What We’re Reading | Cowboys and conservation: The battle for the Eastern Slopes

By Brittany Ekelund, Alberta Farmer Express

Nearly three years after the province tried, and failed, to open the Eastern Slopes to coal mining, this iconic piece of Alberta is still under threat, say those who live and work there.

“We have to make sure that this land is going to continue for generations,” said Laura Laing, a Nanton-area rancher and part of a grassroots group battling to protect the area. “We can’t continually stack resource development on these sensitive areas, you know? We’re at a maximum right now.”

Laing and husband John Smith have been fighting to ban coal mining in the southern Alberta Eastern Slopes since the provincial government abruptly rescinded a decades-old coal policy in May 2020.

‘What We’re Reading‘ is a quick look at some of the issues and insights Alberta Beef Producers’ content creators and editors are reading to stay up-to-date, to broaden perspectives, and to explore issues relevant to the agriculture industry.