Lise Mayne is an avid birder and over the past 8 years has undertaken the monitoring of 75 bluebird houses from Nanton to Chain Lakes. Her letter below, addressed to everyone in the Legislative Assembly plus more, attests to her passion in being a steward for the welfare of these birds.
Thank you Lise.
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Dear Everyone,
I am once again submitting this impassioned plea to consider the impact of Open Pit Coal Mining on the Eastern Slopes, with some updates. The Rocky Mountain Bluebirds are now returning home from their long migration, hundreds of miles south, as far as Mexico. Some return to the exact same box. I have one pair that lays pink eggs and for the past three years has produced 12 babies, in two clutches. I have monitored seventy-five boxes from Nanton to the Chain Lakes, for the past 8 years and seen the birds struggling against the effects of climate change, water, noise and air pollution (largely from semi-trailer trucks and motorcycles) and pesticides depleting the insect population. Because they migrate, the environment of their winter homes affects them too Tree swallows come later in May and are also at risk. .
https://www.mountainbluebird.org
CANMS is the organization to which I belong. Some of our members monitor 200 boxes, in the Central and Southern Alberta region.
According to Environment Canada (2014), Mountain Bluebirds are declining in British Columbia (due to coal mines?) and across a broad range of other open habitats across western Canada. They are vulnerable to any ecosystem changes in climate and consequent impacts on their prey. This is the same for all insectivores.The map on the Audubon website, attached, shows their range and the impacts of degrees of global warming from an increase of 1.5 degrees to 3 degrees, all devastating. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/mountain-bluebird Over the past few years, our group has recorded significant declines in our numbers, up to 50% fewer birds, and more nest failures due to eggs not hatching. Bluebirds are especially vulnerable to pesticides (Power and Lombard, 2006). They thrive in wild spaces, sparsely treed grasslands, wooded ravines, valleys, and mountains, areas like the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains. As you are aware, the temperate grasslands is a threatened ecosystem, which is totally unique. I believe this land should be protected for all time. If I were a billionaire, I would buy it and donate it all to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Open range cattle grazing and over 100 years of ranching stewardship have protected the species adapted to this land. We see deer, elk, moose, bears, sandhill cranes, egrets,gl eagles, hawks, geese, ducks and of course the rare mountain bluebirds. These grasslands are not only allowing biodiversity to flourish but also mitigate climate change, by storing Carbon2. Dr. Silke Nebel, Vice President of Birds Canada, states that birds adapted to the Great Plains grasslands are declining faster than any other populations, according to this report, based on 50 years of data:http://nabci.net/resources/state-of-canadas-birds-2019/ As Kevin Van Tighem wrote in Alberta Views, July, 2020, most native prairie wildlife is now classified as at risk, and we can thank ranchers for helping the province hang on to what little remains of our native prairie biodiversity. He wrote an article in Alberta Views, October, 2024, stating that birds in Alberta are in serious decline; our numbers in our annual report also confirm this, especially for tree swallows, a species in serious trouble across North America.
Would this ecosystem survive, with open-pit coal mining slicing into the landscape, spilling selenium, affecting all of the streams and rivers in the watershed? The coal mines not only destroy the water, they also consume vast quantities, in a drought-prone area. As Van Tighem observed in Alberta Views, October, 2021 “Where the road cut into the once-pristine slopes, it had brought shallow groundwater to the surface, just as a knife slash brings blood from just beneath the skin. That water was now fouled with algae, warmed by the sun and evaporating into the drought winds sweeping down the valley…Coal strip mines waste even more water when the companies steal water from tiny headwater streams and groundwater aquifers to control dust and wash coal—contaminating the runoff with toxic selenium and evaporating the rest. Less water reaches the rivers, and it’s full of toxins when it does.”
At COP26 in Glasgow, there was an historic first agreement on the destructive nature of fossil fuels, the burning of which is the main driver of climate change. However, the world is still off-target to attain the necessary reduction of Carbon2, a 1.5 degree maximum increase in global warming.
Open-pit coal mining on the eastern slopes of our Rocky Mountains flies in the face of any commitment toward mitigating climate change. We need a coal policy that prohibits any further coal development or exploration, which has already damaged the area. Lee Eddy, scientist writing on behalf of the Western Stock Growers’ Association, states that selenium produced as a by-product of coal mining cannot be safely released into the environment in any amount. The soil, water, fish and wildlife will all be adversely affected, with no way of reversing the damage. We are desperately in need of water in Nanton. There is not enough snow on the snow pack this winter. We are facing another drought this spring. Who could believe there is one drop of water to waste on coal mining? What Environment Minister would not be concerned about protecting this area, rather than opening up grizzly bear and cougar hunting, and more ATV trails? How is that a mandate to oversee the health of the environment?
Environment and Climate Change Canada reported 2021 as Alberta’s hottest, driest and smokiest summer on record. Pete Davidson, Senior Conservation Advisor, Birds Canada, stated in November, 2021: “one of the most important things nations can do is explicitly link the climate crisis with the biodiversity crisis, and tackle the two issue as one. The targets must be carbon-neutral and nature-positive. Halting the loss of carbon and nature-rich wetland, grassland and old-growth forest habitats immediately cuts current annual carbon emissions by large amounts,https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.abd6034 AND conserves threatened ecosystems and species at the same time.
Last summer, we finally experienced some relief from the ten-year drought; last year ranchers in our area had to cull their herds and some asked for donations for winter feed, due to the shortage and cost of hay. There is no guarantee that this year will be better. Our water is our most precious resource. We cannot afford to risk damaging the water, soil and ecosystems we are desperately trying to protect, simply for a few jobs that will disappear after the damage is done. We must see the following action:
Discontinuation of coal exploration and no development on the Eastern Slopes of Alberta, including expansions of existing operations. A new coal policy which covers the entire area in the 1976 Coal Development Policy and prohibits new exploration and development in this entire area.
Consideration of protection and conservation of the area including the ongoing stewardship of ranchers and other stake-holders
Existing thermal and metallurgical coal mining operations must meet all provincial and federal guidelines and regulations, including water quality guidelines, for the duration of operations, post-closure and post-reclamation.
Reclamation of lands disturbed by coal exploration activities with coal exploration. Permits reclaimed no later than December 31, 2025. Reclamation costs covered in full by the companies.
Closure and reclamation of mines no longer in operation. Re-opening of mines in Care and Maintenance not permitted.
Comprehensive land-use planning, including cumulative effects assessment and threshold planning, conducted across the Eastern Slopes to address the impacts of all other land-uses and activities in the region as soon as possible. The Land Use Framework contains the tools for Regional Plans and/or subregional plans that take this comprehensive approach.
The Mountain Bluebird is the canary in the coal mine. When they are lying at the bottom of the cage, what legacy will be left for our children and future generations? Are a few jobs, and coal shipped offshore to Australia, thus contributing to climate change, worth the irreparable damage to a land which has given and continues to give, so much? Please do not allow open-pit coal mining on these precious lands. Do you really want to bring about the end of this natural wonder, on your watch?
Wonderful letter Lise!! Thank you.
Bluebird on a fence post is our canary in the coal mine.
Ross Hodgetts