Public consultations underway on future of Alberta’s Fortress Mountain Resort

In December, the Alberta government announced plans to create three new all-season resort areas in the province, which it claims will create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefits.

The designation of Castle, Fortress and Nakiska as all-season resorts will be the first ones on provincial lands in Alberta, but, as part of the change in designation, some of provincial park boundaries have also been adjusted.

On Friday, an open house was held at Calgary’s Mount Royal University to discuss the plans for Fortress Mountain, a former ski hill, located about 125 km west of Calgary, that closed its lift in 2004 and now only offers Cat skiing.

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Plans to revitalize the area include hotels, gondolas, trail networks and private real estate sales.

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The proponents claim the project will create over 1,000 jobs.

“What we’re doing right now, we’re trying to figure out exactly where the points are that Albertans generally would like to see as part of this project or not see as part of this project and we really want to get as much information we possibly can,” said David McKenna of Ridge North America, who is working with Western Securities to develop the resort.

However, others are concerned about the impact the year-round attraction will have on local wildlife and plant life.

“The environmental assessment that was done failed to answer many of those questions and is insufficient, so given the fact that we don’t really know — we don’t have answers to any of our questions so we cannot support the development as it’s proposed,” said Gareth Thomson with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, adding that Kananaskis Country already receives 5 million visitors per year.

“That’s a million more than the National Park (Banff) and the mind boggles when you think about the transportation traffic, log jams on a busy weekend in the summer,” added Thomson.

“Fortress overlaps with important wildlife habitat for multiple species of which include grizzly bears and wolverine,” said Chloe Hahn of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. “We also have critical habitat for threatened bull trout overlapping with the site.”

The next round of public consultations is scheduled for Feb. 23 in Edmonton.

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Three Alberta ski resorts receive all-season designation

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