A municipal council in Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon's constituency is the latest in a growing number of communities expressing concern about the province's plan to expand coal mining in the Rocky Mountains.
Two of Alberta's largest First Nations have written letters to coal companies saying they will oppose any new mine proposals in the Rocky Mountains since the provincial government has consistently ignored their concerns.
A coal-mining company with exploration leases in Alberta's Rocky Mountains is trying to figure out how the government's decision to restore protection of the land will affect its plans.
The Alberta government says powerful public protest persuaded it to reinstate a policy that has kept open-pit coal mines out of the Rocky Mountains for almost 45 years.
The Alberta government says it plans to restore some aspects of a policy it revoked last spring that protected a wide swath of the province's foothills and mountains from coal mines.
Opposition to Alberta's attempt to expand coal mining in the Rocky Mountains is growing with two more towns expressing concerns and a legislature member with the governing United Conservatives backing them up.
Coal mining is already having an impact in Alberta's Rocky Mountains even as debate intensifies over the industry's presence in one of the province's most beloved landscapes.