Alberta fails on Endangered Spaces report

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World Wildlife Fund Canada issued a report card grade of only D+ to the Government of Alberta for its work on protecting special areas within the province. Last year, Alberta rated high with a B grade report card mark from the organization. That was largely due to the province's emphasis to the Special Places 2000 program which selected areas within the province to specially designate and protect. Since then, the government's been in a "slump," said World Wildlife. Over the past year only one new protected area was established that meets the criteria of the Endangered Spaces campaign. The criteria calls for the designated areas to be free from logging, oil and gas drilling, mining, and hydro-electric development. Despite the low grade the World Wildlife admits the government may not be snubbing environmental issues. According to the organization, the grades reflect the government's actions to protect wilderness and natural areas, but are not an assessment of a government's overall environmental performance.