Save Bragg Creek and Moose Mountain

When the trail users at Bragg Creek Trail Association and Moose Mountain Bike Trail Society first found out about the proposed logging they were mortified. And when they tried to get confirmation from about where the logging company would harvest, there were two giant ovals overlaid on the map. Ovals that included a huge swath of the trails that had been built over the past ten-to-twenty years. The trail users wanted answers.

At the time the logging company in question was Spray Lake Sawmills. “We weren’t sure if it would be clear cuts or selective or what,” says one of GROW’s founders Joey Reinhart. “It was just, hey, this is sequenced by this logging company that has a Forest Management Agreement. Basically, it’s a lease on land for about 100 years at a time. SLS as a company took the viewpoint, “we’re just gonna come and log it. We don’t really care what you say.’”

GROW

That’s when GROW Kananaskis (Guardians of Recreational Opportunities in Wilderness) was formed. Determined to protect the 738 hectares of West Bragg Creek and Moose Mountain Trails the group represent a range of trail users; trail runners, mountain bikers, mushroom pickers, equestrians, hikers, XC skiers and snowshoers. GROW became an advocacy group determined to alter the logging plans of 2025/2026. “We’re not anti-logging, we’re just pro-trails.”
When SLS was acquired by West Fraser Timber Company in late 2023, things looked optimistic.
“They’re just a lot better with working with user groups and land managers.”

Open house

While communication was difficult at first, during the first open house with West Fraser Timber in early May 2024, GROW started to learn how to work with the new forestry company.
“We knew that if we just rallied as much support as we possibly could, we’d probably be able to make a difference based on them being willing to be consultative on this. We started a petition, we’re close to 20,000 signatures on that now. And we got 620 people on record to visit their open house. But there were a lot more people that just didn’t sign in. So we got 700 people to go to that open house. West Fraser claims that this is the biggest turnout they’ve ever had for an open house anywhere. Ever.”
Since that time, GROW has had several meetings with West Fraser Timber and they’ve had significant success.
“The harvest area was reduced from 738 hectares to 556 hectares,” he says. “We also got the trail impact within cut blocks…