Mountains, a critical headwater source for the Saskatchewan-Nelson Rivers drainage basin. Conservationists view the trees as playing an important role in storing and providing freshwater.