Bragg Creek Wild goes to Council
For a year and a half now we’ve been getting our message out and bring supporters in via social media, zoom meetings, guest speakers etc. We’re really grateful for all the local people and visitors who’ve been so supportive up to now. This spring we received an invitation to present our group and our work to Rocky View Council, and spread the message further.
On Wednesday 29th June, a group of Bragg Creek Wild members, volunteers and supporters went to Rocky View Town Hall to give a presentation to council about the group, the reasons it was founded, our work so far, our hopes for future work and our requests for help from RVC.
Renee Delorme made an impressive presentation to the council, with help from Laureen Harper, showcasing our work on traffic calming for fawning season and rutting season. There was also a focus on the various other projects we’ve worked on: harm reduction, collaboration with other local and environmental groups, as well as the fantastic work done by Banded Peak students for the science and art projects focused on Wildlife and people living in community.
The outcome of the meeting was definitely positive. There was an overall feeling of goodwill towards BCW as well as openings for us pursue the following initiatives:
Traffic Calming and Mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions.
- Investigating the possibility of changes to road markings on West Bragg Road with a view to improving both human and wildlife safety.
- Gathering information on flashing wildlife crossing warning signs for local provincial roads
- The possibility of installing an additional Wildlife Corridor sign on hwy 22.
Preserving wildlife connectivity in the Hamlet of Bragg Creek
- Pursuing the orchid area protection designation located next to the river, thus creating a wildlife corridor between Bragg Creek Provincial Park and Two Pine.
- Berm: Advocating for the addition of wildlife access to the river.
Land use planning
- Continuing to expand our knowledge and understanding of how wildlife moves and what we can do to promote safe wildlife corridors.
- Hamlet expansion/ASP amendment (currently on pause): Recommend building on the existing Greater Bragg Creek Area Structure Plan by including ecosystem based understanding of land and knowledge of the cumulative impact of human activities.
This was a lot to cover in the short time allotted, and Council members asked a number of questions about the different initiatives already begun, about our involvement with other organisations
e.g. the Bow Valley Biosphere, and were impressed that one of our members is undertaking Wildlife Ambassador training with AEP.
It was certainly encouraging to be received well, and to see that council members are generally interested in what we’re doing and in helping us to find ways to move forward.
To find out more about Bragg Creek Wild’s work or to join in the initiatives, visit www.braggcreekwild.ca or email braggcreekwild@gmail.com
