In this episode, I wrap up the story of Blackfoot Chief Crowfoot as he experiences life under Canada’s Treaty 7. I also look at the implications of some recent government and court decisions regarding development in the Bow Valley.
Crowfoot returns to Canada
In last week’s episode, I continued the story of Crowfoot and the Blackfoot Confederacy as they signed Treaty 7 and began to experience the realities of signing such a monumental document. After a terrible winter of 1878-79 where the Blackfoot were left starving, the government suggested they head towards Cypress Hills where numerous bison had been seen.
When they got there, the bison were already gone, and in the end, they had to head south into American territory simply to find a few bison to hunt. If you haven’t listened to that episode, you can listen to it at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep063.
By Fall of 1880, the buffalo were once again rare and Crowfoot sent word to Commissioner Dewdney to see if it were possible to return to their treaty lands. Dewdney said:
“if they were within reach of the buffalo to remain with them as I saw no means of feeding them if they returned… I would hold their annuity money for them until they came back…”
Crowfoot and his people were forced to move to the south side of the Missouri River. That fall, they realized that Louis Riel was once again in their midst, whispering words of rebellion. Renegade priest and interpreter, Jean L’Heureux was also present and heard Riel’s words:
“Riel and his frontier partisans are expected to renew their last year’s tactics for fomenting trouble and half-breeding conspiracies with the Indians. He is only waiting at the Judith Basin the result of Miles’ campaign against the hostile Sioux, for a political campaign of his own whose program is “that the N. W. T. is the natural property of the Indians and half-breed ought to be set apart for their exclusive use, ruled & governed by them alone.”
Things only got worse for Crowfoot’s people. This winter was particularly hard with deep snow hampering the movement of the bison. In addition, lots of his people were still tempted to trade horses and skins for whiskey which only added to their problems.
Before long, they began killing cattle out of desperation and it attracted the attention of the army.
While the Blackfoot were usually blamed for all the white’s problems, white settlers were also raiding Blackfoot camps and stealing their horses, further forcing them to rely on cattle to survive.
The ranchers complained:
“… Since last August, these two counties [Meagher and Choteau] have been overrun with hordes of alien [Canadians] Indians, principally Blackfeet, Bloods, Piegans and Crees, to the number of about 350 lodges… These Indians, ostensibly here for the purpose of hunting buffalo, have killed and eaten many of our cattle, and this, too, in instances where there was an abundance of buffalo within 10 miles of their camps…
Some weeks ago these Indians began moving north, and we thought we would have at least a temporary respite from their depredations, but now we hear that Crow Foot’s [sic] band of 140 lodges of Blackfeet, and some forty or fifty lodges of Crees, have turned back from Carrol, on the Missouri River, saying they will not return to their own country but will remain here…”
That winter, an outbreak of measles struck their camps. When spring arrived, it brought with it an outbreak of mumps. The mumps took the life of Crowfoots only true brother, Iron Shield.
Crowfoot’s people were forced to head further and further south into American territory to find food. In time, skirmishes with other tribes, as well as settlers led the army to send a force to “move those Indians or bury them”.
The Blackfoot realized their only hope was to walk north to the Canadian border in hopes of staying ahead of American soldiers. It was a pitiful sight. The once proud Blackfoot, rich with horses, were forced to walk after trading most of their valuables for whiskey. Only the very old and infirm were able to ride. They left most of their belongings behind and stumbled north towards Canadian territory.
Whenever there is weakness in a population, disease will find it, and scarlatina and measles continued to weaken the caravan. Then the horses fell victim to mange.
I’m not sure about you, but all I can visualize is an increasingly pitiful march where the old, young, sick, and weak simply slipped into oblivion as this starving, disease weakened procession stumbled northward one step after the next.
As disease and starvation killed the people, mange took the horses. As people succumbed, the line continued to stumble north towards the perceived safety of a country that had already discarded them to this situation.
It was June before the healthiest crossed the border into Canadian territory. The ordeal wasn’t over. There was no buffet of provisions waiting for them, no stable of horses to get the weak home, just a few meagre supplies as they crossed the border before the starvation resumed, the supplies dwindled, and the wailing continued.
After some 6-weeks of marching, the Blackfoot reached Fort Macleod. Crowfoot’s arrival was described thusly:
“Crowfoot arrived here on the 20th ulto with 1,064 followers, all in the most destitute condition. A large proportion of his followers consisted of old men, women and children. They were nearly all on foot.”
This was the legacy of signing a treaty. Within a year the nation was starving, forced into another country that despised them, sold whiskey to them, and then pursued them back to Canada. Yet Crowfoot still believed in the honour of the Canadian Government, the Queen Mother, and people like Colonel Macleod and Edgar Dewdney.
Crowfoot realized that the only life the Blackfoot had ever known was gone. In just two years, the bison were gone, and the tribes were completely dependent on a government that had twice allowed them to starve.
They would now be limited to their tiny reserves, where all they had was a small plot of land where they could “scratch the earth” and hope to grow a few meagre crops. As Hugh Dempsey so aptly put it in his biography Crowfoot:
“Many of the old people believe that soon the Blackfeet would follow the buffalo into oblivion.”
The reserves they’d selected no longer had plentiful game, but they were also ill-suited to farming. Instead, they were forced to line up for rations of meat and flour. Unfortunately, the people controlling these life-saving resources were also subject to corruption.
The Blackfoot were treated with disdain and, more and more, their women were forced into prostitution to acquire a few additional morsels.
The wheat was usually spoiled and the meat was edible but not bison.
While few were happy in this situation, Crowfoot was the exception. Spring brought new grasses to feed mange ravaged horses. He was in the land that he called home. There were no whiskey traders and maybe his people could recover.
In this pitiful situation, Crowfoot received word that the Queen’s son-in-law was coming to visit. It’s almost inconceivable that this would perk up a people so deceived, yet Crowfoot leaned upon a staff to keep him upright and tried to put on a brave face.
To his delight, he realized that the parties guide was his adopted son Poundmaker. His heart filled with joy. Poundmaker had become a leader in his own right.
Crowfoot was no longer the powerful chief, but a destitute beggar who hoped the government would finally make good on its promises.
The Marquis of Lorne was married to the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, after whom Lake Louise in Banff National Park was named.
Crowfoot pleaded with the government to help his people. Reverend George MacDougall stated:
“I have rarely seen a more touching site than the poor infirm chief, with his finely chiseled countenance and bright smile, as, leaning heavily on his staff, and worse clad than any of his followers, he moved forward to his place; the shabby clothes, which the poorest artisan would be ashamed to wear, contrasted sadly with the Victoria metal which he wore on his breast.”
Lord Lorne responded by suggesting the Blackfoot begin to till the soil like the white men did, and to abandon hunting for farming. Crowfoot replied:
“I shall take your advice, I have been first in fighting; I shall now be first in working.”
Crowfoot was the first to “scratch the land” to try to grow crops. He was old, not a serious farmer, but again, an example of how his people would survive.
The pace of settlers arriving on the plains steadily increased. While the Blackfoot were offered a few acres/person on their reserves, settlers could lease up to 100,000 acres for a penny an acre/year.
Along with settlers, the railroad continued to chug its way westward and would eventually cross Blackfoot territory.
Just a few decades earlier, few dared invade the lands of the Blackfoot, yet now, people flooded towards the plains.
As winter arrived, the quality of the rations continued to drop. Despite pleas, the government ignored Crowfoot. Government contractors simply ran “out of beef” and left the Blackfoot hungry once again.
After an uprising over the lack of food and the unfair treatment of one of the chiefs, Bull Elk, a large force of policemen descended on the camp to quell the situation.
Crowfoot still had a fondness for Macleod, but it was becoming increasingly clear that Macleod and his policemen were not his allies. One man that did hear the pleas of the Blackfoot was Indian Commissioner Edgar Dewdney.
Dewdney replaced the food agents with more reliable men. He also realized the Blackfoot could not grow their own crops if they didn’t have the basic tools and seed to do so.
He also made sure that enough flour was brought in to last the winter so the people could see proof that they wouldn’t be allowed to starve yet again.
Finally, he appointed Crowfoot’s trusted friend Inspector Cecil Denny as Indian Agent. Unfortunately, the changes didn’t last. Before long, the eastern government began sending inexperienced appointees to work on the reserves. The corruption began once again. Denny did what he could to move these appointees into jobs where they could do less damage to the fragile relations with the Blackfoot.
By the end of the summer of 1882, the Blackfoot had raised 50 tonnes of potatoes, along with varying amounts of turnips and barley. It was around this time that they began to hear about the ribbon of steel and the smoky engines that would soon be approaching their lands.
Cecil Denny tried to appease the Blackfoot by claiming the train would benefit people by bringing food and government officials to help the people…but it was all untrue.
As the surveyors descended into Blackfoot territory, they showed little respect for the people and set up camp wherever they wanted. Before long, women were being drawn into prostitution and tempers were once again flaring up.
Father Lacombe was sent to the reserve with gifts of tea, sugar, flour, and tobacco in an attempt to calm the Blackfoot. Soon after, Edgar Dewdney, who was now Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories as well as Indian Commissioner, also arrived. After meeting with Crowfoot, the chief agreed to allow the trains to pass through the northern portion of their reserve.
This was one decision that Crowfoot lived to regret. The trains spewed smoke and their sparks caused forest and grass fires. Demands for compensation for the fires fell on deaf ears. Even one of Crowfoot’s own horses was killed on the tracks in 1887 yet he received no compensation for the loss.
Life on the reserve began impacting Crowfoot’s health. In 1883 he came down with erysipelas, a disease that affects the skin and lymphatic system. It’s caused by a Streptococcus bacteria. It causes high fevers, rashes, chills, headaches, and vomiting. It can also cause pox, blisters, and the skin damage.
For a time it looked like Crowfoot wouldn’t survive, but again, he recovered. He blamed the disease on the acrid smoke from trains permeated the air.
Despite suggestions from friends like Dewdney, Crowfoot continued living in his tipi, rather than moving into a wooden house. In his tipi, he met and held councils with old friends like the Cree chiefs Big Bear, Little Pine, and Bob Tail.
They were signatories of Treaty 6 and, like the Blackfeet, were finding promises made were not being kept. Crowfoot learned the Cree were being given bacon instead of the beef promised in their treaty. The Cree believed this unfamiliar food was making them sick.
Crowfoot thought of his adopted son, Poundmaker, also a Cree, and realized he would be getting the same treatment.
By 1884 talk of a rebellion once again found its way to Crowfoot’s camp. Metis from Prince Albert, along the North Saskatchewan, sent word to Louis Riel in Montana asking him to return and lead a rebellion.
When Riel agreed, messengers were sent to talk to all the first nations, and a Metis named Bear’s Head was sent to talk with Crowfoot. On his way to Crowfoots camp, he was intercepted and imprisoned by the police for a month. When they released him, they ordered him to leave the area. Instead, he doubled back and headed to the tipi of Crowfoot.
To Crowfoot, these were old stories. He’d heard the same words four years earlier when he first rejected Riel’s invitation to war. Yet in the years since, many things had changed in Crowfoot’s world. His trust in white justice had been shattered. His people had been robbed of their lands and allowed to starve.
When the Mounties learned that Bear’s Head had not left, they sent Inspector Sam Steele, yup that was his real name, to arrest him. When Steele grabbed Bear’s Head, he was surrounded by hundreds of Blackfoot ready to attack should Crowfoot say the word. Steele addressed Crowfoot through an interpreter:
“I told Crowfoot to come out of the tent so that I could speak to him, and that I had to have the half-breed dead or alive… That he, Crowfoot, had behaved badly, although he had always received fair play, that he acted as if he had been treated unjustly, whereas he had received the greatest kindness from the Mounted Police and all of the officers of the Indian Department, and was making a poor return for it…”
Crowfoot let Steele take Bear’s Head but just four days later, the Metis was acquitted of all charges. Crowfoot, like many first nations, was beginning to hear Riels message in a very different way.
When Lieutenant Governor Dewdney learned of the situation, he invited the three head chiefs of the Blackfoot nation to travel with him to visit Regina and Winnipeg. To this point, the Blackfoot had seen tiny forts and trading posts. They had not seen any major cities. The population of Winnipeg alone was 15,000.
It was a canny move. When Crowfoot saw these massive cities, he realized it would be folly to oppose such an army. The white men were too numerous to count and he saw only ruin for his people should they follow Riel into open rebellion.
Soon after though, the government, always penny wise and pound foolish, decided to supply the Blackfoot with bacon instead of beef for two days out of seven. Like the Cree, Crowfoot protested. This time, the bacon was replaced with beef again, but the quantity remained as spartan as before.
Cecil Denny, one of the few Indian Agents that Crowfoot trusted, resigned his position to protest the way the first nations were being treated, and the meagre rations they were provided. History has not treated Denny kindly. Like many of the Blackfeet he tried to serve, he was also fond of whiskey and was involved in more than one scandal. Various sources refer to him as a drunkard.
According to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography:
“Within months of his arrival in Treaty No.7, Denny had become embroiled in a dispute with the inspector of Indian agencies, Thomas Page Wadsworth. The pretext for the dispute was Denny’s lax, perhaps corrupt, administrative style, but it was exacerbated by jurisdictional disputes and personality differences. At a more fundamental level, Wadsworth represented the government’s drive to reduce expenses. Denny favoured a more generous policy of gradual reduction. On his arrival at Macleod, he had dismissed an employee who had been issuing rations, in part because he had found a surplus of 60 sacks of flour on hand. Such a surplus, he reasoned, “cannot be got if the Indians have been getting their full rations; for my part, I would rather see the flour short than over.”
In the winter of 1884-85 Crowfoot fell ill again and had to stay in bed for more than a month. During this time, more and more men were advocating for the Blackfoot to join the Cree with Riel.
Meanwhile, Riel was trying to negotiate with the Canadian government regarding petitions for the Metis. As Hugh Dempsey put it:
“They wanted their land claims confirmed, provinces formed, land sold to build schools and hospitals, and their people given direct aid. The petition, in the form of a Bill of Rights, was sent to Ottawa, where it was ignored”
In March of 1885, Riel set up his own provisional government near Batoche in present-day Saskatchewan. Before long, shots were fired and the Northwest Rebellion was underway.
Crowfoot sympathized with the rebellion but he had seen the countless numbers of white men in cities like Regina and Winnipeg and knew that the Indians and Metis had little chance of winning against such an enemy. He was also troubled because Poundmaker was right in the middle of the whole thing.
Father Albert Lacombe was dispatched to convince the Blackfoot to resist the call to war. At the same time, Cecil Denny was also trying to improve conditions for the Blackfeet to improve their living conditions and reduce the likelihood they might be influenced by talk of war.
Despite repeated requests from the Cree, Crowfoot kept his people out of the rebellion. The young men were anxious for battle but Crowfoot resisted. When a Cree messenger threatened Crowfoot’s people if they didn’t join, that only steeled Crowfoot’s will and from that point, there was no talk of rebellion.
Crowfoot travelled to Gleichen Station and offered 100 warriors in the case of any Cree attack.
Crowfoot chose peace over war, but he was in full sympathy and agreement with the Crees who chose the path of war instead. He did what he believed was best for his people over the long-term, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t agree with the reason for the rebellion. Even Father Lacombe suspected that his loyalty was false. He wrote to Governor Dewdney:
“for my own part, what I’ve seen of the Blackfeet and their kindred since last spring makes me believe that if they have been quiet and have made loyal promises during the Cree rebellion, it was purely out of self-interest in order to get more and more out of the department.
From the beginning of the war, one who knows the Indian character could very easily perceive they were not pleased when told of the victories of the whites; on the contrary, they were sorry and disappointed. Crowfoot received into his camp and fed for months many Cree families, and was very much displeased when we tried to send away these Crees… Crowfoot and his people have been and are still yet very indignant because they were refused ammunition.
… I tried every means in my power to keep the savages from doing any mischief to the whites and to prevent any rising. The Indians in this part seemed not at all afraid of the soldiers. All that display of troops along the CPR line…has not yet convinced them that the government is powerful. The fact is they seem and act as if they despise the red and blue coat, perhaps more than before…”
He was both right and wrong. Crowfoot always did what he thought was right for his people. Regardless, he still agreed with many of the motivations behind the rebellion, and also worried about his adopted son Poundmaker and what would become of him.
Crowfoot’s life was about to be turned upside down. In May of 1885, his daughter started coughing up blood. Before the end of the month, she was gone. Just two years earlier he had lost a son as well. Crowfoot went into a deep depression where he gave away most of his belongings and retreated to the Sarcee reserve.
With all the stress, his own health began to fail. By the end of June, the rebellion was over and Poundmaker was imprisoned. Crowfoot pleaded to Dewdney for leniency for Poundmaker, but the warrior was still sentenced to three years in Stoney Mountain Penitentiary.
Dewdney had Poundmaker released after serving only 6 months of his sentence. In May of 1886, he finally headed to Blackfoot Crossing to visit with Crowfoot. This visit seemed to come at the perfect time. Crowfoot had lost another son to tuberculosis and yet another was at risk of dying from the dread disease.
Both men were overjoyed to spend time together. On July 4th, they sat down to eat some Saskatoon Berry soup and bannock. Poundmaker took just one sip of the soup and began to cough up blood. Minutes later, he was dead.
Doctors blamed it on a burst blood vessel, but the Blackfoot believed a powerful medicine man had warned Poundmaker that he would live a long life, as long as he never ate Saskatoon berries. As soon as he tasted the soup with Crowfoot, he was doomed.
A short time later, Crowfoot was invited to Ottawa to visit with the Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald and his wife. The trip helped him to take his mind off all of the tragedy that had befallen his family.
When he returned to learn that more family members had died, he again began to mourn. Crowfoot never fully regained health. He made a few trips to other settlements across the once wide territory of the Blackfoot to meet with old friends and allies, and finally, on April 25, 1890, the old chief died.
Across the camp, the announcement could be heard:
“Men, women, children, mourn over your great parent; you will no more hear his kind voice and his eloquent harangues. In your distress and misery, you will no more rush to his lodge for comfort and charities. He is no more. No one like him will fill his place.”
The man who had led his people from the most powerful nation on the prairies, saw them through the disappearance of the buffalo, the signing of treaties and their settlement on reserves, was gone.
One witness at the funeral later reported:
“We were camped along the Bow River, and everyone was gathered for the funeral. As we were walking up the hill to join the crowd, we saw a man named Far Away Voice, who was wearing only a breach cloth and was wailing and mourning for the loss of Crowfoot. He cried out that the Blackfoot were sorry to see him go and they missed him. At the top of the hill were more people mourning, wives, relatives and many others. The old man’s wailing affected us so much that we joined him and began to cry.”
He was loved by both white leaders and his people. The white officials wanted to bury him like a white man. The Blackfoot wanted him to be placed above ground as their traditions demanded. In the end, a compromise was struck and his coffin was buried so that part of it was below ground and part of it above. A log house was built to protect the site.
Lieutenant Governor Dewdney said of the old chief:
“the demise of Chief Crowfoot, the Chief of the Blackfoot tribe… Has left a blank which will be difficult, if not impossible, to fill… Crowfoot died as he had lived, loyal and true to the ‘Great Mother’ — almost with his last breath exhorting his people to be obedient to the authorities. He was a remarkable man, considering the circumstances in which his lot was cast; and never was his force of character more clearly demonstrated when he saw that the day of the tomahawk and scalping knife was over and that the era for the cultivation, by his people, of all that would tend to peace and prosperity, had set in. The same energy and tact that he had so often displayed on the battlefield and in the Council meeting are now shown in counselling his people and influencing them in their endeavours to abandon their old habits and to conform themselves to the new order of things; and well did he succeed, for a more loyal tribe of Indians cannot be found in the North-West than the Blackfeet, as was well demonstrated by their refusal to join the half-breed rebellion of 1885, though frequently importuned by the Indian allies of the rebels to do so. Crowfoot died beloved by his people, feared by his foes, esteemed by all.”
Crowfoot was the right leader for his people at the right time in history. He counselled them wisely and helped them through the tragic loss of their traditional ways of life as the bison vanished and the white settlers robbed them of their land.
As I write this, I’m sitting in Treaty 7 territory and I acknowledge the ancient claim to this territory held by the Blackfoot Nation. If we sum up individual lives by the stories people tell after our passing, then the life of Crowfoot was one of wisdom amidst tragedy. It was a life well-lived.
For the sake of the story, I’ve used historic names to refer to the first nations in this story. It’s important to recognize that many of these names were artificially adopted by white settlers to label the first people to call the plains their home.
I used those name for the sake of the story. Most of the people listening to this story will be unfamiliar with the proper names of these first nations and I didn’t want the importance of the story to be lost for the want of terminology.
Before I leave though, I feel it’s important to return their voice and their names to the story. I, like many of us, am guilty of not taking the time to learn the proper name by which to refer to many of our nations and I want to take some time to remind us of their proper tribal names.
The Blackfoot are known as the Siksika. The Piegan are divided into Canadian and American (or north and south) bands. The northern Piegan are known as the Pikani and the southern, or American, are known as the Piikuni. The Blood use the name Kainai to refer to their people.
Allied with the Confederacy were the Tsuut’ina, formerly referred to as the Sarcee and the Atsina or Gros Ventres.
The arrival of European settlers stripped our first nations of their livelihood, their territory, and their dignity. Taking the time to learn the names by which they refer to themselves is one step towards paying back a little of that debt.
As you explore the landscapes of southern Alberta, take a moment to reflect on what this landscape might have been like at a time before the disappearance of the bison and the loss of powerful nations. At the same time, imagine yourself in the footsteps of Crowfoot. How would you have reacted to the arrival of what can only be seen today as a cultural apocalypse?
New Wins for Wildlife Corridors
If you’ve been following this podcast, you’ll be well aware of the challenges we are dealing with in the Bow Valley in terms of trying to protect the ability of grizzly bears and other carnivores, hoofed animals, and other wildlife to travel through the valley to connect to other critical habitats along the greater Yukon to Yellowstone corridor.
The Bow Valley through Canmore is a continentally significant wildlife corridor. If we recognize the importance to wildlife to be able to migrate north and south throughout their ranges than the Canmore corridor is absolutely critical.
Over the past two decades, Canmore has seen explosive growth and, as development has gradually filled in the valley, the ability of wildlife to safely traverse the valley has been increasingly hampered.
If you’re new to this story, I’ve covered it over many different episodes over the past year. In Episode 24, I introduced some of the challenges that Canmore was being faced with in terms of ensuring our valley remained viable in terms of a movement corridor in the future.
A few episodes later, in episode 27, Alberta Environment and Parks announced they would NOT be making a decision on the remaining developments within Three Sisters Resorts for four to eight weeks. Well, that time period extended for some 13 months and they have just released their final decision on the corridors…and it’s great news.
On June 26th, Roger Ramcharita of Alberta Environment and Parks stated, that while he saw positive aspects to changes that Three Sisters Resorts had incorporated in order to create a viable corridor, it just wasn’t enough.
This story is a long one. It began way back in 1991 when Three Sisters Golf Resorts Inc. first applied for a permit to build a “recreation and tourism project on the present site in the Bow Valley and adjacent lands within the Wind Valley.”
A year later, the Natural Resource Conservation Board approved Three Sisters proposal with several conditions, the most important of which stated:
“Three Sisters shall incorporate into its detailed design, provision for wildlife movement corridors in as undeveloped a state as possible, and prepare a wildlife aversive conditioning plan.”
The report also included the following:
“It is recommended to Alberta Forestry, Lands and Wildlife that locations for wildlife corridors be legally designated and that in determining their locations and widths, primary corridors should not be narrower than 350 m except in unusual circumstances, that widths and locations be reviewed with the full range of species that may make use of them in mind, that corridors be located to allow movement across adjacent properties, that measures such as bundling road, utility line and pathway crossings be adopted, and that corridors correspond with known movement routes of the animals.
When this permit was approved, it granted Alberta Forestry, Lands and Wildlife, now Alberta Environment and Parks, jurisdiction over the corridors placement and design with the goal of making sure that they were effective for all species moving through the valley.
In the early years, Three Sisters footprint gradually expanded across the landscape. As it did, it became increasingly apparent that the challenges for wildlife moving through the valley were growing.
The Bow Valley is already the most highly developed landscape where grizzlies still exist. As Three Sisters prepared their final development plan for their remaining lands, the people of Canmore made sure the government was aware that it was time to create strict guidelines.
On April 26, 2017, Roger Ramcharita of AEP announced that the government would not be making a decision on Three Sisters proposed wildlife corridors for at least another four to eight weeks. Those eight weeks grew to some 13 months.
After the eight weeks passed by, Alberta Environment and Parks put the decision on hold until they had enough time to wade through copious public feedback as well as to look at current science regarding wildlife corridor design and effectiveness.
With the first delay, Three Sisters withdrew its area structure plan from Council’s consideration until it had a clear decision from the province.
This latest development will be the final one on the Three Sisters land, and as such, it has the potential to squeeze off the last pathways that animals use to traverse the Bow Valley.
This means that any decision by the government will be permanent and irreversible. We would either have a valley where grizzly bears and other animals could effectively move, or we would create a roadblock limiting the ability of northern populations from connecting with southern populations.
Alberta Environment and Parks requested a corridor design that was a minimum of 350 m wide and that was not blocked by steep slopes or other terrain traps. The corridor also had to have enough cover to provide security to the wildlife.
Over time, it became clear to Alberta Environment and Parks that established corridors were not functioning. Some were too steep, others too narrow.
In January of 2017, the company submitted an application for approval of their final portion of the wildlife corridor as well as a proposal for their remaining developable land.
Of the two conditions, Ramcharita said of the Wildlife Human Interaction Prevention Plan:
“I have reviewed the WHIPP and find it generally acceptable. As this aspect of Condition 14 has been satisfied, my decision will consider the remaining requirement to develop a detailed design for wildlife movement corridors. I note, however, that Three Sisters Mountain Village has not implemented all aspects of the WHIPP to date. AEP expects that Three Sisters will implement most if not all aspects of the plan in both existing and future developed areas of its land base, including distribution of homeowner education manuals, trail signage, lighting requirements and attractant management as laid out in the approved plan.”
Essentially he said that the paper looks good, now do it. Having a plan that has not been fully implemented is just a plan, not a policy.
As for the wildlife corridor, he realized that development in the valley has been taking place adjacent to the Three Sisters property and adds to the complications of maintaining a viable corridor.
Wildlife corridors are not just bike paths for animals. Anybody living in Canmore can see how ineffective the town’s plans have been on that front. Corridors represent a river of genetic connectivity allowing for populations moving north and south to interact, reproduce, and expand the genetic diversity of the entire Rocky Mountain Corridor.
Corridors are not just for the large iconic animals like grizzlies and elk, rather they are also for smaller animals like weasels, marten, lynx, and hopefully re-establishing wolf populations. Mule and white-tail deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and other animals will also take advantage of these passageways.
If you’d like to read the full text of the government’s response to the proposal, you can find it here.
The report states:
“Wildlife corridors ideally will enable full genetic exchange between individuals and subpopulations by providing movement opportunities for breeding adults, dispersing sub-adults, surplus individuals seeking territories, and wandering individuals during daily movements and seasonal migrations. Corridors function at scales ranging from large regional corridors, to small local corridors that link patches of local habitat.”
These proposed corridors are one of an endlessly connected web of corridors that make up the greater Yukon to Yellowstone area. If any individual corridor becomes compromised then the entire network is at risk.
In his decision, Ramcharita states:
“I have determined that the Application is not satisfactory. The Application contains several aspects to maintain wildlife movement but there are deficiencies which must be addressed to ensure that the wildlife corridors will achieve the purposes stated above over the very long term. There are two areas of deficiency…
- The width of the proposed wildlife corridor at the eastern end of the Smith Creek Property; and
- The width of the Stewart Creek Across Valley wildlife corridor.”
He continues:
“The proposed wildlife corridor at the eastern end of the Smith Creek property contains discontinuous steep slopes which in my view will partially impair wildlife movement. I note the information provided by TSMVP in response to my request for additional information on this issue, namely that wildlife trails are found throughout the discontinuous steep slopes and that wildlife telemetry data shows animal locations on both sides of the slopes. However, the preponderance of published scientific and technical reports on habitat selection by grizzly bears, cougar, elk, and wolf in the Rocky Mountain ecosystems point to a preference for flatter habitats and an avoidance of steep slopes. While this portion of the corridor will certainly allow for movement by some individuals throughout the year, it is unlikely to accommodate full movement by ALL species, and age and sex classes within species during all seasons…
The distance between the area of discontinuous steep slopes and the northern edge of the proposed wildlife corridor appears to be at or less than 350 m. If the width of the corridor at this location could be widened to between 400 and 450 m there would be enough room for wildlife to move through this area unimpeded.”
Another aspect of the plan involved changing a current wildlife corridor and moving it further east up the valley. Of this corridor, Ramcharita states:
“The proposed Across Valley corridor at Stewart Creek is approximately 600 m wide, averages 354 m in width and is 293 m wide at its narrowest point. The Application describes the proposed Across Valley corridor as being at slightly higher risk of being ineffective if the Application is approved due to the resulting residential development on both sides of the corridor and animals being required to cross underneath both the Three Sisters Parkway and the Trans Canada Highway…
I agree that the mitigations provided by TSMVP will assist in minimizing avoidance of proposed Across Valley corridor and I am confident that the proposed Across Valley corridor will function satisfactorily. The corridor must be wider than currently proposed in order to ensure that the underpass will be used by as many animals as possible.”
Three sisters insisted that many animals in the Bow Valley are accustomed to humans and will move through regardless of the width of any corridor.
Ramcharita disagreed:
“I disagree with TSMVP’s assertion that “Grizzly bears, cougars and elk in the Bow Valley are habituated to human disturbance and with fencing, are predicted to use the corridor.” While this may be true for animals that live entirely or almost entirely within the Bow Valley, this is certainly not true of dispersing sub-adults, females with young, or adults whose home ranges only partially overlap the Bow Valley or are encountering the Bow Valley for the first time. As noted earlier, my criteria for decision making with respect to this Application is to ensure that all animals that try to use the proposed corridor can do so unimpeded and that the corridor does not “filter” certain individuals.
Conservation organizations like the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative are already applauding the decision. In a media release, Dr Jody Hilty, the president and chief scientist with the Y2Y stated:
“This is a decision that is important on the continental scale. The Bow Valley is a critical link in the chain of mountains that stretch from Yellowstone National Park to Yukon in the north. This region has been at the heart of the international effort to keep wildlife connected over the last 25 years and this decision helps maintain that important link.”
Three Sisters will surely submit a revised proposal. I hope the pressure stays on to make it a reasonable one. This corridor is critical and while I support Three Sisters right to develop their lands, it must not come at the expense of the ability of animals to freely move through the valley.
In another decision regarding development, a Court of Queen’s Bench judge has ruled that the town of Canmore violated their Municipal Development Plan in rezoning an area of the Peaks of Grassi from Urban Reserve to Direct Control.
In 1998, The Town of Canmore and the developers of the Peaks of Grassi made a “non-legally binding Settlement Agreement” that would cap the Peaks of Grassi development at just over 18 hectares and 404 residential units. Three parcels of land were left as undeveloped Urban Reserve.
Beginning in 2014 developers have been trying to have the parcels rezoned to allow the building of additional homes. In 2016, Council approved the amendment to allow more homes.
Peaks resident Mark Gruman sued the town over its decision to rezone the land. He disputed the: “the nature, appropriateness, accuracy and completeness” of information provided by Town administration to council when the vote took place.
According to the complaint:
“The issue in this case is whether the Grassi Bylaw Amendment is invalid for reasons of unreasonableness or lack of procedural fairness in the process leading up to its passage. During oral submissions, Counsel for the Applicant specified that his main concerns relate to the procedural defaults.
The Applicant questions the nature, appropriateness, accuracy and completeness of the information given by the Town’s administrative employees (“Administration”) to Council when the majority voted in favour of the Grassi Bylaw Amendment. Specifically, the Applicant submits that the Town Administration misinformed or misled Council with respect to the flood risk analysis, the geotechnical screening reports, as well as the environmental impact statement (“EIS”) which led to a breach of the Applicant’s right to procedural fairness as well as rendered Council’s decision unreasonable.
The Applicant also questions whether Council complied with the prescribed procedure mandated by the legislative scheme. First, he submits that Council considered input following the public hearing, thereby violating Council’s procedural bylaw. Second, he submits that the Town of Canmore failed to meet the Municipal Development Plan (“MDP”) mandatory requirements for an independent, and professional third-party review of the EIS.”
The judge agreed with some points made by the Town of Canmore in its defence of the lawsuit but disagreed on its procedural requirement that the rezoning required an independent EIS with a third party review. In his judgment he states:
“In my view, the duty of procedural fairness owed by the Town of Canmore in this instance was moderate. Here, the Town not only disregarded the requirement for an EIS, but also other requirements, including a mandatory third-party review. The procedural safeguard that was in place was lightly discarded. It is difficult to even assess the prejudice considering that the process in place with respect to the EIS was not followed at all. I cannot accept the Town’s contention that no prejudice has been established given that, according to the Town, the outcome would necessarily have been the same. Under the circumstances, it is not possible to know the outcome if this important additional information had been available for Council’s consideration. In my view, it would be speculative to conclude that the outcome would necessarily have been the same if these requirements had been met.
Accordingly, I find the manner the EIS requirement was dealt with was so “devoid of the appearance of fairness that the administration of justice is brought into disrepute.” On this basis, I find that the Grassi Bylaw Amendment must be invalidated.”
The judgement also stipulated that the Town repay all court costs to Mark Gruman now that they have lost the case and the rezoning bylaw is officially dead in the water.
I think it’s significant that the judge found the town negligent in disregarding its own Municipal Development Plan. More and more the town seems to be making decisions to benefit developers even when they are environmentally poor decisions. The Peaks of Grassi wildlife corridor is right beside the site for this new development.
The valley already has a seriously compromised corridor and the government of the province has just held another developer to task in order to protect the other end of the Canmore corridor. I would hope that this new Peaks of Grassi development is now officially dead.