Save Alberta Rappel
Donation protected
Hello,
I am a proud Alberta Forest Firefighter, spending eight years with the Alberta Wildfire Rappel Program.
This past November, with no warning or consultation, the UCP Government announced that the Rappel Program would be eliminated from Alberta's firefighting arsenal.
The Alberta Wildfire Rappel Program has helped protect our province for 36 successful years. Our highly trained crews use special training and equipment to rappel firefighters into areas where helicopters are unable to land. They do this so we can get to the fires quickly and extinguish them before they get so large that they destroy huge areas of forest, and possibly threaten communities and costs millions of dollars more to put out.
Since receiving news of the program cut, current and past firefighters have come together to launch a campaign to advocate for the reversal of this decision.
In meetings with senior people within government, it has been made clear that Minister Dreeshen, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, does not understand the potential consequences of his decision to dramatically reduce Alberta’s forest fighting capacity, including the serious threat to Alberta cities and towns, our forestry sector, and taxpayers dollars. The UCP recently unveiled in their 2020 budget release that there will be an additional 11.5%, $13.5 million, cut from Wildfire Management. We are therefore calling for increasing public pressure on Premier Kenney's government to do proper consultation with independent fire experts and threatened communities, and to reverse this risky and potentially costly decision.
Since we started the Save Alberta Rappel campaign, our members have conducted media interviews and press conferences. We also launched a Facebook page and have garnered support from municipalities across our province and, to date, more than 8,600 people have signed our online petition.
We are now calling on all of our supporters and concerned Albertans to help us greatly increase the pressure on the Alberta Government by supporting our marketing campaign to purchase billboards in a number of locations across the province. If we are successful in raising $6,000, we will be unveiling them in May.
With these funds, we will be able to secure the billboards and further spread awareness to the public on how this shortsighted decision will inevitably affect our province. Any amount you can contribute is very much appreciated.
Forest fires have become a global threat and Alberta is certainly not immune. Throughout the program’s history, Alberta Rappel firefighters have been very successful in keeping most forest fires small. They have also played key roles in fighting some of our historically largest and most expensive fires in the past 10 years, including the Slave Lake and Ft. McMurray fires.
We hope you will support this campaign with your donations and your voices. Help us make sure this dangerous decision is reversed so the Alberta Rappel Program will be there in the future to help prevent other disasters.
Adam Clyne
Save Alberta Rappel
I am a proud Alberta Forest Firefighter, spending eight years with the Alberta Wildfire Rappel Program.
This past November, with no warning or consultation, the UCP Government announced that the Rappel Program would be eliminated from Alberta's firefighting arsenal.
The Alberta Wildfire Rappel Program has helped protect our province for 36 successful years. Our highly trained crews use special training and equipment to rappel firefighters into areas where helicopters are unable to land. They do this so we can get to the fires quickly and extinguish them before they get so large that they destroy huge areas of forest, and possibly threaten communities and costs millions of dollars more to put out.
Since receiving news of the program cut, current and past firefighters have come together to launch a campaign to advocate for the reversal of this decision.
In meetings with senior people within government, it has been made clear that Minister Dreeshen, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, does not understand the potential consequences of his decision to dramatically reduce Alberta’s forest fighting capacity, including the serious threat to Alberta cities and towns, our forestry sector, and taxpayers dollars. The UCP recently unveiled in their 2020 budget release that there will be an additional 11.5%, $13.5 million, cut from Wildfire Management. We are therefore calling for increasing public pressure on Premier Kenney's government to do proper consultation with independent fire experts and threatened communities, and to reverse this risky and potentially costly decision.
Since we started the Save Alberta Rappel campaign, our members have conducted media interviews and press conferences. We also launched a Facebook page and have garnered support from municipalities across our province and, to date, more than 8,600 people have signed our online petition.
We are now calling on all of our supporters and concerned Albertans to help us greatly increase the pressure on the Alberta Government by supporting our marketing campaign to purchase billboards in a number of locations across the province. If we are successful in raising $6,000, we will be unveiling them in May.
With these funds, we will be able to secure the billboards and further spread awareness to the public on how this shortsighted decision will inevitably affect our province. Any amount you can contribute is very much appreciated.
Forest fires have become a global threat and Alberta is certainly not immune. Throughout the program’s history, Alberta Rappel firefighters have been very successful in keeping most forest fires small. They have also played key roles in fighting some of our historically largest and most expensive fires in the past 10 years, including the Slave Lake and Ft. McMurray fires.
We hope you will support this campaign with your donations and your voices. Help us make sure this dangerous decision is reversed so the Alberta Rappel Program will be there in the future to help prevent other disasters.
Adam Clyne
Save Alberta Rappel
Organizer
Adam Clyne
Organizer
Calgary, AB
