By Hanneke Brooymans, Edmonton Journal, April 6, 2011
Tory conservation efforts not enough, they say
In its ongoing struggle to balance the economy and the environment in northern Alberta, the provincial government has boosted conservation areas in the lower Athabasca region to be 22 per cent of the total.
The move is part of a draft regional plan, which has been in the works for about two years. It is the first of seven plans slated for the province.
Sustainable Resource Development Minister Mel Knight said the protected land would encompass two million hectares - an area three times the size of Banff National Park.
But environmental groups scoffed at the level of protection these parks would get. Existing petroleum and natural gas leases will be honoured and new leases will be allowed, albeit without surface access, in all but a small fraction of the protected areas. Motorized access is also permitted. All of this would be harmful to sensitive species, such as woodland caribou, they said.
Knight said he is braced for criticism from all sides. Albertans have 60 days to give the government their opinion on the draft plan.
Some of the friction could come from the energy sector. Alberta Energy will meet with about two dozen energy and mining companies to discuss how this would affect their leases.
While the government plans to honour existing leases, it makes a distinction when it comes to industrial development activities, such as surface mining for oilsands and minerals, which is considered too disruptive for the new conservation areas. The draft plan proposes that oilsands and other types of mining companies will be compensated for any leases they have in those areas. That affects about 14 energy companies and 10 mineral companies.
Industry is not surprised that some companies will be affected because the government had sent that signal earlier, said Dave Pryce, vice-president of operations for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. They've also sent out an early warning about land in the neighbouring Peace region that they also want to protect, tentatively blocking it out on the maps handed out Tuesday.
The government said it will compensate companies for the amount spent on the rights for the lease and any money spent on work done on the lease. What has not been discussed is the lost-opportunity cost, Pryce said. "Companies would have purchased these leases and, in many cases, would have booked the value into their financial statements of the reserves that they've acquired." Investors would have bought company shares on that basis.
This lost-opportunity cost would be worth significantly more than the compensation currently on the table, especially for smaller companies, Pryce said. "If they're a one-lease company, it puts them out of business."
A list of affected companies provided by Alberta Energy includes large players, such as Statoil Canada and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., but there are also less familiar names, like Cavalier Land Ltd.
Perhaps other compensation options could be considered, such as dollars or land trading, Pryce said.
In general, the government did a good job of avoiding the bitumen-rich areas, he added.
And that's a sore point for environmental groups. About 85 per cent of the new protected area has no oil and gas, or commercial forestry potential, said Jennifer Grant, oilsands program director for the Pembina Institute, an environment and energy think-tank. "They consist mostly of Canadian shield. So the lands that are being protected are not representative of the lands affected, and the lands affected are often the most favoured by caribou."
Environmental groups were unanimous in their unhappiness with the plan, saying it wouldn't be enough to protect woodland caribou herds, particularly in the southern portion of the Athabasca regions. Both the Pembina Institute and Greenpeace called for an independent panel of scientific experts to review the air and water quality limits that are part of the plan.
First Nations also expressed disappointment. "The provincial government consistently fails to meet even our basic expectations to protect air, land and water within the region and fails to meaningfully engage First Nations in land management decisions in accordance with our aboriginal and treaty rights," said Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in a statement.
hbrooymans@edmontonjournal.com
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