What did the Grassy Mountain Coal Project mean to you? For Harry and I, it was a threat to one of the rivers where the two of us had grown up fly fishing. When its construction was proposed at the headwaters of the Oldman River, we knew we needed to take action.
We had first caught wind of this coal project in November 2020. After seeing a brief blurb about it on a news article, I fired a text to Harry (we were both at our respective universities at the time), and he was immediately as concerned as I was. Although neither of us has a significant background in conservation, and weren't well-versed with the logistics of coal mines, we knew we needed to get the word out and support the groups making the biggest differences in combatting the Grassy Mountain Coal Project. During a break in the semester, I decided to create a brief infographic on the coal mine in order to highlight the risks it poses in a palatable and quick format. I tried to create something that could be shared over social media by people that, like myself, may just be finding out about the risk of this type of project, or by someone who had yet to hear about it.
Deep diving into the details, I looked at every news article I could find on the matter. I read the environmental reports from both the Government of Alberta and Riversdale Resources Limited. I found a research article on the effects of the similar Teck-operated open-pit coal mines along the Elk River Valley in British Columbia. After a few days of in-depth research, I summarized what I found in the brief Grassy Mountain Coal Project infographic found on our @flyberta Instagram. I found it shocking that this project had made it as far as it had, considering it endangers critical habitat of Westslope Cutthroat Trout and Bull Trout, both of which are listed as threatened species. And, in addition to the risk posed to our beloved fish, the potential impacts of the mine don't end there. The Oldman River watershed drains into the South Saskatchewan River, before eventually entering the Hudson's Bay. Considering the extensive reach of this river, a catastrophic event related to the mine, or even consistent leeching of the byproducts of metallurgic coal mining, could threaten the drinking and agricultural water of hundreds of thousands of Canadians. As I posted the brief infographic introducing some of these potential risks, I realized Flyberta needed to do more.
To my surprise, the Grassy Mountain Coal Project picked up steam (our infographic ended up being included in a Flylords blog post!) as the fly fishing community hopped on the cause. With more groups and individuals doing a fantastic job of presenting information related to the matter, such as @thebugparade, I worked on a sticker to raise money for a yet-to-be-determined case. After a few horrendous renditions, we arose at our final, topographical map Grassy MTN Sticker (using, like the infographic, the actual topographical map of Grassy Mountain), just as we decided on donating the proceeds to Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Southern Alberta Chapter. With a nervous release, some support from our favourite local fly shops (Iron Bow Fly Shop, Outfly Fishing Outfitters, and Fish Tales Fly Shop) as well as a couple hundred awesome Albertans (among a few other Canadians), we were able to raise over a $1000 for CPAWS's work against coal mines like the Grassy Mountain Coal Project. This far surpassed our goal as we had initially only ordered 75 stickers, and ended up selling over 200! As of now we only have a few left, and will be donating the remaining proceeds soon, so if you're looking to pick one up, head over to our shop!
With pressure from the voices of thousands of Albertans and the work of CPAWS, the Government of Alberta froze many of the coal leases along the Rockies. Although the news is mostly positive for the time being, it is essential to keep working against coal mines that threaten waters like the Oldman River to ensure their preservation for generations to come.
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