‘It’s very unusual:’ Lake Louise in court over endangered species charges
CALGARY — A world-renowned Alberta ski resort faces some legal moguls in a Calgary courtroom Monday over charges it cut down a stand of endangered trees.
But an environmental law professor says the rarely-laid charges against Lake Louise Ski Area illustrate problems with how the Species At Risk Act is enforced.
The ski resort in Banff National Park is expected to appear in court Monday to address charges laid after it came to light that in 2013, resort employees had cut down a stand of trees alongside a run that included at least 39 whitebark pine.
That long–lived, five–needled pine, native to high elevations, is threatened by invasive disease, fire and climate change. It is considered crucial to a high–elevation network of plants and animals, providing both food and habitat and stabilizing steep subalpine slopes.