Panel Confirms the Need
to Protect Suffield National Wildlife Area

Calgary (January 28, 2009) – The seven-group Suffield Coalition today applauded the decision to deny EnCana’s three-well application in the Suffield National Wildlife Area (NWA).

A government-appointed Joint Review Panel, in an announcement released Tuesday, also determined that EnCana’s larger project proposal to expand gas development inside the federally protected area could not be approved at this time without compromising the conservation of wildlife.

However, the Coalition voiced disappointment that the Panel fell short of recommending against any further oil and gas development in the NWA.

The federal cabinet, led by Defence Minister Peter MacKay as Responsible Authority for the NWA, is now expected to respond to the Panel’s recommendations. “The only appropriate decision is to prohibit any further oil and gas development in the Suffield NWA and to close the door to future applications,” says Sandra Foss, past-president of the Federation of Alberta Naturalists.

Suffield NWA was established in 2003 to protect endangered native prairie and the many species of animals and plants at risk in the area, including at least 15 federally listed species threatened with extinction.

The Panel concluded that EnCana’s proposal to drill 1,275 natural gas wells and construct associated infrastructure in the NWA would result in significant adverse effects on certain species at risk and interfere with the conservation of wildlife. However, the Panel’s recommendations do allow for future proposals to be considered. The report sets out three requirements that would have to be met for the project to go forward:

• that critical habitat be identified for five species at risk: Ord's kangaroo rat, Sprague's pipit and three endangered plant species
• that no project activities take place within this critical habitat unless otherwise permitted under the Species at Risk Act
• that the Suffield Environmental Advisory Committee receive a clear mandate and sufficient resources to oversee drilling in the NWA.

“The Panel clearly put a great deal of thought into its recommendation,” says Alberta Wilderness Association’s Cliff Wallis. “The problem, however, is that while the requirements and additional conditions recommended by the Panel might work in a perfect world, in the real world there is no guarantee that those conditions would in fact protect the integrity of the Suffield NWA. Now it’s up to Defence Minister Peter MacKay and Environment Minister Jim Prentice to exercise their precautionary duty to deny approval of EnCana’s expansion in the CFB Suffield NWA.”

The Suffield Coalition is now asking Canadian citizens to express their opinions to the decision-makers in Ottawa about the future of this unique area that belongs to all Canadians.

For more information:

Cliff Wallis, Alberta Wilderness Association: 403-607-1970
Sandra Foss, Federation of Alberta Naturalists: 403-932-2947, sefoss@telus.net
Carla Sbert, Nature Canada: 613-562-3447, ext. 222 csbert@naturecanada.ca

The Suffield Coalition comprises seven groups: Alberta Wilderness Association, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, World Wildlife Fund Canada, Nature Saskatchewan, Southern Alberta Group for the Environment, Grasslands Naturalists, and Nature Canada.


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