Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

Federal politicians are expected to make a significant announcement on ocean protection during an international conference in Vancouver on how to take action on promises to protect the marine world made at recent global environment meetings.

A United Nations body that monitors some of the world's greatest natural glories is in Canada again to assess government responses to ongoing threats to the country's largest national park, including plans to release treated oilsands tailings into its watershed.

A southern Alberta town has become what it says is the first municipality to endorse a community−developed policy that calls for a permanentban on new coal exploration and development in the Rocky Mountains.

"Environment Canada got pushback," said Bill Donahue, an environmental scientific consultant and former head of monitoring for the Alberta government. "It dramatically reduced the proposed standards in terms of their stringency."

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Alberta Wilderness Association said Thursday that government maps show West Fraser Timber has been directed to clear-cut blocks that contain century-old trees next to a park in northwest Alberta. 

The federal government says the proposed Grassy Mountain coal project in southwestern Alberta cannot proceed.

The company behind a proposed open-pit coal mine in Alberta's Rocky Mountains has filed a request to appeal a decision by a review panel that rejected the project as being not in the public interest.

Tree-planting agreements between the provinces and the federal government must be transparent to ensure Canada’s two-billion-tree program fulfils climate and biodiversity goals, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society says.

In its 680-page report released Thursday, the joint federal-provincial panel questioned the ability of Benga Mining, owned by Riversdale Resources, to control the release of selenium from its proposed Grassy Mountain mine. 

Road-building approvals for coal exploration already exceed legal limits in some parts of Alberta's Rocky Mountains and foothills, suggest documents from the province's energy regulator.

Environmentalists and scientists are calling on Parks Canada to further restrict access to Rocky Mountain backcountry in an effort to help save the last large caribou herd in the national parks.

Alberta's energy minister has promised people will be able to say "no" to coal mining in the Rocky Mountains during upcoming consultations.

Coal mining is already having an impact in Alberta's Rocky Mountains even as debate intensifies over the industry's presence in one of the province's most beloved landscapes.

At least five popular recreation areas in southern Alberta are surrounded by coal exploration plans and one of them has been partly given over to an exploration lease, raising questions about their future with lovers of the outdoors.

The Alberta government says it won't be closing any provincial parks, whether it can find someone to run them or not.