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.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney says Albertans have no cause to worry over his government quietly throwing out a coal policy that protected the Rocky Mountains for more than four decades.
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.
Alberta has decided to cancel recently issued coal leases in the Rocky Mountains, as public opposition grows to the United Conservative government's plan to expand coal mining in the area.
First Nations, ranchers, municipal officials and environmentalists hope to persuade a judge this week to force Alberta to revisit its decision to open one of the province's most important and best-loved landscapes to open-pit coal mining.