A statement from fifth-generation rancher Reata Schlosser sums up her opposition to the possibility of coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southeast Alberta.
“It’s the most valuable resource in the entire world — we know there is a shortage of it in the world, and lucky to have the fresh water that we have in our country,” Schlosser said.
“And to be ignorant enough to just be willing to sacrifice that, I think, is very shortsighted.”
Schlosser, whose family grazes cattle in the headwaters of the Oldman and Livingstone river watersheds joined about a hundred other ranchers, environmentalists and concerned Albertans at a protest Tuesday, March 4, outside the downtown Calgary offices of the Alberta Energy Regulator.
About 100 protestors gathered outside the AER offices in downtown Calgary on Tuesday to protest Northback Holdings’ plans to explore for coal in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
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Inside the AER was hearing final oral arguments from proponents and opponents of Northback Holdings plans to exploratory drilling for coal at Grassy Mountain, about seven kilometres north of Blairmore in the Crowsnest Pass — an area Northback says was the location of a previous coal mine, owned a different company, in the late 1950s.
Northback Holdings has applied for permits to explore for coal in the Grassy Mountain area, just north of Blairmore, in the eastern slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
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Northback’s Rina Blacklaws defended the company’s plans as only exploratory drilling.
Northback Holdings’ Rina Blacklaws said any exploration for coal in the eastern slopes would be subjected to some of the strictest environmental laws in the world.
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“One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to what we’re doing here today is this is for applications related to a very straightforward exploration drilling program that’s going to have very minimal environmental effects,” said Blacklaws.
“It’s on previously disturbed plans — it will pose no risk to public safety and can be done following the regulations of the AER.”
Nicole Johnston, a member of the Piikani First Nation, told the AER hearing that the area around Grassy Mountain is sacred territory.
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While some members of the Piikani First Nation have thrown their support behind the plan because of the economic benefits it would bring to the area, Nicole Johnston asked the AER to reject Northback’s plans because Grassy Mountain is “a sacred place.”
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“There’s a sacred pipe that’s buried up there. It goes back to a story where an old lady from Piikani, before she died, because it was a very powerful pipe, and she took it up to the mountain and that’s where she laid to rest,” said Johnston.
“This is one thing that a lot of non-Indigenous people do not understand when it comes to our sacredness and our spirituality. I do not know what’s going to happen when that pipe gets bothered or desecrated.”
The Grassy Mountain project has been previously rejected under federal and provincial environmental laws, but in November 2023, Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean promised Alberta’s Energy Regulator would hold public hearings on the company’s application to do exploratory drilling.
Those hearings were held in Blairmore in early December 2024 and Calgary in early January 2025.
Following Tuesday’s final oral arguements in Calgary, the AER will have 90 days to made a decision on Northback’s application.
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