Speaking up for Caribou

April 20, 2026

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• Boreal Forest
• Caribou
• Forestry
• Forests
• Kakwa
• Land Use
• Rocky Mountain and Foothills Forests

 

Over the last few months, AWA, CPAWS Northern Alberta Chapter, Nature Alberta, and the Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society, have reached out to the Government of Alberta on multiple occasions to raise our concerns about the province’s to woodland caribou conservation and the direction of sub-regional planning.

Sub-regional plans are supposed to provide the landscape-level direction needed to conserve and recover caribou while also managing other land-use interests. Insteas, we continue to see plans that allow industrial development to expand within caribou without providing a clear, measurable path toward caribou recovery.

We have been raising these concerns directly with the government asking for greater transparency, stronger protections for caribou habitat, and meaningful action toward recovery.

Earlier this year, we wrote to the new Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, Grant Hunter, to raise our concerns about the Upper Smoky Sub-regional Plan and ensure that the minister was are of the implications for southern mountain caribou.

Read our letter here.

In March, we wrote to ADM Tom Davis requesting an updated Status of Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in Alberta report.

The province’s status report has not been updated since 2010 despite significant changes to caribou populations, habitat, and industrial disturbance. An up-to-date assessment is important for understanding the current condition of Alberta’s caribou populations and evaluating whether existing management measures are achieving meaningful progress and recovery.

Read our letter here.

In April we wrote to Minister Hunter requesting an extension to the public engagement period for the draft South Athabasca Sub-regional Plan.

The draft plan did not provide enough information to understand its potential implications for caribou populations or to assess whether the proposed land-use decisions would support their recovery. We requested that the supporting analyses and modelling be made publicly available and the engagement period be extended to allow organizations and members of the public adequate time to review the information and provide meaningful feedback.

Our request for an extension was not granted. We nevertheless continued to review the plan, participated in engagement opportunities, and submitted detailed feedback.

Read our letter here.