2012-2013

Annual Report

Defending Wild Alberta through Awareness and Action

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ALBERTA WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL REPORT 2012 - 2013

 Alberta Wilderness Association Box 6398, Station D, Calgary, Alberta T2P 2E1

Provincial Office – Hillhurst Cottage School 455 – 12 St NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1Y9

Phone 403.283.2025 • Fax 403.270.2743 Email: [email protected] Web server: AlbertaWilderness.ca

Contributions to the Annual Report by AWA board and staff members are gratefully acknowledged.

COVER PHOTO – OLDMAN RIVER, DANIEL OLSON

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

WILDERNESS FOR TOMORROW ...... 8 WHO WE ARE ...... 10 BOARD OF DIRECTORS ...... 12 STAFF ...... 13 MISSION, VISION, VALUES, OBJECTIVES ...... 14 Vision ...... 14 Values ...... 15 Objectives ...... 15 WILDERNESS STEWARDSHIP AND OUTREACH ...... 16 Conservation ...... 16 WILD SPACES – AWA AREAS AND ISSUES OF CONCERN ...... 17 Wild Alberta Map ...... 18 AREAS OF CONCERN ...... 19 Boreal Region ...... 19 Primrose-Lakeland ...... 19 McClelland Lake ...... 19 Hay-Zama ...... 20 Peace River ...... 21 Bistcho ...... 21 Caribou Mountains ...... 21 Rocky Mountain Region ...... 23 Willmore Wilderness Park ...... 23 Kakwa ...... 23 Bighorn Wildland ...... 24 South Ghost – Ghost-Waiparous ...... 25 Kananaskis Country ...... 25 Crown of the Continent Ecosystem ...... 26 Castle Wildland ...... 26 Livingstone-Porcupine ...... 27 Waterton Parkland ...... 28 Parkland Region ...... 29 Rumsey ...... 29 Wainwright Dunes ...... 29 Grasslands Region ...... 29 Middle Sand Hills ...... 29 Suffield National Wildlife Area ...... 30 Milk River-Sage Creek ...... 30 Cypress Hills...... 31 Pakowki Lake ...... 31 Milk River Management Committee ...... 32 Prairie Conservation Forum ...... 32 Foothills Restoration Forum ...... 33 ISSUES ...... 34 Water ...... 34 Forests ...... 35

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Grizzly Bears ...... 36 Caribou ...... 37 Black Bears ...... 38 Wolves ...... 38 Game Farming ...... 38 Feral Horses ...... 39 GOVERNMENT POLICY ...... 40 Public Lands...... 40 Tax-Recovery Lands ...... 40 Protected Areas - Provincial ...... 41 Protected Areas - Federal ...... 41 Land-Use Framework (LUF) ...... 42 Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) ...... 42 South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP) ...... 43 Wetland Policy ...... 43 Water for Life ...... 44 Biodiversity Strategy ...... 45 Species at Risk ...... 45 Federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) ...... 45 Greater Sage-grouse ...... 46 Westslope Cutthroat Trout ...... 46 Limber / Whitebark Pine ...... 46 Other Specis at Risk ...... 46 PROTECTED AREAS PROGRESS ...... 47 Alberta’s Protected Areas ...... 47 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ...... 48 Commission for Environmental Cooperation ...... 48 Temperate Grassland Conservation ...... 48 Northern Plains Conservation Network ...... 48 Twinning of Two Significant International Ramsar Sites...... 49 STRENGTH AND CAPACITY ...... 49 Wild Lands Advocate ...... 49 Alberta Wilderness Resource Centre ...... 50 Online Presence ...... 50 Alberta Wilderness and Wildlife Defenders ...... 51 Hikes, Talks, Films and Tours Outreach Program ...... 51 Music for the Wild ...... 51 Climb and Run for Wilderness and the Wild Alberta Expo ...... 52 Hillhurst Cottage School ...... 52 Newcomers Program ...... 52 Community Relationships ...... 53 Earth Day ...... 53 International Migratory Bird Day ...... 54 FINANCING WILDERNESS PROTECTION ...... 55 Revenue ...... 55 Expenditures ...... 55 ALBERTA WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE LEGACY CIRCLE ...... 58 Bequests ...... 58

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Wilderness and Wildlife Bequests ...... 58 Lifetime Giving ...... 58 Wilderness and Wildlife Benefactors (Lifetime giving greater than $20,000) ...... 58 Memorial Tributes...... 59 Donations in Memoriam 2009-2010 ...... 59 Alberta Wilderness and Wildlife Trust ...... 59 Annual Wilderness and Wildlife Trust Guest Lecture ...... 60 Wilderness Defenders Awards ...... 60 Great Gray Owl Awards ...... 60 HOPE FOR TOMORROW ...... 62

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WILDERNESS FOR TOMORROW

Winter has settled in and the crisp clean air, crunch of snow beneath our feet and tracks from rabbits and deer reveal the night time visits to our yards and remind us how fortunate we are, how wonderful our wild spaces are and how important AWA's role is in creating a diverse and healthy wilderness legacy.

Conservation success depends on all of us, our awareness, our conversations, our neighbours, our financial help, our caring concern for places and wildlife and our untiring support for AWA. As we close the fiscal year I am reminded it is time to let our members and supporters know how well we are doing, and we pause to reflect on the past 12 months and begin to document our progress.

Three wildlife species tell the story of this past year: Sage-grouse, Caribou and Grizzly bear, each one iconic in its own way, warning us of the need for protected areas and a network throughout Alberta. Every corner of Alberta and each one of the six natural landscapes that make up our diverse landscape has had conservation challenges this year. There is so much to tell I hope you will enjoy reading through our Annual Report and that we'll have a chance to meet soon and talk, but for now, here is a glimpse of our year through the work we have done with these three species.

After receiving calls from an outraged trapper in the Little Smoky area Conservation Specialist Carolyn Campbell spent time on the back of a snowmobile, seeing for herself the increasing incursion into sensitive caribou habitat. With his help, we were able to bring the story to light. We were pleased that Caribou got a significant reprieve when Alberta protected the Little Smoky and A La Peche caribou herd ranges by deferring new mineral leases until Cabinet adopts range plans. As we write to you, forestry leases are also being put on hold so these caribou will have an even greater chance for recovery.

Early this spring, waiting in a blind in Montana as dawn was breaking; I listened to sage-grouse call and arrive on their dancing grounds. There were more males on that one lek than we have in all of Alberta and I was inspired by their presence and the reality that we have a long way to recovery. AWA has established a Sage-grouse Partnership; consulting and including ranchers who live and work on silver sagebrush lands in south eastern Alberta; oil and gas colleagues who work there, experts from across the continent and government in a process to create a cooperative workplan, define a conservation area under the new South Saskatchewan River Basin Plan and protect critical habitat. We know we are on a path that will bring sage-grouse back. We hope we are not too late.

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Sadly, we realized the latest numbers from the provincial government showed 15 more grizzlies died in Alberta last year, bringing to 195 the total number killed in the last decade. Conservation Specialist, Sean Nichols brought the story to the media as we revealed this is far too many deaths in a province where the latest official numbers show only 700 total bears province-wide. While there is a great deal of work to be done reducing access and linear disturbance into grizzly bear habitat, the spring hunt continues to be suspended and communities throughout the province are working to reduce human bear conflicts.

The following pages of our annual report will give you sense of the breadth of our work and the passion and dedication your AWA team brings each day. Whether Wild Alberta means to you that we will have a sustainable economy, an unparalleled spiritual retreat, a fully functioning ecosystem or the basic assurance of a healthy environment, the interest and support of AWA members and supporters is what helps us make a difference every day. Thank you!

Christyann Olson, Executive Director

Greater sage-grouse - Christyann Olson

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WHO WE ARE

Each year as we consider the past year and the achievements of the Association, we are reminded of how far we have come. Not only have we continued to build a foundation of solid administrative practices and a healthy core for AWA, we have researched, investigated, cooperated, collaborated and in some circumstances been at the forefront of some difficult but necessary strategies to push forward progressive and protective actions.

The recent Emergency Protection Order for the greater sage-grouse is an unprecedented action under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). SARA prescribes a recovery planning process for endangered species. The first step is the posting on the public registry of a Recovery Strategy and the second step is the posting on the public registry of an action plan to implement the recovery strategy. The AWA is very concerned about the survival and recovery of the sage-grouse which is an endangered species. The AWA’s determination to keep the 14 male sage-grouse we have in Alberta, and recover the species before extirpation, is a worthy and challenging goal. Sound knowledge, leadership, tenacity and the will to use every tool available led to this decision. In 2008 the AWA and four other NGO’s brought an application for judicial review of the “Recovery Strategy for the Greater Sage-Grouse in Canada” posted on January 14, 2008 by the Minister of Environment (Minister) under SARA. The AWA’s specific complaint concerning the Recovery Strategy was that it failed to identify any “critical habitat” for the greater sage-grouse. In Alberta Wilderness Association v. Canada (Environment), 2009 FC 710 (July 2009), the Federal Court allowed the application for judicial review because the Minister had failed to identify any critical habitat and his Recovery Strategy was therefore found by the Court to be unreasonable. In a further case, Alberta Wilderness Association v. Canada (Environment), 2009 FC 882 (September 9, 2009) the Federal Court ordered the Minister to post on the public registry by October 9, 2009, a redrafted Section 2.6 of the Recovery Strategy, titled “Critical Habitat”. Following these 2 very positive decisions for the sage-grouse, the Federal Government began to drag its feet over implementing an action plan. In August, in response to an action filed by the AWA and three other conservation groups, the Federal Court of Appeal struck down the federal government’s cabinet confidence claim and ordered the question of making public the Minster of Environment’s decision on whether to recommend emergency protections for the sage-grouse be returned to the Case Management Judge; see Alberta Wilderness Association v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 FCA 190. And then finally on September 17, 2013, minutes before the lawyers acting on behalf of the AWA were scheduled to meet with federal lawyers and a Federal Court case management judge, the Minster of Environment issued an Emergency Protection Order for the Sage-Grouse. Shortly thereafter, the former Minister of Environment Peter Kent said he had made a decision about an action plan for the sage- grouse over a year and a half ago! Presumably that decision was to issue an emergency protection order. That decision had to be ratified by the Federal Cabinet. Had the AWA lawsuit not been pursued, one wonders whether the Federal Cabinet would have ever announced any action to protect the sage- grouse.

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Defending water rights and pushing forward for better policy related to water saw us in court to pursue legal challenges this past year with Ecojustice and other colleagues. AWA has insisted that real protection of environmental flows in Alberta rivers must occur prior to further market-based changes to the water licence allocation and transfer system. We pursued legal challenges to several irrigation district water licence amendments in the Bow watershed, because of concerns that they circumvented appropriate government environmental management. One case did not proceed because of the difficulty in Alberta of environmental organizations having standing in water matters. In the other case, while upholding the transfer, the Alberta Environmental Appeals Board observed there were substantive policy gaps in restoring environmentally important flows to rivers and in water licence transfers and amendment policies.

Investigating issues and finding the facts is the base we begin from in all issues we take on. We have used the appropriate channels and have participated in a government led process to improve gaps and restrictions on information that should be within the public domain. Using the Freedom of Information (FOIP) process we applied, and received 10 months later, materials on Hidden Creek logging that revealed decision making within our Alberta Forest Service that blatantly allowed our landscape and wildlife to be put at risk. This work will continue this coming year as we reveal to the public how decisions were made and the unacceptable results on our fragile headwaters landscape.

As we prepare our annual report, the long awaited draft plan for the South Saskatchewan River sub- basin has been released. Our initial thoughts are concerns with not enough protection shown on the map and while there are some supportable strategic statements, the ideas do not seem to carry through in the plan itself. We will encourage as many Albertans as we can to attend public sessions, write letters and speak out about this draft plan so that it can become a solid representative plan for future land-use in this region.

Richard Secord, President

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Richard Secord, Edmonton First Vice-President: Cliff Wallis, Calgary Second Vice-President: Owen McGoldrick, Calgary Secretary/Treasurer: Frank Calder, Edmonton Directors: Vivian Pharis, Cochrane Clint Docken, Bragg Creek Chris Saunders, Calgary Jim Campbell, Calgary Gail Docken, Edmonton Director Emeritus: Herbert G. Kariel, Calgary

AWA’s board of directors is composed of dedicated volunteers with specific attributes and skill sets that support the needs of the organization and the staff. We are fortunate to have a full complement of board members based on this approach to creating a governance board. Elections for the board are held annually in November at the Annual General Meeting.

Jim Campbell, Clint Docken, Gail Docken, Owen McGoldrick, Cliff Wallis, Vivian Pharis, Chris Saunders (missing Richard Secord, Frank Calder) Photo Kevin Mihalcheon

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STAFF

Executive Director: Christyann Olson, BN, MSc Conservation Specialists: Carolyn Campbell, BA, BEd, MA, MBA Sean Nichols, BSc Wild Lands Advocate Editor: Ian Urquhart, PhD Administrative Associate: Diane Mihalcheon

A hallmark of AWA’s strength is its ability to adapt, reorganize, and be relevant in times of change. AWA has an excellent staff, complemented by individuals on its board of directors who volunteer and provide tremendous support to the research, advocacy, and outreach work that is required throughout the province. Core staffing was supported by casual and contract staff throughout the year to assist with specific projects. Katie Rasmussen joined our Conservation Specialist team in September 2012 and left her position to pursue her Master's thesis at the end of December. Wonnita Andrus joined the staff for three months at the beginning of 2013 and played a role in launching our Sage-grouse partnership. Brittany Verbeek, BSc., a recent graduate from the University of Victoria, will begin working with our staff as a Conservation Specialist in September 2013.

Photo Kevin Mihalcheon

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MISSION, VISION, VALUES, OBJECTIVES

Defending Wild Alberta through Awareness and Action

For more than 45 years, AWA has spoken in defence of those who have no voice: wild lands, wildlife, and wild waters throughout Alberta. From grassroots beginnings in the kitchens of backcountry enthusiasts, ranchers, and outfitters, we have grown into an independent province-wide conservation organization, well-recognized for our tenacity, integrity, and longevity. When necessary, we are uncompromisingly outspoken and willing to engage politically on provincial conservation issues.

Our work spans the entire province, and we represent a wide diversity of more than 7,000 members and supporters throughout 198 Alberta communities and around the world who care about protecting the province’s wild places. During this year membership growth has stabilized and new targets will be set in the coming fiscal year.

AWA is a non-profit, federally registered, charitable society with a provincial office in Calgary, which houses our Wilderness Resource Centre, the province’s most comprehensive archive and growing collection on conservation in Alberta.

VISION

Protected Wilderness There will be a comprehensive system of protected wild areas.

Decision-making Society There will be a society with decision-making processes, policies, and laws that recognize the value of nature for its own sake.

Effective and Credible Advocates AWA will be an effective and credible advocate that fosters awareness and helps Albertans protect wild areas and wildlife.

Independent AWA will have sufficient resources to speak independently on wilderness issues.

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VALUES

Ecocentredness We recognize the inherent importance of nature and humankind’s place in it, and the role of the AWA is to be an advocate for that which cannot speak for itself.

Integrity We conduct our advocacy with truth, honesty, and respect for others, and within the full limits of the law.

Respectfulness We develop rapport with individuals and communities through active listening, openness, and free access to information in a democratic way.

Participation We promote effective environmental decision making through an empowered and knowledgeable public that is inclusive of all segments of society.

Tenacity We will steadfastly advocate for nature in a manner true to our principles through innovation, persistence, and passion.

Passion We are free to feel, demonstrate, and encourage an emotional and spiritual connectedness with nature.

OBJECTIVES To promote the protection of wildland areas, wildlife, and wild rivers in Alberta and to preserve them in their natural state.

To safeguard and restore the wild, natural ecosystems of Alberta.

To enable Albertans to communicate effectively with government, industry, and other sectors of society on matters concerning the wild, natural ecosystems of Alberta.

To educate Albertans on the value, ecologically sustainable use, and conservation of wilderness and of natural lands, water, and wildlife.

To foster among Albertans a sense of connectedness to and passion for wild places, wildlife, and Alberta’s natural landscapes.

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WILDERNESS STEWARDSHIP & OUTREACH

“Wilderness exists where large areas are characterized by the dominance of natural processes, the presence of the full complement of plant and animal communities characteristic of the region, and the absence of human constraints on nature.” – Alberta Wilderness Association

AWA board of directors and staff have developed an action plan that provides specific strategic goals and priorities for the work we strive to achieve each year. At the beginning of 2013 we identified priorities for our work. We have success to report in our conservation and education programs, and progress in each one of our priorities. Keeping the vision of a wilderness legacy vibrant and seeking legislated and truly protected wilderness throughout Alberta is our goal.

The work of staff conservation specialists includes developing expertise in geographic regions and specific issues of concern throughout the province and communicating findings and concerns. Conservation specialists are supported by volunteers and staff who are research and administrative associates.

We work with individuals, organizations, and industry, to achieve effective, ecosystem-based management of wild lands, wildlife, and wild waters. When necessary, we are uncompromisingly outspoken and are willing and freely able to engage politically on issues concerning wilderness conservation in the province.

The following pages provide a brief review of our work in an exciting year. We may have not achieved our vision and greatest goals of protection for critical Wild Spaces; yet we are encouraged by the progress made.

CONSERVATION "Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land." Aldo Leopold

Critical ecosystems for some species are in jeopardy. With only 14 male greater sage-grouse remaining in 2013 time is running out for this iconic species; it is an indicator of other species at risk. With less than 1% of our native prairie designated and legally protected our challenge has been to increase awareness and help decision makers understand the urgency of our present day circumstances. We have taken action on a number of fronts including sage-grouse, caribou, grizzly bears and seven priority areas of concern. While we have focused on these ten priorities, work and achievements in other areas of concern has continued. We have remained strong in our messaging on conservation, on the protection of biodiversity and in the power of the people.

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WILD SPACES – AWA AREAS AND ISSUES OF CONCERN

“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need – if only we had the eyes to see.” Edward Abbey.

South Ghost – Nigel Douglas

WILD ALBERTA MAP

Wild Spaces and Areas of Concern are the names we use to refer to areas that are critical to a network of protected representative landscapes in Alberta. These areas and the networks they can create are the basis of our Wild Alberta map. This map has evolved through the years from initial hand-drawn “bubbles” to today’s more refined version that uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to detail known critical values, including Environmentally Significant Areas (ESA) in Alberta’s landscapes. This map is shared regularly with colleagues in government, industry, and the environmental field to create a better understanding of critical ecological values and to recognize the significance of Alberta’s natural capital. It is perhaps one of our most effective educational tools.

The map has been provided in large poster format to a number of schools throughout the province. It is posted on our website to create greater accessibility and is frequently shared and used with industry partners as we help them understand the ecological values of these specific areas. The individual maps for our Areas of Concern are also posted to our website.

AWA has been able to remain current with and apply state-of-the-art GIS technologies in our field work.

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AREAS OF CONCERN

BOREAL REGION

PRIMROSE-LAKELAND Northeastern Alberta’s Primrose-Lakeland region is an area of outstanding species richness and diversity within Alberta’s boreal mixedwood natural sub-region. Its forest uplands, peat wetlands, twisting waterways and lakes provide habitat for numerous species of mammals, birds and amphibians. While part of the Lakeland region is currently designated as a Provincial Park and Recreation Area, there is no approved management plan to ensure wilderness protection is a priority. Meanwhile, intensive in situ oil sands and other industrial, recreational and residential developments are rapidly expanding outside the designated park and recreation area. AWA’s vision is for a significantly larger connected area to be formally protected, with a management plan to emphasize sustainable low impact tourism and recreation to conserve its significant biodiversity.

One aspect of our work is building support for protecting adjacent areas through opportunities in upcoming provincial policy work, including regional biodiversity framework targets, caribou range plans, and “Lakeland Country” tourism planning. This year we documented the history of protected areas creation on the Saskatchewan side of the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range and participated in a Lac La Biche workshop on research priorities for northeast Alberta parks. We also monitored oil sands operations in the region, and in particular raised concerns on the risks to groundwater and wildlife from the 2009 and 2013 multiple blowouts to surface of pressurized steamed bitumen at CNRL’s Primrose oil sands in situ project.

AWA also encourages ecologically sensitive management of the existing protected area in Lakeland. AWA met with Parks staff twice this year about Lakeland park management and infrastructure issues. We also helped ensure that a poor decision to move materials for building cabins in Lakeland’s back country canoe circuit, without any public consultation, was reversed. As part of our Hikes program, AWA members from around the region participated in a wonderful half day exploration in June 2013 of the Garner Orchid Fen Natural Area.

MCCLELLAND LAKE

The McClelland Lake Wetland Complex is one of Alberta’s outstanding wetlands, both for its ecological and its physical significance. Located 85 km north of Fort McMurray, its large patterned fens are strikingly beautiful, featuring long rows of treed peat ridges separated by shallow water pools. It supports rare plants and provides a stopover point and breeding grounds for many bird species along one of North America’s major migratory flyways. If responsibly protected, it would be one of the few intact wetland complexes left in the industrialized mineable oil sands region, whose landscape was once wetland-dominant; no successful reclamation techniques have been demonstrated for peat wetlands. 2 AWA‘s vision is for the entire 330 km McClelland watershed to be designated a Provincial Park, with its two patterned fens designated Ecological Reserves.

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AWA strongly opposes plans by Suncor, Total and Teck Resources to mine the upper half of the McClelland Lake wetland complex watershed for the Fort Hills tar sands mine project. This will destroy the topography and soils that sustain groundwater flows into the rest of the watershed, and will very likely destroy the un-mined portion of the wetland complex including the Lake. This year AWA assessed reclamation and closure plans for the mine and obtained a draft operating plan. We will continue to engage with regulators, companies, ethical investors and the public on these unacceptable plans.

In autumn 2012, AWA participated as an Oil Sands Environmental Coalition (OSEC) member in the federal-provincial regulatory hearings on the Shell Canada Energy Jackpine Mine expansion application, in part to raise concerns about significant irreversible loss to wetlands and wildlife habitat from bitumen extraction. The Joint Review Panel’s decision in July 2013, while unfortunately approving this new mine south of the McClelland watershed, found “there is no evidence at this time to suggest that peatlands can be reclaimed”, and that a new mine project will have significant unmitigated adverse effects locally to peat wetlands and to wetland-reliant wildlife species and species at risk. The Panel also found that the regional cumulative effects from projected industrial activity on biodiversity generally, on peat wetlands, on species at risk and on migratory birds are significant, adverse and are not being effectively mitigated. These findings are important for our McClelland work. AWA also participated in a government advisory group on provincial wetland policy to advance our interest in meaningful protection for Alberta’s most outstanding wetlands and for boreal and prairie wetlands generally.

HAY-ZAMA The Hay-Zama Lakes complex is a lowland wetland region, encompassing marshes, lakes, swamps, river deltas, woodlands, and wet meadows. In 1982 the region was designated an internationally important wetland under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971). A portion of the area (486 km2) was established as a Wildland Park under the Provincial Parks Act in 1999. In addition to providing habitat and a movement corridor for woodland caribou and other ungulates, the complex is used by a wide array of waterfowl, shorebirds, and marshbirds. The area is an ecological island in a highly degraded landscape, sitting above a productive oil and gas reserve that has been actively developed since the 1960s.

As an active member of the Hay-Zama Committee (which includes representatives from the First Nations community, government, Ducks Unlimited, and the energy industry) AWA continues to work with this committee and is pleased to see resource extraction winding down. AWA promotes the Hay-Zama Committee’s consensus-based, collaborative process as a model for phasing out industrial activities within protected areas and had opportunities this year to promote this model in other areas of the province.

In accordance with the MOU twinning Hay-Zama lakes with Dalai Lakes Nature Reserve in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), AWA continues to press the Alberta Government to honour its commitments to the Dalai Lakes Nature Reserve. Staffing issues related to the remoteness of this Alberta treasure have made continuity in support and communications with our IMAR colleagues difficult. We are disappointed by the government's inability to provide consistent staffing resources for Hay-Zama Wildland Park and we understand from the Minister of Tourism Parks and Recreation that a staff member will be in place in the coming year.

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On a positive note, oil and gas activities that still persist in a small portion of the wetland complex are winding down towards a complete exit in 2017!

PEACE RIVER The Peace River is one of the most diverse and productive river valleys in the Parkland and Boreal Forest of Canada. It is a nationally significant waterway that supplies water to the Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the largest freshwater deltas in the world. The valley provides key year-round habitat for moose, elk and deer, as well as significant habitat for rare birds of prey such as golden eagles, bald eagles, and osprey. The river contains high species diversity of fish and its banks support diverse vegetation, including prairie grasses and cacti. The south-facing slopes of the river valley constitute the last remaining habitat for prairie and parkland vegetation, which has been virtually destroyed by agricultural development in the Peace River district and throughout Alberta.

Throughout the past four decades there have been proposals for a hydroelectric dam across the Peace River in the vicinity of the historic Fort Dunvegan. In 2008 a joint Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) and National Resource Conservation Board (NRCB) panel and hearing process led to the approval of a Glacier Power proposal to build a run-of–the-river project near Dunvegan. AWA opposed the project due to its likely adverse effects on local fish populations and the alteration of ice formations which wildlife use for crossing in winter.

TransAlta reported the following in December of 2011: "Currently... technical work is ongoing, as further investigations and longer term monitoring are necessary in order for TransAlta to proceed with the proposed project in accordance with its permits. Hydroelectric site development follows a very long development cycle and it can often take many years to gather the information necessary for the success of a project in ever changing market conditions. TransAlta remains committed to building the best project possible at Dunvegan.” No update has been made since 2011. AWA is pleased that this project has been delayed while TransAlta reviews and recognizes data gaps. We will monitor the development of this proposal and continue to hope that the project will not proceed. We confirmed this year that the decision made by the review panel did not provide a time limit for TransAlta to complete development of the proposed project. (http://www.transalta.com/communities/alberta-river-basins/dunvegan)

British Columbia's Site C dam proposal on the Peace River is also of concern to AWA for its downstream impacts on aquatic and river corridor habitat. We have supported the work of conservation colleagues including Y2Y and this year submitted comments to strengthen the project’s environment impact assessment.

BISTCHO The Dene Tha’ of Chateh and Hay-Zama has expressed interest in seeing the Bistcho Area of Concern protected as a Wildland Park. No progress has been made on this area of concern in this fiscal year. AWA looks forward to opportunities to work for the protection of this area in northwestern Alberta as provincial planning processes for this region get underway in the near future.

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CARIBOU MOUNTAINS Caribou Mountains Wildland Park (5,910 km2) is located just west of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta. The area contains sensitive wetlands, fragile permafrost, and rare fens and palsas. The relatively undisturbed, lichen-rich forests provide crucial habitat for an important population of endangered woodland caribou that ranges over almost all of the Wildland Park. Up to 120 wood bison live in the Wentzel Lake area.

Due to the area’s isolation, and lack of good biological information, the Caribou Mountains are vulnerable to exploitation. The area contains substantial geophysical exploration disturbance. Timber harvesting has occurred along the southern edge of the caribou range, and trapping, hunting, and guiding-outfitting occur in the park. The park’s caribou herd has declined about 75 percent since 1995, (July 2010 ASRD provincial status report) and increased motorized access would further stress this endangered species. If the insulating organic cover is disturbed by human activity, the permafrost beneath can melt, damaging vegetation, soils, and water flow regime.

In 2006 AWA participated in the local advisory committee in order to finalize the draft management plan for the park. In early 2007, AWA submitted extensive suggestions to the Alberta government, with a view to maintaining the area in its relatively undisturbed state. As of August 2013, despite assurances, the draft management plan had still not been produced.

The Alberta Woodland Caribou Recovery Plan 2004/5 - 2013/14 provides the following qualitative assessment of current industrial/development infrastructure in the Caribou Mountains “substantial geophysical exploration lines. Little oil and gas development. Minimal roadway development. Timber harvesting along the southern edge of the caribou range. Severely impacted by fire over the last 20 years”.

Caribou Mountains – C. Allen

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION

WILLMORE WILDERNESS PARK At more than 1 million acres, the Willmore Wilderness Park is magnificent in the scheme of Alberta’s protected areas network. Designated a park in 1959 by the provincial government, Willmore has seen little tourism or recreational development, leaving the area pristine for backcountry enthusiasts to explore. Traditional activities such as trail riding, hunting, and trapping are allowed in the park, continuing the rich heritage of aboriginal peoples and early outfitters.

The Willmore is dear to the heart of AWA as a shining example of what wilderness can and should be, though there have been battles over continued protection of the area in the past, and constant vigilance is required if protection is to be honoured in the future.

AWA continues to press for a management plan for the Willmore Wilderness Park, as the foundation underlying any future developments in the park. There is a real danger that the many individual small decisions being made about Willmore Wilderness will produce a cumulative effect that diminishes the wilderness resource the Willmore Wilderness Act was written to protect.

Proposals to add the Willmore Wilderness Park, and other areas adjacent in the Rocky Mountain Parks, to the Rocky Mountain World Heritage Site seem to have stalled completely, due largely to opposition from one local organization. AWA continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of designation and commemoration of the Willmore by the United Nations Educational Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

KAKWA The Kakwa region is adjacent to the northernmost border of Jasper National Park along the border of British Columbia. This area covers the most northerly portions of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and includes South Kakwa and Caw Ridge. The area varies from mountainous terrain and alpine meadows in the south to rolling hills covered in forest in the north and east. AWA has called Caw Ridge “Alberta’s Serengeti” due to the plentiful and diverse wildlife populations the ridge supports and nurtures.

AWA continues to oppose development on Caw Ridge and will continue to oppose applications for coal mining, and other industrial developments, in this sensitive wilderness. AWA is frustrated by the limited definition of “directly affected” that government agencies are applying to decisions of whether our Statements of Concern will be considered in decisions to allow permits for exploration - not only here on Caw Ridge but whenever applications for resource extraction or impacts to public land issues are being considered by the regulators.

Maxim Power Corporation received final approval on August 11, 2011 to expand their existing HR Milner Generating Station, a 150-megawatt coal-fired power plant located just outside Grande Cache, Alberta, to a 500-megawatt power plant. AWA opposed this expansion, given greenhouse gas emission concerns as well as its close proximity to Caw Ridge, and the potential for increased cumulative effects of industrial expansion upon this irreplaceable wildlife area. AWA was relieved to receive notice in September 2014 that Maxim is seeking an amendment to change the design of the project from a coal- fired facility to a natural gas-fired facility.

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Grande Cache Coal (GCC) was sold in the fall of 2011 and is now under foreign ownership. In December of 2011, a qualified AWA volunteer with years of experience in the region attended a company open house held in the town of Grande Cache to learn of future exploration plans within the region, and has been invited to represent AWA on the company’s newly formed local Environmental Monitoring Committee for No. 12 B2 underground mine. GCC is continuing to develop community engagement opportunities and AWA is invited to participate in a workshop in Grande Cache in October 2013.

AWA has continued to press the government of Alberta to conduct a full public inquiry into industrial development in the Kakwa region, assessing the cumulative environmental impacts of intensive coal extraction, especially given the change in ownership of GCC.

BIGHORN WILDLAND AWA has had a long-standing interest in the Bighorn Wildland ever since the organization’s earliest days in the 1960s. At more than 4,000 km2, the Bighorn is a large and intact wilderness that retains its ecological integrity largely due to the absence of roads and industrialized access, yet it remains primarily unprotected.

AWA continues to monitor the motorized trail network in the area of the Upper Ram/Clearwater Forest Land Use Zone, as we have done since access was given to motorized recreationists in 2002. One staff member and one volunteer backpacked into the Canary Creek area for two days in August 2013 to perform trail monitoring of part of the Hummingbird area trail network, as a follow-up to a similar trip to monitor the same trail made in 2012. The 2013 trip had originally been scheduled for July however had to be postponed due to the ground situations in the area after the June floods. Extensive damage to the trail system from the floods was discovered, which had been redressed via the construction of several kilometres of new trail bypassing the washed-out regions. Unfortunately, the new trails, acknowledged by ESRD as having been created through volunteer efforts, were constructed without concern for existing vegetation, waterways or biological systems, and without any preventative measures to avoid future significant erosion or other damage along the new trails.

These findings and AWA concerns were presented to ESRD staff. AWA reiterated our 2012 argument that the damage was an indication that the topography, soil, and vegetation of the region are not suited to withstand motorized recreation. AWA has asked that these trails remain permanently closed to motorized vehicles; the damage is so severe it is doubtful they can be restored by either natural processes or volunteer trail stewardship groups.

This year AWA conducted two trips to download TRAFx units buried at strategic points on the Upper Ram/Clearwater motorized access trail system. Concern over ongoing illegal use, and associated erosion and significant sedimentation and siltation from motorized crossings of streams, remains paramount in our push to have these trails closed. Our work in this area is dependent on volunteers and we will maintain our presence monitoring the motorized access and damaged sites. AWA routinely monitors minutes from the government's Bighorn Backcountry Monitoring Committee.

AWA met with ESRD staff in the Rocky Mountain House area, and presented the findings of our trail monitoring work. There was acknowledgement among the ESRD staff that many of the areas of the Bighorn are unsuited to support motorized recreational activity, however they maintain that trails and wet conditions will be accounted for on a year by year basis. AWA continued to advocate for permanent trail closures within the Prime Protection Zone of the Eastern Slopes.

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Since 1994, AWA has worked to open and maintain the Historic Bighorn Trail between Crescent Falls on the Bighorn River and the Wapiabi, Blackstone and Chungo Gaps. The 2013 June floods have put this work in jeopardy.

Four volunteers with saddle and pack horses worked the trail in mid July 2013. The floods had wreaked havoc on the valley and trails of the Wapiabi River that are used to access the work area. Just getting into a base camp position near the Vimy patrol cabin site was a major effort. The trail section between Vimy Creek and the Bighorn River that runs through forest most of its length, was re-cut over two days. In this section travel has become treacherous due to erosion down to bare rock and the increased extent of bog. Roughly 50% of this part of the historic trail has become very difficult and may not be worth maintaining. The work party tried to proceed further up the Wapiabi Valley towards George Creek, but found sections of the trail so boggy as to be almost horse swallowing. It was deemed unsafe to try to move camp further along the system. Two summer outfitters trying to use the area corroborated our experience of severely damaged trails throughout the region. A September meeting is scheduled with ESRD staff and the future of this trail work, especially with no support from the agency, will be discussed.

SOUTH GHOST - GHOST-WAIPAROUS Our main interest is to ensure that wilderness, wildlife, and water quality and quantity are considered in all decisions that are made in the region that is adjacent to - and forms the transition zone for - the South Ghost area.

The Ghost Watershed Alliance Society, has continued with an ecosystem-based planning and conservation project for the Ghost River Watershed. The project has involved the community in examining what sustainable forest management is, and how such a model could be applied in the Ghost Watershed. Prior years’ work was built on with the ALCES Landscape and Land-Use Ltd. studies that are working on their analysis of the area. While there is little evidence that the results of their scientific studies are being considered by ESRD and the logging companies operating in that area, there remains hope that their findings may be helpful in the analysis of planning for the Land-use Framework in the South Saskatchewan region. AWA continues to have a representative on the Ghost Stewardship and Monitoring Committee. The appointment of a sub-committee to look at monitoring targets and results was seen as progress this year.

KANANASKIS COUNTRY Forestry issues continue to be an important focus in Kananaskis Country. In October of 2012, AWA worked with a number of groups, including the Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition to produce a follow-up to the 2011 Sustainable Forests, Sustainable Communities report. This year’s addendum expands on many of the high-level recommendations in the original report to highlight specific actions, and constraints that should be incorporated into any forestry planning so as to ensure that the outcomes are sustainable in effect as well as name. The report thus helps present an alternative model of forest management in Alberta, one representing all of the values of forests and not just their timber value.

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AWA provided input into the re-application by Spray Lake Sawmills for Forest Stewardship Council certification for its forestry operations in Kananaskis and the Ghost. AWA continues to believe that extensive improvements in operating standards are required before the company should receive sustainable forest certification.

Kananaskis Country was extensively changed, and a great deal of existing human infrastructure was damaged, by the floods of June 2013. In outreach activities following the flood, AWA called for actions to restore and sustain watershed ecology and reduce existing linear disturbance in Kananaskis that reduces water absorption and increases sediment and contaminant transport. AWA also continues to work as steward for Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve, and Kananaskis Country remains an important focus of AWA’s summer hikes program, with hikes in multiple seasons throughout the year.

CROWN OF THE CONTINENT ECOSYSTEM AWA works towards protection and better management of wilderness throughout the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem, particularly in those areas we have identified as Wild Spaces. From Waterton National Park to southern Kananaskis Country, AWA has been working on a number of collaborative initiatives and responding to local member interests and concerns.

The Crown of the Continent region is a crucial mountain eco-system, covering 44,000 km2 of land across Alberta, British Columbia and Montana. In Alberta, Crown of the Continent land stretches from southern Kananaskis Country south to Waterton National Park. It approximates to the Southern Eastern Slopes region, headwaters of the South Saskatchewan River system and the source of clean water across southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

AWA’s focus in the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem is to work towards protection and better management of wilderness, particularly in those areas we have identified as wild spaces. Five of AWA’s Areas of Concern fall within the Crown of the Continent/ Southern Eastern Slopes Region: South Ghost, Kananaskis Country, Livingstone-Porcupine, Castle and Waterton Parkland.

CASTLE WILDLAND The Castle area, where AWA cut its teeth as a fledgling organization in the 1960s, will always be a major focus. AWA works in a coalition of groups calling for legislated protection in the Castle area, and has also helped the local community in its opposition to new plans for clearcut logging in the Castle region. Despite extensive opposition, and rallies in Beaver Mines, Calgary and Edmonton, logging occurred in West Beaver Mines in early 2012. In late October 2012, AWA received a promise from the ESRD Forestry Division that no further logging inside the Castle Special Management Region will occur until the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, under the Land-Use Framework, is complete. AWA remains hopeful that as a result of that latter process, the Castle will finally be designated a protected area, and that logging operations will be stopped for good.

In October of 2012, AWA worked with a number of groups, including the Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition to produce a follow-up to the 2011 Sustainable Forests, Sustainable Communities report. This year’s addendum expands on many of the high-level recommendations in the original report to highlight specific actions, and constraints that should be incorporated into any forestry planning so as to ensure

26 that the outcomes are sustainable in effect as well as name. The report thus helps present an alternative model of forest management in Alberta, one representing all of the values of forests and not just their timber value.

Throughout early 2013, AWA became aware of a joint project between ESRD and departments at various educational facilities including the University of Alberta, to log part of Star Creek, immediately outside the Special Management Area but still within AWA’s Castle Area of Concern. The project purports to study the effects of logging operations on water quantity and quality. However with Star Creek being some of the last remaining habitat for the threatened westslope cutthroat trout, AWA does not believe this is an appropriate time or location for such a project. We question why this project would be given the green light when recognition of the Castle’s wilderness values resulted in a moratorium being placed on logging in the areas immediately adjacent. AWA wrote to various proponents of the project to express our opposition.

AWA has continued its dialogue with Shell Canada to work towards improved management in the Castle Area, particularly reclamation of old wells and industrial roads.

LIVINGSTONE-PORCUPINE The Livingstone-Porcupine is another major focus of AWA’s work and collaborative projects with landowner organizations in the region has been a major element.

Of major concern in the last year has been the logging of Hidden Creek in the upper Oldman watershed. In a very rapid in-and-out operation, Spray Lake Sawmills was granted a licence to conduct logging along this creek over a three-month period between November 2012 and February 2013. This was despite a hard-fought battle in 1984 following which AWA has believed logging in Hidden Creek to be off the table. Hidden Creek is by far the best habitat and spawning ground in the Oldman system for the threatened westslope cutthroat trout, and is also critical habitat for the threatened bull trout. As a consequence, the creek was slated to be re-designated as a Class ‘A’ with accompanying stringent restrictions on use and development. While the designation had not occurred at the time of the logging, ESRD did apparently instruct Spray Lake to treat it as Class ‘A’ in the meantime.

AWA has numerous concerns with the manner in which the logging was approved and conducted, including the lack of a proper assessments of the watershed following the threatened designation for westslope cutthroat trout, the lack of ongoing monitoring of siltation fencing and other infrastructure, the leaving behind of OHV access trails despite prior ESRD promises that they would be decommissioned, and most significantly, the construction of several kilometres of haul road well within the 100m buffer of the creek, as stipulated by the Class ‘A’ designation. AWA has submitted an application under Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) legislation to gain information regarding how logging was approved without these conditions in place. In an extremely protracted process in which ESRD ignored a ruling by the Privacy Commissioner that the delays constituted a breach of regulation, AWA did not receive the requested documents until September 6, 2013. Analysis of the contents is ongoing.

One of the next areas in the C5 Forest Management Unit slated for logging is Trout Creek in the Porcupine Hills, also in this Area of Concern.

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AWA made a presentation at the August 2011 Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) hearing into proposals by Altalink to build a new transmission line through the Livingstone hills. In an unprecedented decision, AUC concurred with AWA and landowners that, having received recognition of the need for transmission lines in a corridor 30 kilometres away, the company did not have a right to develop them in an entirely different corridor. Since this time, the preferred route for the line has avoided the Livingstone- Porcupine, and stuck mostly to already-developed land. The original routing through the hills remains on the book, however, as an alternate routing. Despite receiving verbal assurances that it is not being considered, we have seen nothing in writing to confirm this fact. AWA continues to be vigilant regarding this, and other, transmission line developments.

AWA continues to participate actively in the Pekisko Group’s Southern Foothills Community Stewardship Initiative, a community-focused process to discuss priorities for future management of the region. The resulting report, Values and Voices: Stewardship Priorities for the Southern Alberta Foothills, made some strong recommendations on how to maintain the critical values of the region, in particular the need for effective management of the cumulative impacts of multiple activities on the landscape.

AWA is also represented on the Foothills Restoration Forum, which is looking at best practices for restoring fescue grasslands. AWA’s particular focus is that avoidance of disturbance must take priority over any mitigation of damage.

AWA is volunteer steward for the Beehive Natural Area in the headwaters of the Oldman River. This is a popular venue for our hikes program, as is the Whaleback area.

WATERTON PARKLAND The Waterton Parkland area consists mostly of private land to the east of Waterton Lakes National Park. Increasingly, landowners in this region are looking at ways to minimize the impacts of development on this landscape, as well as develop programs to minimize conflicts with wildlife. AWA gave advice and support to a coalition of landowners working in response to a proposed transmission line through the region. Rather than deal with the proposals as individuals, landowners have formed together as an association, to increase their voice in the process. AWA has also leant its support to individuals concerned about a large scale youth camp development proposed in the region.

A local initiative, initially spearheaded by the Drywood Yarrow Conservation Partnership and now also taken up by the Waterton Biosphere Reserve Association, is looking at ways for local communities to live alongside carnivore populations; grizzly bear populations in particular may be expanding eastwards, and a range of attractant management programs are being developed to help reduce human-bear conflicts. Carcass disposal bins, reinforced grain stores and electric fencing to protect silage stores and beehives are all being used extensively. AWA supports these innovative programs which will hopefully work to the benefit of both bears and people.

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PARKLAND REGION

RUMSEY Aspen parkland once stretched over 255,000 km2 in the Prairie Provinces. In Alberta, the Central Parkland Natural Subregion sweeps in a wide arc from Airdrie to north of Edmonton, and east to Lloydminster and Provost. Today, the Rumsey Natural Area and Ecological Reserve (together, the Rumsey Block) are surrounded by a checkerboard of cropland. In fact, Rumsey is the only large, relatively undisturbed area of aspen groveland on hummocky disintegration moraine left in world. It represents a landscape that is almost extinct and provides a valuable ecological benchmark.

Progress is finally being made on the protection of Rumsey Natural Area from continuing industrial disturbance. As of February 29, 2012, addenda on all new petroleum and natural gas agreements within the Rumsey Natural Area now read "Surface Access is Not Permitted." Previously, leases were sold with "Surface Access Subject to Restrictions." AWA regards this as an encouraging first step in the long-term phase out of oil and gas activity in the Natural Area.

The long-awaited management plan for Rumsey has finally been begun by Alberta Parks, and AWA is providing assistance and advice as the planning process takes shape. We hope to see a draft in 2014.

WAINWRIGHT DUNES AWA serves on the advisory group for the Wainwright Dunes and monitors implementation of the management plan approved in 1999 for this nationally significant parkland sand dune and wetland wilderness. Elk populations continue to grow in the protected area and surrounding lands and may outstrip the capacity of the area in the near future. We continue to monitor the situation.

GRASSLANDS REGION

MIDDLE SAND HILLS The Middle Sand Hills Area of Concern lies forty miles north of the city of Medicine Hat, to the west of the South Saskatchewan River, and to the south of the Red Deer River. It is approximately 2,480 km2 in size. Relatively untouched until recent years, the near-native conditions in the Middle Sand Hills area are reminiscent of the great plains as they once were. The extensive mixed grasslands, sand hills, coulees and wetlands that comprise the Middle Sand Hills Area of Concern are home to 1,100 native prairie species, including 13 federal Species at Risk and 78 provincially listed “at risk” species.

A large portion of the Middle Sand Hills Area of Concern lies within the boundaries of the Canadian Forces Base (C.F.B.) Suffield military reserve. As such, the military is intricately tied to the history, and fate, of this wildland. Since 1971, the Department of National Defence has recognized the fragility of the area and has zoned the eastern part of the base out-of-bounds for military training.

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SUFFIELD NATIONAL WILDLIFE AREA The Suffield National Wildlife Area (NWA), designated as a federally-protected wildlife refuge in 2003, lies within CFB Suffield and is one of the last six remaining large native grasslands left in the glaciated northern plains. The NWA comprises 458 km2 of rare unbroken prairie containing landscapes of national significance, including sand hills, ancient glacial coulees, and the stunning South Saskatchewan River valley. Home to more than 1,100 species of plants and animals, the NWA is a haven for 94 species of concern, 18 of which are federally-listed species at risk of extinction. It also contains numerous historical sites such as medicine wheels, bison kill sites, and stone cairns. Many of the area’s dinosaur remains and fossilized trees remain unclassified.

Just two years after the designation of the Suffield NWA, EnCana proposed drilling up to 1,275 additional wells and constructing 220 km of pipeline in this endangered prairie landscape, essentially doubling the number of wells in the NWA. AWA is part of a seven-group environmental coalition that asked the federal government to prohibit all new industrial activities in the NWA. AWA contributed a significant amount of volunteer and staff resources to the Suffield Coalition’s efforts throughout the past few years. The EnCana (now Cenovus) proposals went to a Joint Review Panel hearing in October 2008, and the hearing recommendations were finally announced in January 2009. The Government of Canada made a final decision not to approve the application in 2012.

AWA was able to have a tour of the SNWA in this fiscal year and the opportunity to spend time in the area, appreciating the research that is being done; learning about the people who care for the area from day-to-day and feeling good that the area is protected was inspiring.

We are working toward increased protection and more ecologically sensitive management of the larger Middle Sand Hills Area of Concern and hope to see a long-promised management planning process underway soon.

MILK RIVER-SAGE CREEK The Milk River-Sage Creek Area of Concern is comprised of three main units:  Cypress Hills — a montane outlier with forests and lush fescue grasslands;  Pakowki Lake — an area of sandhills and a large playa lake that is very productive for waterfowl and shorebirds in wetter years;  The balance of the area, a diverse area encompassing the Milk River Canyon and associated badlands as well as some of the most extensive native mixed grassland, silver sagebrush and ephemeral wetland habitat in Canada.

The Milk River-Sage Creek area is one of the least fragmented, most extensive, and most geologically and biologically diverse grassland landscapes on the glaciated plains of North America. Its uplands, wetlands, and valleys constitute one of the largest undisturbed grasslands in Canada. The 5,000 km2 Milk River-Sage Creek area is a natural diversity hotspot in the grasslands of southeastern Alberta.

For generations, this wilderness has been protected by its isolation and by grazing patterns that have perpetuated the richness and diversity of the native grassland. Those factors are changing rapidly. There is a high degree of urgency to protect the area. The extreme southeastern corner of Alberta was once the forgotten corner but it is forgotten no more. Recent activity by oil and gas companies around the

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Cypress Hills gives every indication that it will turn parts of the study area into highly developed landscapes like the rest of Alberta.

AWA believes the future of the area as a wild place and as a refuge for native plants and animals that have long disappeared from much of the Great Plains rests in our hands.

As part of our annual hikes program a day hike into the Sage Creek area was conducted. An excellent day, wildlife sightings included common nighthawks, peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks and many more birds as well as mule deer.

CYPRESS HILLS The Cypress Hills, which span the southern Alberta-Saskatchewan border, are recognized internationally as a significant natural area. The upper portion of the hills is part of the Montane Natural Subregion, having been left unglaciated during the last ice age. The hills are surrounded by native grassland, and the meeting of the diverse communities of flora and fauna from these two natural regions creates a unique and valuable ecological resource.

In the Cypress Hills Fringe Area Structure Plan, Cypress County initially recognized the importance of preserving a buffer zone around Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. When wind farms were proposed in the Fringe, AWA was among those who spoke out in favour of the intent of the Fringe plan, which opposes industrialization in the area. Following a public hearing, however, county councilors decided to allow wind farms in the Fringe. AWA continues to oppose development in the Fringe Area. Regrettably, the proposal was not denied by the government and despite all the evidence presented at the hearing, the proposal has approval to go ahead.

We continue to monitor wind farm proposals in this area and across Alberta in our areas of interest.

PAKOWKI LAKE Pakowki Lake Area of Concern is located southeast of the Cypress Hills and north of the Milk River, in the Grassland Natural Region. An area of national environmental significance, it encompasses the large, intermittent lake itself, as well as the surrounding prairie uplands and a large sand dune–wetland complex, including extensive bulrush marshes. Pakowki Lake is an important staging area for migrating shorebirds and provides a nesting area for birds that occur in few other places in Canada. The area is also important for the rare and uncommon plants found in the sand dune and wetland habitats. A number of endangered species live in the Pakowki Lake region, including the greater sage-grouse, which has been federally listed as endangered.

None of the Pakowki Lake Area of Concern has provincial or federal protected status, although a portion is designated as a game bird sanctuary. Pakowki Lake is designated an Important Bird Area (IBA). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified Pakowki Lake as a Category IV Habitat/Species Management Area, meaning it should be managed mainly for conservation of habitats and biodiversity. The Pakowki sandhills are public land held under grazing lease; some cultivation has taken place on adjacent parcels of privately owned land.

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AWA believes Pakowki Lake should be formally recognized for its national environmental significance with legislated provincial protection. The sandhills and adjacent grazing areas appeared in reasonable condition during a 2012 site visit, and water levels in the lake were encouragingly high.

MILK RIVER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE After 29 years of involvement, AWA continues to participate, as a member of the Milk River Management Committee and Milk River Management Society, in formal stewardship of the Milk River Natural Area. This rolling grassland in extreme southeastern Alberta contains a wide variety of habitats supporting hundreds of native species, some of which are endangered. AWA works alongside representatives from the local county, the ranching community, Southern Alberta Group for the Environment, and provincial government agencies.

The decision to form the society and take out a lease for the area came out of the management planning process in the 1980s. As part of its mandate, the society is responsible for administering the grazing contract and long-term research monitoring, which has been ongoing since the early 1990s. This region is perhaps the longest continuously monitored grassland site in the province, at least in terms of biodiversity.

The Management Society has installed traffic counters to establish current levels of vehicle usage. An old wellsite road gives vehicles access to the edge of the Milk River Canyon, leaving 80 percent of the Natural Area upland free of vehicle traffic. However, EnCana Corporation has developed a number of wells right next door, with gravel track access almost to the corner of the Natural Area. The Natural Area is currently unregulated with respect to vehicle use. The society is concerned that this could open the area to increased and undesirable use. Formally monitoring vehicle use will provide baseline information so that concerns can be expressed promptly if increases are detected.

The society generally meets twice a year and will continue to manage this area with maintenance of ecological integrity as a priority. Over the years, the local representatives have taken ownership, responding appropriately to threats to the area. Along with the Hay-Zama Committee in the far northwest of the province, the Milk River Management Society is an excellent example of collaborative management of a protected area. At the end of September 2012, the Milk River Management Committee celebrated its 20th anniversary with a community dinner and presentation. AWA has served on this committee and the Milk River Management Society since their inception.

PRAIRIE CONSERVATION FORUM The Prairie Conservation Forum is a large voluntary coalition of stakeholder groups whose members are interested in the conservation of native prairie and parkland environments in Alberta. The Forum, which has been in existence for more than 19 years, is currently involved in the implementation of the Alberta Prairie Conservation Action Plan. AWA is a sponsor of the Forum and participates in quarterly meetings of the group that includes a diverse membership of those concerned with prairie conservation.

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FOOTHILLS RESTORATION FORUM AWA is on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Foothills Restoration Forum. The multi-stakeholder group is looking at best practices for restoring fescue grasslands. AWA strongly supports three main principles for minimizing disturbance in native prairie. First, avoidance of disturbance must take priority over any mitigation of damage. Second, if avoidance is not possible, disturbance should be minimized and third, incremental environmental effects must be avoided. The forum provides opportunity for informed debate and discussion. AWA continues to engage wind energy companies and distribute the document Minimizing Disturbance of Alberta's Native Prairie by Wind Energy Development developed as part of our work with the forum.

OH Ranch – Nigel Douglas

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ISSUES

WATER Since its inception, AWA has focused on the health of Alberta’s watersheds, wild rivers, and wetlands. AWA’s vision is that for the well-being of all living things, Alberta has healthy, natural ecosystems in its river headwaters; there is plentiful clean water for all Albertans; province-wide awareness and stewardship of water as a precious, life-giving resource; and effective, ecosystem-based management of Alberta’s watersheds, groundwater, river valleys, lakes, and wetlands.

The headwaters regions are the heights of land in the mountains and foothills from which most of our river flows and groundwater originate. AWA’s began a Fish and Forests coordinating initiative focused on healthier headwaters stream outcomes from the North Saskatchewan to Oldman headwaters (see more details in the Forests section). AWA continues to participate in the Upper Bow Basin Cumulative Effects Study, which is completing a natural capital valuation and is preparing outreach for its study of watershed health and biodiversity improvements that could result from adopting beneficial management practices.

AWA participated in the Alberta government’s ‘water conversations’ to discuss four important water policies in spring 2013. AWA staff attended several workshops and we encouraged our members to participate. The key themes we emphasized were: government commitment to manage within ecological limits of our watersheds; protection of environmental flows in Alberta rivers prior to further market-based changes to the water license allocation and transfer system; greatly reduced linear disturbances and the impacts of unfettered motorized vehicle access in the headwaters regions of our main rivers; better understanding and sustainable management of our groundwater resources; reduced risks of contaminating groundwater from the high-pressure fracking and steaming accompanying so much current oil, gas and oil sands development.

In the Bow basin, AWA attended several workshops using simulated climate-change affected drought datasets to model various water management scenarios. We strongly support the intention of South Saskatchewan regional plan to establish a regulatory water quality management framework, and participated in a workshop for the pilot Bow phosphorus plan to encourage setting of thresholds and targets to motivate good management. We also supported the City of Calgary’s riparian policy development. With flood waters approaching on Thursday June 21, we gave a public presentation at Fish Creek Provincial Park on key watershed management issues affecting the Bow River and Fish Creek. In the aftermath of the flood, we submitted recommendations to reduce flood risk and improve resilience by restoring natural buffers such as headwaters regions, wetlands, river-connected aquifers, and river bank vegetation, and through stronger policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

AWA has insisted that real protection of environmental flows in Alberta rivers must occur prior to further market-based changes to the water license allocation and transfer system. As piecemeal decisions and missed opportunities to secure flows continue, AWA and other ENGO colleagues pursued legal challenges to several irrigation district water license amendments in the Bow watershed, because of concerns that they circumvented appropriate government environmental management. One case did not proceed because of the difficulty in Alberta of legitimate environmental organizations participating as Statement of Concern filers in water matters. In the other case, while upholding the transfer, the

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Environmental Appeal Board observed there were substantive policy gaps in restoring environmentally important flows to rivers and in water license transfers and amendment policies.

In terms of other watershed work, this year AWA supported the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance’s technical group recommendations for wetland and riparian area conservation. For the Athabasca watershed, with other ENGO partners, we continue to strongly advocate for an absolute cutoff of oil sands mine water withdrawals from the Athabasca River during low winter flows. In the Beaver River watershed, we attended a lake management conference and a fisheries forum, and raised concerns on the risks to groundwater and wildlife from the multiple blowouts to surface of pressurized bitumen at CNRL’s Primrose oil sands project.

AWA continues to exchange information and coordinate much of its water work with colleagues in the Alberta Environment Network’s Water Caucus. Our Alberta Water Council and provincial wetland policy work is outlined in the Government Policy section.

FORESTS AWA continues to push for a reassessment of how forests are managed in Alberta, particularly in the Eastern Slopes, source of clean water for much of the province. This principle seems to be gaining traction, even in government circles. Discussions around the province’s developing Land-Use Framework are focusing more on watershed protection, particularly in the South Saskatchewan region. March 2011 recommendations from the South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Committee include “Manage land in the headwaters (e.g., Eastern Slopes and Cypress Hills areas) so that maintaining watershed integrity is given highest priority by considering impacts of land disturbance in management decisions.”

Numerous local groups are working to oppose plans for clearcut logging in their communities. Groups in the Ghost, Bragg Creek, Crowsnest, Beaver Mines and the Castle have all been active. AWA believes that there is a unifying theme to many of these disputes: a failure to manage forests for their many non- forestry values, and a lack of meaningful public involvement in management decisions. AWA has been working to bring together some of these different initiatives to discuss common ground.

In October of 2012, AWA worked with a number of groups, including the Bragg Creek Environmental Coalition to produce a follow-up to the 2011 Sustainable Forests, Sustainable Communities report. This year’s addendum expands on many of the high-level recommendations in the original report to highlight specific actions, and constraints that should be incorporated into any forestry planning so as to ensure that the outcomes are sustainable in effect as well as name. The report thus helps present an alternative model of forest management in Alberta, one representing all of the values of forests and not just their timber value.

Emerging from this and other meetings with the various local groups, scientists, ENGOs and other members of the public concerned about forests in southern Alberta, AWA has formed the Fish and Forests Initiative as a loose coalition of those parties. Its scope of concern comprises the forests in Alberta’s foothills, from the US border up to the Bighorn area, and the watersheds in those forests, especially as concerns the various aquatic species living in those headwaters. The initiative is an effort to coordinate the work being done by the various parties aimed at protecting their forest ecosystems, to share information and insight, and to foster communication between the parties where it can help achieve our mutual objectives. There have been regular Fish and Forests meetings throughout 2013, as well as active communication over an electronic discussion group set up to support the initiative. It is

35 anticipated that 2013 will also see the establishment of an online monitoring database where initiative members can upload and share photos, reports and other results obtained from the regular monitoring of their local forests that they are performing.

AWA was closely involved with the re-application by Spray Lake Sawmills to achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for sustainable forestry practices in their Forest Management Agreement area in Kananaskis and the Ghost. Their original application was turned down, but AWA is willing to work with company to help raise their standard of operations to meet FSC standards.

AWA has also been working with Sundre Forest Products Inc. (SFP) on improving their processes, stemming from the 2012 submission to SFP and ESRD calling for meaningful public consultation and an ecosystem, water security-based approach to forest management. With the help of a volunteer, AWA gave our feedback on needed improvements to their Protected Areas Gap Analysis document, as well as improvements to their Values, Objectives, Indicators and Targets (VOIT) matrix. In the case of this latter, AWA identified seven SFP objectives that we believed to be deficient or that we did not consider were adequately addressed by the indicators/targets that SFP had assigned. AWA conveyed to SFP our analysis and proposed improvements.

The Forests pages of AWA’s website have been revised and upgraded.

GRIZZLY BEARS Since the designation of the grizzly bear as a provincially threatened species in June 2010, AWA has worked to ensure that the new status leads to real on-the-ground changes in grizzly habitat. Without this, the designation is little more than a paper exercise. The province’s 2008 grizzly Recovery Plan was clear that “human use of access (specifically, motorized vehicle routes) is one of the primary threats to grizzly bear persistence.” But progress on reducing this access has been slow. AWA has worked with other environmental organizations to keep awareness of grizzlies high, through a series of timely news releases on issues such as grizzly mortality and high levels of motorized access in grizzly habitat. Government progress has been disappointingly slow. A meeting with the Minister of ESRD in October 2012 as well as subsequent correspondence with the Minister revealed that the Recovery Plan was to be renewed with minor changes at the end of 2013, when it is due to expire. Additionally, the Minister informed us that ESRD has no current plans to re-introduce the spring grizzly bear hunt, and that access management issues relating to levels and thresholds needed to ensure the species’ survival are to be addressed in the regional plans under the Land-Use Framework.

Notwithstanding the prior assurance, AWA has been invited to join stakeholder discussions upcoming in fall 2013 regarding updates to the Recovery Plan. AWA will press for a renewal of the existing plan without significant changes, as was promised by the Minister.

One area in which there has been progress has been in pilot projects to reduce the attractants which can bring bears into contact with people. Groups such as the Drywood Yarrow Conservation Partnership and the Waterton Biosphere Reserve have worked with local counties and Municipal Districts to adopt and promote measures such as programs to remove dead livestock, replacement of old wooden grain storage bins, and electric fencing to protect grain bins and beehives. AWA has been working with groups in the Waterton region to promote these initiatives. These programs have had a great deal of local success. Now the funding and support needs to be supplied to allow these pilot projects to be applied on a much broader scale across grizzly range.

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Numerous grizzly bear and bear safety presentations have been given in schools, universities and libraries over the last several years.

AWA’s Save the Grizzly campaign – www.savethegrizzly.ca – continues as an important focus of AWA’s grizzly work, along with our satirical www.NoMoreGrizzlies.com campaign. Responsibility for these domains has been transferred to AWA's hosting provider.

CARIBOU This year may have marked a turning point on urgently needed habitat protection for Alberta’s caribou. Helped in part by a sustained legal challenge by AWA and ENGO colleagues, Environment Canada finally released a five-years-overdue boreal woodland caribou recovery strategy in October 2012. Over 14,000 Canadians submitted comments on a weak 2011 draft strategy, with the result that the final 2012 strategy specified a minimum target of 65% undisturbed habitat for every caribou range. This is good news for the fifteen caribou populations on Alberta provincial lands, all but one of which (the Yates on the NWT border) are already in serious decline and expected to die out in the next several decades under the current weak environmental policies. Provinces are now required to write range plans outlining how ranges will be managed to attain a minimum of 65% undisturbed habitat over time.

The historical range of Alberta’s caribou covered three-quarters of the province, including the boreal region, the central foothills as far south as Red Deer River headwaters, and the Rocky Mountains down into the United States. Now the ranges used by the remaining caribou populations are small and fragmented due to cumulative effects of agriculture, settlement and industry. The southern-most caribou remaining on provincial lands are the A La Peche and Little Smoky populations north of Jasper National Park. Environment Canada described the Little Smoky range habitat as 95% disturbed by human activity in 2011, the highest disturbance rate in Canada. Since 2005, the government of Alberta has relied on wolf culls to keep these caribou alive, rather than addressing the root cause of higher predation, which is excessive forestry and energy industry footprint.

This year AWA took a strong stand against new disturbance taking place in the remaining 5% intact area of Little Smoky caribou range: we helped amplify a local trapper’s concerns about newly displaced caribou by visiting his trapline in January and documenting new roads, well sites and pipeline corridors. We began to publicize every new mineral rights sale in the Little Smoky as violating the government’s commitment to naturally sustaining caribou populations. In May 2013, albeit after far too many sales, the provincial government halted new mineral rights sales in both the Little Smoky and A La Peche ranges pending caribou range plans. In the summer of 2013 the government required forestry companies to defer some planned logging in the Little Smoky range. AWA praised both of these important shifts in government policy.

In August 2013, AWA joined the Little Smoky-A La Peche multi-sector advisory group for the Alberta government’s first caribou range and action plan to comply with the new federal recovery strategy. Scientific advisors to the federal government stated as recently as February 2012 that recovery of local caribou populations is both biologically and technically feasible: now what counts most of all is political will.

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BLACK BEARS Though black bears are abundant in Alberta, AWA remains concerned that they are poorly managed in some regions, with minimal effort to prevent bear access to municipal dumps or correct poor conduct from some industrial camps. “BearSmart” guidelines are beneficial, but greater provincial government commitment, leadership and transparency are still needed. The high rates of bear-human conflicts in fall 2011 do not appear to have been repeated in autumn 2012; however, bear mortality levels are not made readily available.

WOLVES Wolves and other native predators have an intrinsic worth, and also play an important role in keeping wild ecosystems healthy. In too many cases, Alberta’s wolf management still reflects an ineffective and unethical ‘war on wildlife’ approach. AWA’s wolf work this year covered three main areas: caribou-wolf management issues (outlined in the Caribou section above); advancing non-lethal methods for wild carnivore management around livestock; and urging provincial science-based management of predators rather than ineffective local bounty programs funded by some municipalities and private groups.

AWA recognizes the multiple benefits of healthy rangelands, in which ranchers raise livestock while ensuring that grazing lands provide crucial biodiversity and watershed benefits so important to our common interests. Our outreach this year included advancing collaborative non-lethal wolf management solutions that are already being practiced by some Albertans, as well as in other ranching regions. The Grizzly Bear section above outlines other positive, relevant predator management work. In November 2012, we participated in a Sustainable Agriculture and Predation workshop organized by Agriculture Canada, which we hope is the start of a constructive process.

There is ample evidence that wolf bounties, which encourage indiscriminate killing of wolves, are inappropriate and ineffective, lacking scientific basis, transparency and public input. The bounties target non-problem animals, disrupt pack structure, and are quickly offset by wolves’ high reproductive rates and in-migration. This year AWA documented eight municipalities’ bounty programs. We worked with a Red Deer region-based citizens group to publicize private bounty programs run by several fish and game and trapping locals which are partly funded by the U.S-based Wild Sheep Foundation. Our goal is for the provincial government to take responsibility for managing Alberta’s wolves in a science-based and transparent manner.

GAME FARMING While AWA supports living wildlife as part of our economy, we restrict this support to economies based on maintaining wildlife populations in their natural habitats. AWA has opposed the domestication, privatization and commercialization of wildlife including on game farms since 1980 when Alberta’s Wildlife Policy was rewritten to allow game farming. In 2011 AWA vehemently opposed proposed amendments to the Livestock Industry Diversification Act (Bill 11) that would have reclassified domestic deer and elk as “diversified livestock.” AWA is of the opinion that wild game must not be treated as livestock either in practice or within legislation. More disconcerting still, the proposed bill would have given discretionary powers to the Minister of Agriculture that could have paved the way for the hunting of penned elk and deer. AWA has been assured Bill 11 has been defeated.

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Long domesticated animals such as cattle are well understood for their pathologies; unlike the cervidae or deer family where, in farm situations, diseases including tuberculosis and chronic wasting have arisen that have cost Canadian lives and many millions of dollars in control attempts. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) had spread from game farms to the wild by 1996 where it continues apace, with 17 new cases found in 2010 and 33 new cases out of 3,195 heads tested of mule and white-tailed deer in 2011. A 2012 ESRD update notes that CWD continues its spread along the Saskatchewan boundary and that it is significantly extending westward along the Red Deer River, now reaching NW of Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Testing of hunter submitted heads (3,402) for 2012 showed 35 new cases of CWD concentrated in the Battle River and Red Deer-South Saskatchewan River watersheds. There were 26 mule deer, 8 white- tailed deer and a single moose. Conservationists have long warned of the steady spread of this disease both spatially and across species, and this is proving the case in Alberta.

AWA monitors CWD both in terms of its spread and the scientific literature. A 2012 PLOS paper reporting results of a significant study by American and Canadian scientists, funded in part by the CFIA, of the transmission of CWD to reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), which is the same species as caribou, indicates that while CWD has not yet been found naturally in reindeer (caribou), it was able to be transmitted from white-tailed deer to reindeer in experimental conditions. The implications of this are not only chilling for Native Peoples who rely on caribou for food, but for Alberta’s already beleaguered woodland caribou.

AWA continues to call for both federal and provincial leadership in confronting CWD and in eliminating the game farming industry in the province where its costs far exceed its benefits.

FERAL HORSES In the past year, the government of Alberta has initiated a management review process for Feral Horses. As a conservation organization, Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) is concerned with the persistence of Alberta’s natural biological diversity including wildlife and natural ecosystems. Feral horses are an introduced species to Alberta. As such, they may have an adverse effect on native wildlife populations through direct competition or through altering ecosystem interactions, and they may have a negative impact on ecosystems that are sensitive to the types of disturbances caused by large herds of the horses. Globally, it is well-established that invasive introduced species are among the top five greatest threats to biological diversity. The protection of feral horses in Alberta, therefore, does not fit within our mandate of protecting Alberta’s wildlife and wild places.

AWA expressed concern to the consultants preparing the management plan about the general lack of wildlife research on Eastern Slopes lands over the past 30 or more years; the last General Status of Alberta Wild Species report was 2005. It is disconcerting that limited resources are being used towards creating policy for an introduced species such as the feral horse when many native species are declining and not receiving adequate research or attention. Provincial feral horse policy should be developed in the context of protecting native species and natural ecosystem processes and in conjunction with an updated policy for native wildlife.

Following input into the consultant report, AWA was asked to be a part of a committee to develop strategy for Feral Horses. Even though we emphatically expressed our concern for native wildlife, we have decided to participate in the on-going process in order to defend the needs of native wildlife and to promote a scientific approach to policy development.

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GOVERNMENT POLICY

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment." Ansel Adams

PUBLIC LANDS For more than four decades, AWA has consistently demanded a publicly developed public lands policy to deal with all aspects of public land, including access, sales, management, and conservation. No such policy exists. AWA opposes any further destruction of native prairie grassland and sales of public land until a public lands policy is developed through a transparent and democratic public process.

A clear example of the consequences of not having a public lands policy was provided by the notorious “Potatogate” public land sale saga. The secretive plans to sell off 16,000 acres of public land – including native grasslands and endangered wildlife habitat – with no public process were suspended in October 2010, following an enormous public outcry. But then the plans were re-submitted by the Alberta government in August 2011. Once again, AWA spearheaded the opposition to these unpopular plans. One of the strongest opponents, Alison Redford, was quick to cancel the sale when she became premier in October 2011.

Despite the cancellation of the Potatogate land deal, there still are no procedures in place to prevent such sales happening in future. In August 2011, AWA, Alberta Native Plant Council and Nature Alberta publish a document, Sale of Public Land in Alberta: Recommendations for Improving Regulation, Policy and Procedures. AWA has also worked with current politicians to introduce private member’s legislation on this issue but it never passed the legislature.

TAX-RECOVERY LANDS Despite the enormous public opposition to the behind-closed-doors sale of public land proposed in "Potatogate," the Alberta government continued to dispose of public land with no opportunity for any form of public input. A February 3, 2011 Government of Alberta news release stated that 84,000 acres of tax recovery land will be sold to a total of 12 different municipalities for the princely sum of $1 per acre. The transfers were completed in September 2012.

In response to the government's unacceptable process and lack of protection of public lands, AWA, Alberta Native Plant Council and Nature Alberta collaborated to publish a document, Sale of Public Land in Alberta: Recommendations for Improving Regulation, Policy and Procedures. Recommendations in the report include:

 The long‐term interest of all Albertans is best served by retaining public lands as a trust held by government for conservation purposes.

 Protective notations should be applied to public lands in large blocks of prairie, Environmentally Significant Areas, and other important habitat areas for at risk species.

 Regulations are needed that clearly lay out procedures to be used for public land sale or trade and that require public notice and consultation.

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The document has been distributed and provided to the government, but no response has been received from the government.

PROTECTED AREAS - PROVINCIAL The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) approved in August 2012 pledged to establish Kazan Wildland Provincial Park in the Canadian Shield region and enlarge Birch Mountains Wildland Provincial Park in the boreal region on March 21, 2013. These would have been the first new provincial protected areas of significance created since the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park in 2008. As of October 2013 these actions had not occurred. Other new Wildland Parks are also promised under LARP.

AWA believes the designation of these parks will be a step towards a better protected area network. However, we were disappointed that only areas on the periphery of the oilsands area were selected in northeast Alberta, because habitats within that large area urgently need significant representative areas of protection. While oilsands leases will be extinguished in the new parks, the ecological integrity of these ‘protected areas’ will still be compromised by allowing existing conventional oil and gas, sand, gravel and peat extraction leases to proceed.

As other Land-Use Framework regional plans are brought online, we will encourage the establishment of new protected areas in other parts of the province. In the South Saskatchewan region, some resource extraction activities have been deferred pending the completion of that plan, which is an important step. We hope that in future regional planning processes, extraction activities and lease sales can be deferred as soon as potential Conservation Areas are identified, rather than allowing new disturbance and lease sales to undermine conservation opportunities.

PROTECTED AREAS - FEDERAL Increasingly, the management focus for the federal national parks is shifting away from the legislated priority of ecological integrity towards a simplistic push to get more visitor numbers through the park gates (making more visitor revenue in the process). While AWA believes that visitors are a crucial part of national parks, the push to open up the parks to more and more inappropriate activities to boost visitor numbers is putting at risk the environmental values which make the parks so important.

One particularly egregious example is the proposed “skywalk” in Jasper National Park, which was opposed by AWA and many of its supporters. More than 180,000 people signed a petition against the proposed development, but to no avail. Despite enormous public opposition, the proposed "Glacier Discovery Walk" was approved by Parks Canada in February 2012.

Parks Canada has since continued in this direction with a willingness to entertain proposals to expand ski operations at Marmot Basin, and to establish a lodge at Maligne Lake, in the middle of important habitat for caribou and other threatened species. This latter is in defiance of the management plan for the area, which in its draft versions had included a prohibition on overnight accommodation.

In the 1980s, Mt Norquay ski lift operators agreed they would forgo summer use of an important wildlife habitat area frequented by grizzly, bighorn sheep and elk in return for expanding the footprint and impact of their winter operations. Under their new January 2013 proposed plan, this agreement would

41 be broken and wildlife will lose again. AWA has long fought against expansion of any commercial ski operations within the national parks; we don’t have any reason to feel differently about this expansion and long range plan. We think that the broken promise of no summer use, and the almost certain negative impact on wildlife including Alberta’s threatened grizzly bears and important wildlife corridors, are vital concerns that cannot be resolved in the proposed plan.

While In December 2011 Parks Canada agreed to bring in new travel restrictions on Banff National Park's Bow Valley Parkway, the traffic ban originally scheduled to begin in 2013 has been pushed back to 2014. In the meantime there has been a rapid expansion of commercial intensive-use activities on this stretch of road. One example is the Banff Marathon that was to occur at the same time of year as the travel restrictions (cancelled this year due to the flooding, but expected to be scheduled again in 2014). This and other similar activities, such as the Gran Fondo bicycle race, are seemingly being rapidly pushed through with the blessing of Parks management, and extremely limited opportunities for public consultation or feedback. This approach belies the stated intent for the closures, that being to put the interests of wildlife first on this section of highway. AWA continues to advocate for a limit to true wilderness-friendly events in the park and strenuously opposes events such as those above.

LAND-USE FRAMEWORK (LUF) AWA has continued to take an active interest as the regional planning processes for the first two Land- Use Framework regions – the Lower Athabasca and the South Saskatchewan – have developed. AWA supporters have been encouraged to participate at every opportunity of the planning process.

AWA’s participation in the Land-Use Framework has remained consistent throughout the process. The acknowledgement that land-use planning has been conspicuously absent in Alberta for many years, and that the landscape has suffered as a result, is encouraging. But what is needed is real on-the ground changes, and it still remains to be seen whether the Land-Use Framework will ultimately deliver where other similar processes have failed. In meetings with the minister of ESRD as well as the Commissioner for the Land Use Secretariat, it has been confirmed that despite delays, work on the LUF will continue and that ESRD is actively working with other ministries to ensure the provisions of the various regional plans are adhered to throughout all relevant governmental agencies.

While only two of the seven regions (the Lower Athabasca and South Saskatchewan) have begun the process of creating and implementing the plan, it is anticipated that the next three (the North Saskatchewan, Upper Peace and Upper Athabasca) will start on the process later in 2013, following the October municipal elections.

LOWER ATHABASCA REGIONAL PLAN (LARP) The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP) was approved in policy and legislation in August 2012. It is important both as the first region where the Land Use Framework’s cumulative effects management approach is being applied, and because of the urgent need to better manage intensive oil sands and forestry pressures on Alberta’s boreal forest. AWA praised the final plan as a step forward from the status quo in terms of regulatory surface water and air management frameworks and proposed new Wildland Provincial Parks at the periphery of the oil sands region (see Protected Areas – Provincial above). This year, AWA continued to press for completion of key unfinished pieces promised by the

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Alberta government: an updated surface water withdrawal management framework for the Lower Athabasca River to increase protection from tar sands mine withdrawals during the most sensitive low winter flows; implementation of groundwater quantity and quality triggers and limits; and development of a biodiversity framework and land disturbance limits that will be critical for wildlife within the oil sands area of the region (see Biodiversity Strategy later in this section).

SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN REGIONAL PLAN (SSRP) In January 2012, AWA submitted its comments on the draft land-use planning recommendations from the South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council (RAC). “AWA believes there are many positive elements to the recommendations of the South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council... But the recommendations also contain many inconsistencies and shortcomings; factors that will need to be urgently addressed before any final Regional Plan is developed.” AWA concerns include:

 the SSRAC recommendations fail to address cumulative effects management, and avoid any attempt to prioritize different activities in different areas.  The fact that choices will have to be made between different activities is studiously avoided throughout the RAC recommendations, and they are considerably weakened as a result.

Since the RAC produced its recommendations to the Alberta government in March 2011, a confusing and longwinded on-again-off-again public consultation process unfolded. Finally in November and December of 2012, long-promised public consultation sessions were held by the government in communities across southern Alberta. AWA attended several of these meetings, and found the process lacking, with occasionally weak moderation permitting disrespectful behavior and an overall lack of opportunity for all voices to be heard.

Accompanying the public consultation sessions was an onerous 74-page workbook that included many vague and difficult-to-understand questions as well as questions that were constructed to only allow a narrow set of pre-defined responses. AWA chose not to submit a workbook instead detailing our positions on the relevant issues in a letter submitted to the Land Use Secretariat.

AWA is highly supportive of the ideals behind the SSRP process, even if we have issues with the specifics of the consultation process. We also believe that this process will only be of use if truly all voices are heard, something that the government process does not currently encourage. Consequently, as we understand the value of the letter-based approach we chose but know that not everyone is aware of the possibility, AWA held an SSRP workshop on the issue, open to the public. At the workshop we brought in experts to speak on the SSRP, its underlying assumptions, goals and ramifications. Attendees were informed about the various options available to them for getting involved. Good discussions ensued with many participants inspired to submit their thoughts. AWA is hopeful that the SSRP will have been made stronger as a result of this valuable workshop.

WETLAND POLICY AWA has championed a clear “no net loss” provincial wetland policy that a strong majority of Albertans supported in extensive public consultations of 2007. Wetlands are crucial for wildlife habitat and human water security; they reduce flooding and drought risks, recharge groundwater, purify water, and act as

43 carbon stores. There is no evidence at this time that peat wetlands, which are prevalent across much of the oil sands region, can be reclaimed once destroyed. From July to November 2012, AWA participated in a multi-stakeholder group to advise the Alberta government on the Avoid-Minimize-Compensate principles of a draft provincial wetland policy. AWA also participated in federal-provincial regulatory hearings on the Shell Canada Energy Jackpine Mine expansion application, in part to raise concerns about significant irreversible loss to wetlands from bitumen extraction. The Joint Review Panel’s decision in July 2013, while unfortunately approving this new tar sands mine north of Fort McMurray, found that the regional cumulative effects from projected industrial activity on peat wetlands, and on wetland-reliant species at risk and migratory birds are significant, adverse and are not being effectively mitigated. We encouraged supporters to discuss wetland conservation during the provincial government’s spring 2013 public consultations on water issues, and we continued outreach on the importance of wetlands.

The Alberta government announced a weak provincial wetland policy in September 2013. The announced policy appears to meet all oil sands industry associations’ non-consensus requests that were drafted in late 2008 after the Alberta Water Council Wetland Policy Team had completed its report. Unless the announced wetland policy is significantly strengthened in implementation, it will promote ongoing loss of wetlands. It will exempt all approved and near-term foreseeable tar sands projects from wetland offsets or restoration. For prairie wetlands, the policy drops the current clear no-net-loss policy goal and exposes even the highest value unprotected wetlands to destruction. AWA will continue to advocate for a provincial wetland policy that values the critical importance of both boreal and prairie wetlands on the landscape and works to protect them from further loss at a provincial scale.

WATER FOR LIFE Since November 2007, AWA has served as an Environmental Sector Board member of the multi- stakeholder Alberta Water Council. The Water Council advises the Alberta government on the implementation of its Water for Life strategy, which has three goals: safe, secure drinking water supply; healthy aquatic ecosystems; and reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable economy. AWA works to advance in particular the “healthy aquatic ecosystems” goal, which has made less progress than other Water for Life goals since the strategy’s inception in 2003.

In the past year we supported our environmental sector representative in a review of the development of major water-using sectors’ water Conservation, Efficiency and Productivity (CEP) plans. CEP plans to date reflect water users’ intentions to improve their water efficiency, which is positive. However, the majority of sectors considered attaining sufficient, science-based instream flows in rivers to be a matter solely for the attention of the provincial government, so no improvement in environmental flows can be expected as a result of CEP plans. This is an unfortunate missed opportunity to improve the status quo of over-allocated southern rivers or risks to the Athabasca River during low winter flows. This year AWA also continued to support our Riparian Policy Team representative as this Water Council Team neared completion of its work.

The regional Watershed Planning and Advisory Councils (WPACs) are key cross-sector organizations for achieving the Water for Life strategy. AWA is a member of most WPACs. Their State of Watershed reports and non-regulatory Integrated Watershed Management Plan processes are valuable in raising awareness and setting directions for improved watershed management. This year we also supported grassroots Watershed Stewardship Groups by profiling their work on groundwater sustainability, river corridor enhancement, aquifer protection and ecosystem-based forestry management.

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BIODIVERSITY STRATEGY Alberta has pledged to conserve biodiversity as part of Canada's international commitment under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Since 2009, Alberta has further promised that a biodiversity strategy will inform oil sands development and Land Use Framework regional planning. However, a biodiversity strategy has not been released, and promised biodiversity and land disturbance regulatory frameworks urgently required by wildlife are not yet developed for the Lower Athabasca or South Saskatchewan regional plans. This year, AWA continued to encourage the Alberta government to complete a strong biodiversity strategy through its publications, and in meetings with government officials. AWA will also join the biodiversity advisory committee of the federal-provincial joint oil sands monitoring program in autumn 2013.

SPECIES AT RISK AWA has a longstanding focus on protecting the remaining large wildland habitats so that biodiversity, including species at risk, and non-industrial landscapes may survive. Species at risk are the canary in the coal mine with regard to our relationship with the earth. Be they butterflies, snails or the more visible grizzly bear or woodland caribou, their loss is a direct example of society’s failure to manage the environment in a sustainable, renewable way.

Legally, species at risk do not receive adequate protection in most cases throughout Alberta. It is concerning that the direction of recent federal decisions is towards only protecting species on federal lands that are not at the so-called ‘periphery’ of their range, while provincial legislation only sets up optional recovery plans without legal obligations to protect habitat.

FEDERAL SPECIES AT RISK ACT (SARA) AWA continues to work for effective application of the 2002 federal Species at Risk Act to bring about more habitat protection. As there seems to be considerable reluctance on behalf of the federal government to use the legislation to protect wildlife habitat, AWA and other organizations have focused on setting legal precedents to compel the government to use the legislation more actively. Following ground-breaking court challenges concerning sage-grouse (see below), AWA and partner conservation groups and First Nations have also called for an emergency protection order from the federal Environment Minister to protect and restore habitat for woodland caribou herds in the tar sands region that are at imminent risk of extirpation.

In March of 2013, AWA made a submission to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in response to their request for comment on proposed changes to the SARA “Schedule 1” species listing. AWA wrote to support the addition of the Baird’s sparrow as a threatened species, and the uplisting of the black-tailed prairie dog from a species with special concern to a threatened species. In June 2013, we wrote to the federal Environment Minister requesting that three species of hibernating bats, including Alberta’s most common bat, be listed as Endangered because of the devastating spread of white-nose syndrome that may reach Alberta bats in just a few years.

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GREATER SAGE-GROUSE Greater sage-grouse numbers continued their decline and the species continues to hold on by a thread in south eastern Alberta while neither the provincial nor federal government has taken any meaningful management action to prevent the imminent extirpation of sage-grouse by protecting the habitat the birds so desperately need. As a result of our Sage-grouse Summit in 2011, we have begun developing the Sage-grouse Partnership with conservation-minded ranchers and industry in southeastern Alberta. We are hoping to start implementing recommendations from this group for needed government policy changes and on the ground recovery actions in the coming year. Our legal case with Ecojustice and other conservation organizations for an emergency protection order for greater sage-grouse was successful with a late September 2013 announcement that the order would be put in place. We are waiting for the details of that order.

WESTSLOPE CUTTHROAT TROUT AWA is represented on the joint federal-provincial recovery team for westslope cutthroat trout. Few populations of pure-strain native cutthroat trout remain in Alberta, and recovery will require improved management of headwater streams, particularly with regard to management of motorized access. The Government of Alberta approved a recovery plan for the species in March 2013. Associated with this plan several streams where pure-strain westslope cutthroat spawn were re-designated in May 2013 as Class ‘A’ with accompanying stringent restrictions on use and development. Notwithstanding the designation, and a directive from ESRD to treat those streams as Class ‘A’ even before the designation became official, there have been cases in the C5 Forest Management Unit where enough deviations were granted to forestry companies as to render the designation meaningless. AWA is currently in possession of a document obtained under the auspices of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) that provides insight as to how these deviations were granted by ESRD and the designation effectively ignored. Communication about the details contained in the documents is a focus for the coming year. AWA continues to be vocal about the need for changes to the manner that these decisions in the Forestry Department are made.

LIMBER AND WHITEBARK PINE Whitebark pine has been proposed for addition to the federal Species at Risk list, and AWA has also worked towards having limber pine receive the same status. A provincial recovery team has been established for both species, and AWA continues to monitor progress. A draft recovery plan is still awaited.

OTHER SPECIES AT RISK AWA continues to monitor and provide input to the progress of recovery processes for other wildlife, including failure to identify critical habitat for burrowing owl and Sprague’s pipit, a status downgrade for swift fox, and the fate of Bert’s predaceous diving beetle. AWA opposed renewed proposals by the federal government to introduce a hunting season for sandhill cranes (listed as “sensitive” in Alberta). We noted that sandhill crane continued to be vulnerable, there are lingering doubts about population estimates and there is a persistent risk of “accidental” kill of endangered whooping cranes.

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PROTECTED AREAS PROGRESS

ALBERTA’S PROTECTED AREAS

The Government of Alberta’s Alberta Land Reference Manual provides data on number and area of protected areas. (www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/landreferencemanual/default.aspx) While the changes since 2012 in the table below are minimal, it should be noted that the new protected areas created through the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan do not yet appear in the data set on the above website; it is expected that they will appear in the 2014 table. In the absence of those new areas, we see the removal of three natural areas and one provincial recreation area, but a very slight increase in the total area of the protected areas of roughly 965 hectares (or about 0.03 percent). Overall this comprises a “downgrade” of roughly 2000 hectares of natural area to provincial recreation area, plus the creation of around 1000 more hectares of the same.

Name Number Acres Hectares 2013 2012 2013 2012 2013 2012 Willmore 1 1 1,135,872.00 1,135,872.00 459,671.04 459,671.04 Wilderness Park Ecological 15 15 66,329.29 66,329.29 26,843.34 26,843.34 Reserves Wilderness 3 3 249,548.80 249,548.80 100,988.79 100,988.79 Areas Wildland 32 32 4,278,338.96 4,278,338.96 1,731,439.59 1,731,439.59 Parks Heritage 2 2 29,677.84 29,677.84 12,010.47 12,010.47 Rangelands Provincial 75 75 546,053.38 546,053.38 220,987.19 220,987.19 Parks Natural 139 141 318,441.52 323,355.82 128,871.98 130,860.79 Areas Provincial 208 209 217,180.71 209,880.83 87,891.71 84,937.56 Recreation Areas

TOTAL 475 478 6,841,442.50 6,839,056.92 2,768,704.11 2,767,738.78

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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

COMMISSION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law.

AWA continues to emphasize the important role that the CEC Secretariat can play in facilitating activities related to capacity building and information sharing. AWA looks forward to continuing to advance grassland biodiversity conservation at the continental level with renewed and always valuable efforts from the CEC.

TEMPERATE GRASSLAND CONSERVATION In an effort to increase the rate of progress in conserving and protecting temperate grasslands, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas created the Grasslands Protected Areas Task Force, now a Specialist Group, in 1996. This Specialist Group launched the Temperate Grasslands Conservation Initiative (TGCI) in June 2008 at an International Grasslands Congress workshop in Hohhot, China in which the AWA participated. The TGCI has described the state of the world’s temperate grasslands and has supported various temperate grassland conservation initiatives. The mission of the TGCI is “To reverse the trend of biodiversity loss and degradation of temperate grasslands by promoting both the designation and special management of representative protected areas and the widespread use of sustainable management practices beyond protected area boundaries, with the goal of at least doubling the current level of protection by 2014.” This work continues to build on various international programs as well as the Hohhot Declaration of 2008 which states: “…temperate grasslands are critically endangered and urgent action is required to protect and maintain the many valuable ecological services they provide.” The TGCI hopes to assist grassland conservation by educating and influencing decision-makers responsible for temperate grassland management and protection. In North America, the TGCI is working on revitalizing the Northern Plains Conservation Network as well as supporting the work of the Crossing the Medicine Line Network. AWA continues to receive materials and participate in TGCI discussions on an ad hoc basis.

NORTHERN PLAINS CONSERVATION NETWORK NPCN is a network of more than 25 organizations working together to conserve the wildlife and habitat of the Northern Plains. With assistance from groups including the AWA, the NPCN has hired a part-time coordinator and is working on three big initiatives: energy, grassland birds and bison. Grassland birds initiatives have focal areas in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, including campaigns to secure long-term protection for Onefour Research Farm in Alberta and Govenlock (and other) PFRA pastures in Saskatchewan. as the futures of these sites are uncertain, as they are being relinquished by the Government of Canada to the provinces, despite their importance for recovery of many species at risk in Canada.

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TWINNING OF TWO SIGNIFICANT INTERNATIONAL RAMSAR SITES The international cooperation that has been achieved through the twinning of Hay-Zama Lakes in Alberta and Dalai Lake Nature Reserve is valued and the friendships created from the will to defend natural places are significant. It has already resulted in increased resources and protection for each of these two sites involved in this international partnership. Lack of staffing in Hay-Zama Wildland Park has made it difficult for Alberta to maintain its agreement for support of the Dalai Lakes staff. AWA hopes this will resolve in the coming year and received correspondence from the Minister of Tourism Parks and Recreation indicating a staff member would be in place soon.

STRENGTH AND CAPACITY

Our members are the force and means of Alberta Wilderness Association. We continue to evaluate operations, develop capacity, and reorganize based on strategic directions. AWA displays leadership capacity by reinvigorating its organization, developing staff skill, and renewing efforts with strategies and tactics to meet our mission. AWA is determined to continue to play a leadership role, build community partnerships, and focus on our grassroots connections. Our members and supporters are of utmost importance. Our members and supporters throughout the province and around the World are our eyes on wilderness areas in their regions. We depend on local contacts informing AWA staff of potential or active threats to Alberta’s wild places and providing us with local information that may otherwise be inaccessible to us. There is no more important role for AWA than to ensure that our members and the public at large are informed on wilderness issues in a way that motivates people and leads to positive action to defend wild lands and wildlife.

Volunteers are crucial to our success. Volunteers help with office assistance, office building and garden maintenance, and organization of and participation in events such as talks and hikes, benefit concerts, casino fundraising, the Climb and Run for Wilderness, and the Wild West Gala.

WILD LANDS ADVOCATE The Wild Lands Advocate (WLA) is AWA’s news journal; it provides information and perspectives on Alberta’s wilderness that will facilitate its conservation through awareness and action. It is crucial to informed public debate in Alberta.

The journal reports news and information about the work of AWA and its supporters. It tells the stories of Wild Alberta, and the people involved, through investigation and personal accounts. It provides timely, accurate, interesting, and useful information to AWA supporters and the general public by using news, stories, and perspectives on issues pertaining to Alberta’s wilderness and AWA’s work. AWA staff takes ownership and leadership for articles in the WLA, and a team effort has increased its readability and relevance. The WLA is published in full colour six times annually. The editor of the WLA is Ian Urquhart. AWA believes it is important to use the services of a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified business for producing all print material and Topline Printing was one of, if not the first, print shop to receive that designation in Alberta. Topline has been a supporter of the WLA for many years. The designer for the WLA layout has moved this year and we are in transition to find a suitable replacement.

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ALBERTA WILDERNESS RESOURCE CENTRE Wilderness Resource Centre archiving and cataloguing continued to move forward this year. Specifically a paper archive of critical administrative records has been digitized with paper records sealed and stored. A bar code inventory system has a second pass completing the work of bar coding all bound publications. Our on-line catalogue database is partially developed, and continued development and growth of the Electronic Wilderness Resource Centre (EWRC), so that we have top of the line technology and storage capacity, is in place. We are routinely filing in the EWRC, building our collection and the historical records of wilderness in Alberta. We have also instituted a daily routine for external back up of our EWRC. Paper filing is minimal as we have made a significant transition to electronic filing and storage, staff are opting for electronic storage as much as possible. The electronic system facilitates ease of sharing and secure storage.

ONLINE PRESENCE AWA has excellent websites, stored off-site and secure from the risks of failing, aging technology. We have a first rate electronic newsletter service that has eliminated difficulty in delivering important messages to members, supporters and those who have self-selected to be on the lists. We have made good progress in maintaining content on the sites and believe these websites are key to our outreach work. We have received recognition from colleagues and others for our ability to get the news out quickly to a broad audience.

AWA has five websites: www.AlbertaWilderness.ca www.ClimbforWilderness.ca www.SavetheGrizzlies.ca www.NoMoreGrizzlies.com www.GoWildAlberta.ca (our online purchasing and donation site)

The three main list serve newsletters are: General AWA News and Events (2,099 addresses on this list) Media News (322 outlets on this list) Wilderness & Wildlife Defenders (folks who will take action, write letters, respond to issues; 619 on this list)

We also have lists that are specific to various campaigns and events: Climb for Wilderness (1,979 addresses across three related lists) Gala (316 addresses) Sage-grouse Partnership list, Fish and Forests list, etc.

In August 2012, AWA switched our primary email provided from Shaw to a dedicated email service (abwild.ca). This helps with AWA branding, in addition to giving us finer control over spam filtering and like services.

AWA continues to maintain a social media presence, with one Facebook page (user AlbertaWilderness) and two primary Twitter accounts (@ABWilderness and @Climb4Wild) in addition to various Twitter accounts maintained by individual staff members.

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ALBERTA WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE DEFENDERS AWA’s Alberta Wilderness and Wildlife Defenders program continues to give people the opportunity to have an active voice in some of the decisions being made that affect Alberta’s wilderness and wildlife. More than 600 participants are contacted through AWA’s online listserv. Throughout the year, eleven alerts were sent out on a variety of issues ranging from motorized access in Eastern Slopes headwaters to Suffield National Wildlife Area, Mount Norquay summer use expansion in Banff National Park, industrial activity in caribou ranges, PFRA pastures, and more. AWA receives numerous copies of letters and emails sent by participants as part of this program.

HIKES, TALKS, FILMS AND TOURS OUTREACH PROGRAM The 2012-2013 year continued to be challenging in terms of coordination. The outreach coordinator position fluctuated between a number of people with support duties assigned among AWA office staff and volunteers on an ad-hoc basis. Consequently, outreach activities were organized by different staff members as needs dictated. As with the previous year, an emphasis continued to be placed on retaining corporate memory of outreach program operations so that the success of previous years would be maintained.

The summer hike season had the additional challenge posed by the floods throughout southern Alberta in June 2013. With a voluntary backcountry ban imposed on the entire southern foothills and Eastern Slopes, several planned AWA outings had to be postponed or cancelled to accommodate the circumstances. Overall the year saw six hikes, one backpack trip and one bus tour take 102 guests into five of Alberta’s six natural regions. These numbers, despite the above difficulties, point to a strong program that continues to meet with success in its goal of exposing the public to the natural beauty of these wilderness areas, and helping fulfill the awareness aspect of AWA’s mission. The hikes program continues to recognize importance of the outreach program as a means for keeping in contact with the local community that lives in and around AWAs areas of concern.

The slate of Tuesday Talks for this year likewise saw good turnout. Seven talks and two workshops at the Hillhurst school plus members nights in Edmonton and Edson brought an audience of nearly 400 to hear about AWA’s work and concerns throughout the province. Of particular note was the members night in Edmonton: rather than follow the previous model of a more formal affair held at the Royal Glenora Club (or similar upscale establishment), the deliberate choice was made to hold an informal get-together at the Wild Earth Café. This format proved to be significantly more popular with a good turnout, and a lively discussion about AWA’s work ensued.

MUSIC FOR THE WILD The fifth year of the Music for the Wild program continued, under consistent volunteer coordination by George Campbell, to attract a segment of the population that does not often get wide exposure to AWA’s outreach and messaging. Music for the Wild events are very well attended, filling the AWA Hillhurst Room to capacity whenever they are held. They prove to be an excellent venue for selling memberships and merchandise, in addition to spreading awareness. This year, four music nights were

51 attended by approximately 270 people, with every one having sold out in an indication of the widespread appeal of the program. We look forward to continuing this new AWA tradition in the years to come.

CLIMB AND RUN FOR WILDERNESS AND THE WILD ALBERTA EXPO The 22nd annual Climb and Run for Wilderness was held at the Calgary Tower on April 20, 2013. This year’s event was attended by roughly 2,000 people, including 1,300 climbers plus their families and other spectators, volunteers and more, and constituted the single largest outreach opportunity in the AWA calendar. The athletic events of the day are complemented by the Wild Alberta Expo, an environmental fair held at the base of the tower, which is now in its tenth year. In addition to entertainment and music, the expo incorporated 35 displays from environmental organizations across Calgary and Alberta. The Expo was bookended by two AWA displays that used this excellent opportunity to educate attendees on AWA’s conservation work.

HILLHURST COTTAGE SCHOOL The Cottage School we lease from the city of Calgary has served as our offices, Wilderness Resource Centre and meeting place since the mid 1970's. Designated as a Provincial Historic Site, AWA maintains and cares for the building. It is at times an onerous task and requires significant volunteerism to augment what financial resources AWA can dedicate to keep the building safe and representative as a historic cottage school building. The City of Calgary is in the process of disposing of historic properties and the Hillhurst Cottage School has been identified as one of the properties they want to sell. AWA expected to be in negotiation in the past year in regards to this decision but there have been no new developments. A generous donor has provided a gift that would help to begin fundraising for the purchase of the building if we must go that route.

NEWCOMERS PROGRAM Alberta’s population, due in part to our strong economy, has grown impressively in recent times. Statistics Canada reported that Alberta’s 2006 population was 3,290,350, 25.2 percent higher than it was in 1996. Immigration is an important part of that growth and is changing dramatically the demographic composition of our citizens. To take Calgary as an example, in 2006, 23.6 percent of Calgarians were born abroad. Given the significance of immigration it is imperative that AWA try to expand our membership to include these new Canadians. As an increasingly significant component of the Canadian citizenry they are now, and will be more so in the future, a crucial source of support for our goals.

Recognizing this, AWA, has kept this element of our work at the forefront, but without financial support AWA did not initiate another offering of the same newcomers program in 2013. We have however, continued to communicate with those involved in the original program and provided information about opportunities to become involved in AWA. AWA will continue incorporating opportunities for newcomers in all our programming.

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COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS Throughout the year, AWA participated in a wide range of community events, including conferences, workshops and talks. Brief examples out of the hundreds include participation at various ENGO AGMs, such as those for the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance and the Prairie Conservation Forum; attendance at Bow River, Red Deer River and other watershed alliance planning meetings; participation in Southern Foothills community meetings, presentations to school groups, water presentations to various community groups, and more.

This year, the Hillhurst Cottage School was the venue for a couple of unique events. In February, AWA played host to Senator Grant Mitchell as he presented the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medals to four deserving Alberta conservationists, including AWA Conservation Specialist Carolyn Campbell. In his remarks, Senator Mitchell congratulated the recipients and spoke about their outstanding individual contributions to conservation and our environment.

Later in April, the building was turned into an Art Gallery and its doors thrown open to the public as it hosted A Shifting Balance, a weekend-long art show and reception featuring the work of three local artists whose pieces highlight conservation and environmental issues around the province.

As is the case every year, AWA has continued to be active in the wider community, putting up displays at several farmers markets as well as specialized events such as the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival, the Greening of Bowness community fair, and similar. While it can be difficult to estimate the number of people that take the opportunity to view the displays, these events remain an excellent opportunity to engage with the community and raise awareness.

EARTH DAY AWA’s Annual Earth Day event held at the Calgary Tower is an outstanding event, held to increase public awareness of wilderness, wildlife and wild water in Alberta. The Climb and Run for Wilderness attracts participants from 2 to 96 years old, with a diverse range of athletic ability. A family day, a corporate challenge day, a fun time, and a serious opportunity to test one’s personal best are all combined in this event. The event is known as the best Earth Day event in western Canada and this year attracted nearly 2,000 individual participants, volunteers, exhibitors, family and friends and other spectators. The Climb and Run for Wilderness receives significant media attention from such outlets as the Calgary Herald, Global, CBC and City TV as well as many local radio stations. The event attracts people from all over western Canada and the United States and results in $100,000 in donations to AWA. Conservation groups and vendors set up displays throughout the Calgary Tower mall to help participants learn about their work and or their environmentally-focused products.

In the month prior to the climb day AWA holds a Mural Painting Competition that has produced an amazing gallery of murals on the walls of the stairwell. With more than 100 murals featuring wild lands, wildlife and wild water, the opportunity for artists to showcase their talents and for climbers to feel refreshed and inspired, the mural competition yields one of the signature aspects of the Climb and Run for Wilderness.

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We believe this event is one of the very best opportunities Calgary has to help strengthen community. It provides opportunities for people of every age, creed and race. It is focused on a healthy environment, biodiversity, and a wealth of clean abundant water, wildlife and wild spaces for all of us. The event provides a challenge and connects AWA with celebrations for Earth Day around the world.

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATORY BIRD DAY In concert with International Migratory Bird Day in May, AWA performed outreach and advocacy work publicizing the situation of the greater sage-grouse in southeast Alberta, and more widely, issues pertaining to threats to migratory bird species that use the grasslands.

Nighthawk – Nigel Douglas

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FINANCING WILDERNESS PROTECTION

REVENUE Funds received from donations by members, supporters and fundraising are vital to the health of AWA and provided 87% of our total revenue. Granting agencies in this year included Alberta Sport Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundation, The Calgary Foundation, Government of Canada, and Canadian Energy Pipeline Association. We are achieving our strategic goal to decrease dependence on foundation grants. As we have noted for several years, we are depending more and more on individual donor financial support.

AWA funding generated through fundraising events comes largely from our annual Earth Day event, Climb and Run for Wilderness; and the Wild West Gala in the fall. Significant effort to develop sponsorships for the Climb and Run for Wilderness has not culminated in a lead sponsor. Funds raised at casinos are part of this category. Casinos are offered to AWA approximately every two years; we were prepared for a casino in July 2013 but the building was flooded and we did not participate as volunteers. Fortunately, a decision was made that even though some organizations were flooded out; they would be included in the payout for that quarter. AWA’s share of casino funds will be paid in the fall of 2013.

Fundraising and gifts from donors allow AWA to be financially independent and free to speak out for wilderness protection. In the past few years we have had strength in our reserves as a target and we have been building our position in regard to cash flow. Our end of year financial statements reflect our success as we build a reserve fund for the Association’s general health and begin developing a building fund that we will need for the purchase of the Hillhurst Cottage School. Our voting membership has grown modestly in the past year and stands at 4,756 individuals; representing 201 communities in Alberta, in addition to national and international members. We hope that a strong focus on membership development in the coming year will assist in creating a larger donor base.

EXPENDITURES The main focus of our organization is wilderness stewardship, conservation, and outreach; the expenditures in this category include the Alberta Wilderness Resource Centre. This category accounts appropriately for the largest portion of our expenditures (76%). Development costs include expenses incurred in developing our core values, and creating broader awareness of the association and its mandate, “Defending Wild Alberta through Awareness and Action.” This category includes developing membership and supporters as well as applying for grants. We did spend less in this category than in other years as we were able to depend on a good deal of volunteer support while we continued to achieve important growth this year. General and administrative costs of 16% represent an efficient and carefully managed association, supported significantly by volunteerism. Rent, insurance, telephone, office equipment and supplies, bank charges, audit charges, travel, and non-recoverable GST are included in General and Administration costs.

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ALBERTA WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE LEGACY CIRCLE

AWA is dedicated to securing a more deliberate long-term approach to funding security. The elements that are required are in place.

BEQUESTS It is the Board of Directors’ hope that individuals, members, and supporters will make a bequest in their will naming a gift to AWA. Bequests to AWA will make a significant difference to our long-term security and our ability to plan for the future.

WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE BEQUESTS Daphne M. Smith 1980 Dr. James Birkett Cragg 1997 Anna Nowick 1999 Myrtle Muriel Koch 2001 Ian Ross 2003 Dorothy Barry 2003 William Mayer 2004 Diane Hughes 2005 Harold deVries 2009 Ann Roberts 2009 Richard Collier 2013

LIFETIME GIVING AWA works to recognize all donors and the lifetime giving and commitment they make to the association. All those donors who make cumulative gifts greater than $20,000 will be recognized on a plaque initiated for AWA’s 45th anniversary. These individuals will be designated as Wilderness and Wildlife Benefactors.

WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE BENEFACTORS (LIFETIME GIVING GREATER THAN $20,000) Ian Ross Lorne Fitch Bruce and Eveline Goodall Anonymous Richard and Vivian Pharis Dorothy Berry & the Berndt Family Chris Saunders Clint and Julie Docken Joe Vipond and Family Chris and Ken Havard Cliff and Terry Wallis Mary Kettenbach Christyann Olson Laura Jackson

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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES

Memorial tributes provide an opportunity to contribute to AWA’s long-term funding security. As a further memorial and tribute to those who have been remembered with a memorial gift to AWA by their family and friends, we have wall plaques with their names that hang in AWA’s office and we are remembering them here in our annual Report.

Donations in Memoriam 2012-2013

Kenneth Adams 1921-2013 David Manzer 2006 Jim Bain 1929-2013 Murray Manzer Shirley Bracko 1929-2012 Frank McMillan Jeanette Campbell 1944-2012 Grant McNabb 2013 Gene Cervo 1954-2013 Dennis Mercer 1941-2013 Ed Cesar 1924-2012 Charles Miller 1921-2009 Frances Cesar 1930-2005 Esther Mionsek 1917-2012 Richard Collier 1941-2012 Charles Pawluk 2013 Neil Coy 1929-2013 Frank Petry 1935-2012 Roger Creasey 1953-2012 Zoe Preston 1921-2013 Dawn Dickinson 1930 - 2013 Ian Ross 1958-2003 Gregory Duker 1960-2013 Al Russell 1940-2013 Douglas Evans 1944-2012 Basil Seaton 1919-2012 Donald Filafilo 1934-2012 Doug Soprovich 1961-2012 David Gaulter 1922-2012 Ann Tweedie 2013 Aileen Hadden 1931 - 2013 Allan Wall 1965-2013 Hugh Hicklin 1920-2009 Evan Williams 1926-2013 Dennis Kropinak 1943-2012 Robert Williams 1943-2013 Charles Lacy 1933-2013 Shana Zimmer 1941-2012 Richard Lowndes 1939-2012

ALBERTA WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE TRUST Alberta Wilderness and Wildlife Trust is a permanent endowment fund for Alberta’s wilderness and an integral part of wilderness for tomorrow. Carefully nurtured, the fund will grow over the generations to come. Years from today, that fund will continue to provide for the care and protection of Alberta’s natural landscapes.

The Trust began in 1986 as a memorial fund established as a tribute to biologist Orval Pall. Throughout the years, families seeking to remember their own loved ones have found solace and strength in devoting resources to the memorial fund, which was dedicated to support the protection of wilderness in Alberta. On the fifteenth anniversary of the fund, AWA established the Trust as an endowment fund with the Calgary Foundation in order to support the long-term sustainability of the Association. The Trust will support wilderness programs and research that contribute to the protection, understanding,

and appreciation of wilderness, wild waters, and wildlife. The current fund balance has not grown significantly but is a tribute to numerous small donations from concerned individuals. The fund suffered with the economic downturn and today the balance is $21,729.93. The endowment fund’s annual distribution (2013 – $996.00) is dedicated to the Martha Kostuch Annual Wilderness and Wildlife Lecture and the Wilderness Defender Awards.

ANNUAL WILDERNESS AND WILDLIFE TRUST GUEST LECTURE Each year in November, AWA hosts the Martha Kostuch Annual Wilderness and Wildlife Lecture, given by a renowned guest speaker. Sponsored by the Alberta Wilderness and Wildlife Trust, the Annual Lecture is an opportunity to present the ideas of researchers, writers or those active in a field related to conservation of wilderness or wildlife. The lecture is meant to challenge AWA as well as to inform those attending. AWA presents these lectures in pursuit of its mission “Defending Wild Alberta through Awareness and Action.”

Martha Kostuch was an expert in consensus-based decision making and her work helped join groups that traditionally might not have worked together. She sought ways to make the system work so we could move forward. Kostuch was a “feisty, fine woman, who never hesitated to speak her mind.” When she recognized things weren’t right, she would fight very hard, tirelessly, to make sure that there was a change and that it would be better for all of us.

Kostuch, who died April 23, 2008, was a national leader, an Alberta Wilderness Defender and a woman who leaves a vital legacy. AWA has honoured her legacy and her memory by naming our annual lecture the Martha Kostuch Annual Wilderness and Wildlife Lecture.

This year’s lecture was given by fisheries biologist (retired) Lorne Fitch, who has been a tireless advocate for Alberta’s waters from inside ESRD, and the departments preceding it, for over 30 years. Lorne spoke of reading, and rereading, Aldo Leopold’s book A Sand County Almanac and how he has found it a source of insight and inspiration to continue fighting for ecological protection of Alberta’s wilderness.

WILDERNESS DEFENDERS AWARDS The Alberta Wilderness Defenders Awards are dedicated to individuals who have particularly inspired us with their love of Alberta’s wild lands, wildlife and wild water, and their efforts and achievements for conservation. The Alberta Wilderness Association presents annual awards, to recognize such individuals.

These individuals have recognized that Alberta’s wilderness is among the most pristine in the world and cannot be taken for granted. They know that our wild places are the source of our health, wealth, and quality of life and that we must take an active role in their conservation. This year, awards were presented to Alison Dinwoodie and Lorne Fitch, both tireless wilderness defenders and advocates for a wild Alberta.

GREAT GRAY OWL AWARDS

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Like the great gray owl, with unending patience and dedication to purpose, these individuals work in quiet wisdom to conserve wilderness habitat and wild creatures. Our success is a reflection of the enduring commitment they have made to Alberta Wilderness Association.

2010 marked the launch of AWA's Great Gray Owl Award. Inspired in particular by three outstanding women and the significant contribution they have made over the past several years, this award will be presented annually as individuals meet the high standard of volunteerism, dedication and commitment of these inaugural award winners. Anne Fabris, Linda Javeri and Margaret Main were the 2010 recipients of the award. Ed Hergott, tireless supporter of our outreach program and events, received the award in 2011.

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HOPE FOR TOMORROW

Each year I complete this annual report in November and while the report is based on the year ending July 31, 2013, so much has happened and will happen in the coming months. Without being foolhardy and yet optimistic enough to carry on, we hold on to the dedication, integrity and passion of AWA's staff and board members to be the core of our ability to keep moving forward. The long-term financial stability needed is a perennial issue but the financial climate has not reached the depths of a decade ago and we are in a good position. Uncertainty about our current office location presents a challenge we will continue to face, but the generosity of our major donors allows us to continue working to build financial security. That effort and the security we have in place is what allows our staff to work freely, pursuing every possible lead, facing every challenge and developing expertise to represent AWA and its members with conviction and well researched, sound arguments. Above all however, is the absolute certainty that we care and we will take a stand and we will have Hope for Tomorrow.

Christyann Olson

Sage Creek hikers - Paul Sutherland

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