Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Minister Rebecca Schulz said the Canadian government should keep moving forward with tree planting because it will benefit the province, especially when it comes to restoring habitats and caribou populations. Under this agreement, Schulz said Alberta will be entitled to $250 million. “I believe just over $83 million would go directly to Environment and Protected Areas for tree planting,” said Schulz at a Monday press scrum. “We have submitted our paperwork to essentially finish off our part of this agreement.” However, she said she is waiting on the Canadian government. Despite that, she pointed out the Alberta government has been “investing in planting millions of trees and restoring seismic lines, because we know that has a huge impact on our ability to support caribou populations and it’s part of our subregional planning as well.” Schulz followed up by saying the Alberta government has spent plenty of money on tree planting while the Canadian government has stalled. “This is something that is part of our subregional plans when it comes to caribou,” she said. “We know that restoring the seismic lines is very important in restoring their habitat, and that’s something we’ll remain committed to.” If the Canadian government finalized the agreement, she predicted Alberta could do more. Natural Resources Canada said on Sunday the Liberals’ plan to plant two billion trees will take a generation to show significant climate benefits. READ MORE: Liberals' two billion tree planting plan to take decades to affect climate changeWhen the project was announced in 2019 by former environment and climate change minister Catherine McKenna, it was estimated to cost $5.9 billion. “We had initial projections and we continue to calibrate those,” said Natural Resources Assistant Deputy Minister Glenn Hargrove.
