April 2008 • Vol. 16, No. 2

AWA

Woodman Lake Area, Canadian Shield Natural Region Photo: C. Wallis

Ro o m t o Ro a m / 4

Wi l d l i f e Co rr i d o r s —Th e Ca n m o r e Ex p e r i e n c e / 6

Ki l l i n g Wi l d l i f e t o Sa v e Wi l d l i f e / 18

A Te n p e a t a n d Ch a n g e — Le t ’s St a r t w i t h t h a t Ot h e r Ta r Sa n d s Consultation / 23 Editor: Joyce Hildebrand CapONTENTSril 2008 • VOL. 16, NO. 2 Editorial Advisory Board: Fe a t u r e s Wi l d e r n e s s Wa t c h Pam Asheton, Julie Black, Sarah Crook, Andy Marshall, Sharon McIntyre 4 Ro o m t o Ro a m 16 Up d a t e s 6 Wi l d l i f e Co rr i d o r s — Th e 18 Ki l l i n g Wi l d l i f e t o Sa v e Printing by: Ca n m o r e Ex p e r i e n c e Wi l d l i f e Colour printing and process is 9 Ba n f f Pa rk Hi g h w a y Cr o s s i n g s 19 Ce l e b r a t i n g St e w a r d s sponsored by Topline Printing Be n e f i t Wi l d l i f e a n d Hu m a n s — Al b e r t a Wa t e r s h e d St e w a r d s h i p In i t i a t i v e s 10 Ca r n i v o r e Co rr i d o r s Th r e a t e n e d i n t h e Cr o w s n e s t 22 Re cr e a t i o n Co rr i d o r s Pr o j e c t Ma p s t h e St a t u s Qu o 13 Sk y Co rr i d o r s — Bi r d Mi g r a t i o n s a l o n g t h e Sp i n e o f 23 A Te n p e a t a n d Ch a n g e — Le t ’s t h e Co n t i n e n t St a r t w i t h t h a t Ot h e r Ta r Graphic Design: Sa n d s Consultation 15 Wh y Di d t h e Sa l a m a n d e r Ball Creative Cr o s s t h e Ro a d ? De p a r t m e n t s Wild Lands Advocate is published bi-monthly, 6 times a year, by Alberta Wilderness 25 Le t t e r s Association. The opinions 27 As s o c i a t i o n Ne w s expressed by the authors in this 29 Ev e n t s publication are not necessarily those of AWA. The editors 30 On e Wi l d Su m m e r reserve the right to edit, reject or withdraw articles and letters submitted.

Please direct questions and comments to: Joyce Hildebrand Phone: (403) 283-2025 Cover Photo Fax: (403) 270-2743 Cliff Wallis took this spectacular photo during field surveys in the northeast [email protected] corner of the province in 1983. Woodman Lake is part of a complex of lakes and wetlands lying just west of the Colin Lake region in the Canadian Shield. Located east of Wood Buffalo National Park, this remote, diverse area of rock outcrops, sand plains, extensive wetlands, and interconnected lakes remains largely intact 25 years after the photo was taken.

Box 6398, Station D, Calgary, Alberta T2P 2E1 Robin White’s cover photo for the February 2008 WLA is one of his many wildlife photos, Ph: (403) 283-2025 available for viewing at NatureWatch Partners’ website: www.naturewatchworld.com. Toll-free 1-866-313-0713 AWA respects the privacy of members. Lists are not sold or traded in any manner. AWA is a federally registered charity www.AlbertaWilderness.ca and functions through member and donor support. Tax-deductible donations may be made to AWA at Box 6398 Station D, Calgary, AB T2P 2E1. Ph: (403) 283-2025 Fax: (403) 270-2743 E-mail: [email protected] www.AlbertaWilderness.ca e-mail: [email protected]

Th e El e c t i o n Is Ov e r — No Ti m e t o Cr y i n Ou r Be e r !

Along with just over 40 percent of eligible Alberta voters, I did my civic duty March 3 and voted in the provincial election. I was hopeful that Albertans who care about the environment would stand up, be counted, and receive a pleasant surprise late Monday evening. I honestly can’t say I was shocked, but I was obviously disappointed by the poor voter turnout and the election results. Perhaps we are too content as we slide back in the comfort of our easy chairs, living in the land of milk and honey with money flowing in, knowing our environment is being well cared for. Whoa … really? Rewind and play back that last thought. Surely Albertans don’t believe that! Has our head-of-the-class economic position clouded our minds to what is really happening in our own backyards? Did almost 60 percent of Albertans not care enough to vote? I have three observations. First, not everyone who voted PC wants to ruin the environment. Second, a very significant number of Albertans who believe that the wanton destruction has gone too far voted against the PCs. Although the three parties ranked highest by the Conservation Voters of Alberta (NDs, Liberals, and Greens) for their progressive environmental platforms garnered almost 40 percent of the popular vote, they captured only 10 percent of the seats. Third, a larger number of concerned Albertans believe that the system is broken and just stayed home. Polls clearly show that most of us (including PCs) don’t like what we are doing to Alberta’s land, air, and water, as well as the wildlife that are dependent upon them. The essentially one-party system that works against environmental protection and that we constantly re-elect in Alberta is not a function of an uninformed electorate. It simply seems impossible for “conservation” voters to achieve adequate representation. The current system engenders grossly disproportionate representation on a broad range of issues that voters care about, including the environment. The election results crystallize in my mind the need to focus political efforts in two areas: first, continue pushing the PCs to revamp their environmental platform and, second, advocate for some type of proportional representation. It is outrageous that 22 percent of the electorate can determine who fills 88 percent of the seats.Without proportional representation, the conservation voice will continue to be drowned out by the development voice. This kind of electoral reform is a long-term effort and outside the mandate of charitable organizations like AWA. It is perhaps best advocated by individual citizens and emerging groups such as the Conservation Voters of Alberta (www.conservationvoters.ab.ca). In the meantime, the development onslaught continues unabated. AWA and other groups are facing a deluge of work on the conservation front — integrating approaches to land and watershed management; completing the protected areas network; and addressing Alberta’s contribution to climate change. There is also the inevitable bumper crop of brush fires to put out — the Dunvegan hydropower project on the mighty Peace; the proposal for a 24-hour international trucking corridor through the wildest prairies of southeastern Alberta; the continuing destruction of critical caribou habitat in the foothills and boreal forest; and the 1,270 shallow gas wells proposed to be drilled in the Suffield NationalWildlife Area. It has never been busier or tougher for AWA to defend Wild Alberta, but this is no time to cry in our beer over the election. We need to re-energize, roll up our sleeves, and get back Giant pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea) to work! photo: C. Wallis — Cliff Wallis, AWA Vice-President

But now, we find wilderness and But now, way humans have changed the world. An original matrix has been flipped. For millennia, humans in this place Alberta, their possessions we now call and constructions, existed in a context This is not of surrounding wilderness. to deny a growing realization of the Aboriginal Peoples may significant role have played in the landscape, or the extent to which they manipulated it, but the scale or relative no one would argue permanence of their influence compared to that wielded by contemporary society. wildlife habitat shrinking, increasingly surrounded and isolated by a storm of The human enterprise in myriad guises. islands created as a result provide habitat for many species. In fact, for some species they may contain the only viable habitat remaining in a human-dominated as the human bootprint Yet landscape. grows, the islands become smaller and the distances between them greater. And if individual islands, or habitat Recognition has slowly dawned The importance of wildlife corridors Fragmentation is more insidious: rather Fragmentation is more insidious: rather than obliterate habitats, it carves them into pieces. It may occur in one grand gesture or it may take the form of incremental changes that increasingly restrict travel options for wildlife. that if humans want other species to persist in the long term, habitat must be protected, but so must the ecological processes in which these animals are so intimately engaged. Movement is one of these processes. Herbivores, or plant eaters, such as deer and elk must have access to feeding sites, and carnivores must have access to herbivores. relationships are crucial Predator-prey in properly functioning ecosystems, but the fundamental process underlying the search for food — the chase, the meal or the escape, and their endless repetition — is movement. is a reflection of the way the world has changed — or to be more precise, the the CPR rail line, the town of Canmore Highway and Along with the Trans-Canada strips of habitat. squeezing wildlife into narrow takes up most of the Bow Valley, : M. Shuster Photo o a m R t o o o m By Mike McIvor By Mike R

oncerns about wildlife corridors oncerns about wildlife cluster around one fundamental their means principle: whatever

Extent of movement varies according

Habitat Fragmentation The enemy of wildlife movement is This comes landscape fragmentation. in a variety of forms, some of which but are natural, such as rivers or cliffs, more and more are human built, such as reservoirs, fences, mines, clear- cuts, roads and highways, towns, and cities. Problems caused by the outright destruction of wildlife habitat and the threats posed to the capability of some species to survive, let alone thrive, have been acknowledged for a long time, although government land managers have been shamefully slow to respond. of propulsion — legs, fins, wings — of propulsion — legs, Ecological animals need to move. requirements for conditions that meet to and the opportunity food, shelter, across unevenly distributed are reproduce They change through the landscapes. decades, year, a season, a day, a of course The ability to move is what or centuries. enables each species to obtain resources vital for survival. Until the recent past, until humans came to dominate so much of the landscape, animals simply in many places, they can moved. Now, move only if we allow them to, and This is what wildlife we’ll decide where. corridors are about. to species. It may be measured in centimetres or the span of continents; it may be frequent or once in a lifetime. Bull trout move more than snails, mule deer more than long-toed salamanders, and wolves more than ground squirrels, but none of these will travel nearly as far as many migratory birds. Motivating seasonal factors could be time of day, access to mates and food supply, breeding sites, avoidance of risks such natural as predation, depth of snow, or human-caused disturbance, or the inclination to disperse. C

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F 4 Fe a t u r e s WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 5 Humans have spent the last several to perform with governments, developers, developers, governments, with to perform their achievements and recreationists, devoted those who have are significant; and energy amounts of time tremendous deserve our gratitude. to this cause it to their perseverance, Indeed, thanks Canmore as thought the South now looks the bare minimum.) corridors will exceed Beyond the Minimum to be realistic about It should be possible for the current state of consideration — small gains come wildlife movement painful struggles about through long, — without and losses are ongoing force of succumbing to the debilitating being overly naïve Without cynicism. bulldozers in the face of rampaging we think Alberta, why shouldn’t in well beyond compliance with the Bare protection Today Minimum Rule? of wildlife corridors may be seen as experimental: time will tell if they are adequate for meeting conservation objectives in the long term. Could their establishment be seen as a way in which modern society is playing catch-up after our uncaring haste to overwhelm that their the extent To the planet? functionality is dependent on people constraining themselves, perhaps they are a form of penance. At hundred years taking the world apart. this point, should we be satisfied with salvage operations or should we demand wildlife corridors, With a new beginning? no matter how stingy and flawed, there is hope — hope of sustained ecological them, there is Without connections. the connections we make Whether none. are acts of maintenance or restoration, whether they take the form of highway crossing structures or routes around human communities, maybe we should view them as the tentative beginning of our own movement in a different way of returning. Small, A direction. initial steps toward putting the world back together. Mike McIvor calls the Bow Valley home, having lived in Banff for over 40 of the Bow Valley years. He is president that has been active Naturalists, a group since 1967. area in the Banff-Canmore of Directors Board AWA He served on the for 13 years, stepping down in 1994. Typically, these corridors are Typically, Despite research showing that human Despite research use is the primary factor deterring using these highway wildlife from underpasses, Parks Canada has not preferring instituted an outright closure, this plea for cooperation instead. : D. McIvor Photo have bequeathed to the original occupants. designed not to be generous to wildlife The BMR but to be as stingy as possible. insists that rather than connecting patches the of habitat in such a way as to offer costs to wild, four-legged least energy travelers, corridors should have the least negative impacts on human convenience, profits, and recreation. Land management agencies encourage research in ever-finer detail, not so much to enhance protection species as to ensure that targeted are granted no more than absolutely essential space. (None of this is intended to disparage the bare minimum accomplishments. Given the complicated dance conservationists have been forced these corridors — designated through through — designated corridors these and management planning land-use by with guidelines prepared exercises for width, length, shape, biologists and levels of forest cover, density of really — are places wildlife human use and therefore represent want to travel toward fellow acts of human generosity what we most creatures. In reality, corridors” often refer to as “wildlife the newest are sandwiched between side and steep slopes subdivisions on one They are not traditional, on the other. those most likely preferred routes, since they are the last, are under pavement; potential narrow strips with movement even grudgingly, that humans belatedly, But it is important to be honest about To whatever extent the question of whatever To Picture yourself standing on a height The Bare Minimum Rule The Bare been made, and are have Efforts in corridors wildlife protect to continuing, areas where opportunities for movement The hopes and best are most at risk. intentions of corridor proponents, have been hampered by however, To the Bare Minimum Rule (BMR). understand the BMR, it is necessary to know what is meant by the term “wildlife corridor” when it is used in the sense of formal designations such as we have seen Many Valley. in parts of the upper Bow people take solace from the fact that these corridors have been delineated, mapped, and in some cases, properly protected. what actually has been accomplished because there may be a perception that patches, are not large enough to meet enough to large are not patches, some species, for requirements all life must most are not, means and we know Where connect the patches. be found to create islands, we must we have created The primary between them. connections then, in the wildlife corridors purpose of of combat the effects artificial sense, is to artificial fragmentation. entered public and wildlife corridors has those affecting political consciousness, probably mountains the in mammals large Here the effects have the highest profile. presented by of natural fragmentation are compounded fractured geography The towns by human developments. and Canmore, for example, of Banff have covered crucial parts of the rich, productive habitats in the valley bottoms and bulge upward onto adjacent slopes. is Valley The ecological heart of the Bow plugged at these locations; not only has prime habitat been destroyed, but wary wildlife must constantly seek new routes to move up, down, or across the valley, or into tributary drainages such as the Cascade and Spray Rivers. of land above these towns — perhaps on the Spray Lakes Road above Canmore, or Mountain or Sulphur Tunnel on the top of Mountain. Looking at the valley below, cougar, imagine you are a grizzly bear, or wolf wanting to keep your distance from those pesky two-legged critters, are The obstacles but needing to travel. This is formidable; the options, limited. the problem that designation of wildlife corridors is intended to solve. e c i e n r Following the hearing, a 15-year x p e or fatal human-wildlife encounters — it or fatal human-wildlife encounters — it be is imperative that this corridor finally designated as functional. The Battle Begins Corridor Wildlife The South Canmore saga began in 1992, when public Three Sisters Resort’s opposition to Valley Wind proposal to develop the resulted in a hearing before the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB). Interveners included the Bow for Responsible Corridor Organization Development (BowCord), Canadian Society (CPAWS), Wilderness Parks and Naturalists (BVN), and Valley Bow The Association. Wilderness Alberta application was denied, developer’s was established as Valley Wind and the Three Sisters The a conservation area. development was displaced to the Bow with the legal requirement to Valley, provide a multi-species wildlife corridor and Wind on its property to connect the National through to Banff Valleys Bow Park. public battle ensued, with those E e r a n m o C h e T BowCord, 2008 — s r i d o The South Canmore Multi-species the South Canmore In its entirety, rr Commissioned by Valley. Corridor in the Bow River Primary Wildlife The South Canmore km from the Wind Valley Natural Area to Natural Valley Wind km from the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park, on it is bounded by steep mountain slopes Highway Trans-Canada one side and the both of which act as barriers on the other, to wildlife movement. Corridor is the only Wildlife Primary that Valley wildlife corridor in the Bow has any hope of meeting the standards for Corridor a functional wildlife corridor. functionality depends on such factors as corridor width and length, slope steepness, hiding cover for animals, and amount of human use. Corridor extends through interconnecting Pigeon Valley, Wind sections from Flats at the Mountain, and Dead Man’s eastern end, through the Stewart Creek Sisters Resort sections at the Three and Park. western end, to connect to Banff Most of the South Canmore Corridor lies Village Three Sisters Mountain within the resort (TSMV). For wildlife movement — which to be viable Valley in the Bow success of wildlife the maximizing entails management and minimizing injurious o C i l d l i f e By Heather MacFadyen By Heather W

n the 2006 census, the permanent n the 2006 census, the was estimated population of Canmore with non permanent at 11,599,

The Bow Corridor’s deep valleys The Bow Corridor’s For 15 years, local and regional I The South Canmore Primary Corridor The South Canmore The Southern Canmore Region is a 1.5-km-wide strip of land along the This Valley. south side of the Bow narrow strip is part of one of the most important wildlife movement corridors in the region, providing connectivity and Banff Valley between the Kananaskis National Park, and beyond. Stretching 10 residents at 4,818. Between 2005 and residents at 4,818. Between increased population permanent the 2006, while the non- by only 1.4 percent, by burgeoned permanent population continues, the 27 percent. If this trend maximum build-out over the next few years will far exceed these numbers. The non-human population, on the other hand, has not been subjected to a census — that would be difficult for a number of reasons, not the least of which is its And therein lies the extreme mobility. challenge. create only narrow ribbons of habitat non-humans: and humans both by useable how are those ribbons to be shared among species? Human movement and settlement is limited by geography and Wildlife transportation infrastructure. movement and viability is impacted And by human infrastructure and use. Canmore, the fastest growing urban is one of three centre in the Corridor, immediate “pressure points” (the others and Lake Louise areas). being the Banff and their conservation organizations members, scientists, and government agencies have been exploring the design and viability of wildlife corridors in the It is now imperative that Valley. Bow the one wildlife corridor in the Bow that has the potential to exceed Valley the minimum standards for functionality for wildlife be protected from human overuse.

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F 6 Fe a t u r e s WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 7 In 2003 the Province signed a In 2003 the Province This 15-year campaign to establish instructed TSMV that the Board requires Board requires that the TSMV instructed recent scientific of more “the application corridor relation to wildlife thought in requirement ensures This legal design.” have and the developer that the Province corridors that are functional to provide to scientifically defensible according of the South The functionality criteria. also enhanced by Canmore Corridor was Legacy gift of two the 2002 federal G8 at either end. wildlife crossing structures Agreement with Conservation Easement that was substantially revised. TSMV widened, the The corridor had been originally golf fairways and facilities boundaries planned inside the corridor and 600 metres of had been removed, corridor width the 635-metre effective recommended by the 2002 Golder Report Through were protected in perpetuity. land use bylaws supported by the public at many municipal hearings, the Canmore Council of 2003-2006 applied zoning appropriate for corridor functionality Area. In Three Sisters Resort in the 2007 a separate Conservation Easement to TSMV Agreement was signed with protect the remaining 35-metre corridor buffer. a corridor that goes beyond what BVN President Mike McIvor refers to as the “Bare Minimum Rule” has relied on of the extensive and ongoing efforts BVN, Defenders of BowCord, CPAWS, In place of the 1,050-metre-wide In place of the 1,050-metre-wide After many petitions to the NRCB One of the “amenities” sought by those moving to the Canmore area is scenes like is scenes area One of the “amenities” sought by those moving to the Canmore however, human population, this one of Mt. Lougheed by moonlight. The burgeoning than ever. urgent more of wildlife corridors in the Bow Valley makes the protection : R. Berdan Photo withdrew this Conservation Easement. Easement. this Conservation withdrew 1998 to apply the Still unwilling the Province BCEAG guidelines, of Town collaborate with the agreed to to commission an TSMV and Canmore land report to recommend independent that were functionality uses for corridor biologists and acceptable to provincial The scientists. a number of independent Golder Report. result was the 2002 using the BCEAG corridor calculated to 12-kilometre guidelines for a 10- to the minimum corridor (as opposed for a 350 metres width allowable the Golder short corridor section), reducing the Report recommended Area to Resort TSMV width in the 635 metres (including a 35-m corridor protected in perpetuity under a buffer), compensate To conservation easement. land uses for the narrow corridor, downslope were to provide a seasonal increase the which would buffer, functional width of the corridor similar to that recommended using the BCEAG guidelines. Golder recommended that a and natural walking trail, low-density, uses be zoned land then higher-density sequentially further downslope from the corridor. from conservation groups calling for functionality criteria to be applied to the Canmore Corridors, these efforts were rewarded when in 2004 the NRCB CB legal conditions and The NRCB legal conditions In 1995, the Bow Corridor Ecosystem It took until 1998 to develop the By 2000, most sections of the Following the outcry of conservation concerned about establishing a functional a functional establishing about concerned Valley in the Bow corridor wildlife the the Province to apply pressuring scientific guidelines. necessary these clearly state that undertakings as to be protected “in corridors are as possible,” should undeveloped a state and shrub of trees, shrubs consist “largely “activity and should not allow meadow,” Lands of any kind on the Easement an adverse impact which has or may have travel through the on wildlife use and Area.” Easement Primary Corridor and formation The NRCB also called for the Advisory Group of a regional Ecosystem the South Canmore to develop criteria for Corridors. Advisory Group (BCEAG) was established. Comprising representatives of Town from the MD of Bighorn, National Banff of Banff, Town Canmore, Park, and provincial government, the group began to develop corridor guidelines according to the requirements of the NRCB decision. BCEAG guidelines for a functional corridor with adequate width, slope, and It has taken another 10 long hiding cover. years of pressure by conservation groups Alberta public to convince the and the provincial government to apply a rough equivalent of the BCEAG guidelines Area in South Resort TSMV to the Canmore. primary wildlife corridor were still with by the developer, designed largely golf fairways and facilities planned determine just To in those sections. how dysfunctional the corridors were, conservation groups commissioned the Herrero/Jevons report to apply the The guidelines. BCEAG Province’s 2000 report, “Assessing the Design and Corridors in the Wildlife Functionality of Southern Canmore Region,” found the corridors to be deficient in width, slope, points. and hiding cover at different 2000 draft the Province’s However, Conservation Easement for the corridors apply Area did not Resort TSMV in the the BCEAG guidelines, allowing the developer to retain its plans for fairways and facilities in what were essentially “golf corridors.” groups and the public, the Province 2. Designating the rest of the corridor, corridor, the rest of the 2. Designating the corridor at pinch Widening 3. width 4. Expanding the functional 5. Realigning the corridor to Over the past few years, with the of conservation the effort Without buffer, protected under a conservation a conservation under protected buffer, easement. area, using the Stewart Creek east beyond equivalent or their BCEAG guidelines the width, functional corridor to achieve the In this way hiding cover. slope, and the west current disconnect between the corridor can be and east sections of addressed. effectively end Valley Wind the points such as that at of the corridor. the South end of Valley Wind of the returning to the Canmore Corridor by at least the 57 corridor and habitat Gate by Banff acres previously leased Mountain Resort from the Province, along with two parcels of land currently which lie between the TSMV, owned by Valley Corridor and Bow Valley Wind Park. Wildland connect with the existing effectively Stewart Creek wildlife crossing under the Canada Highway. Trans persistent pressure of conservation of and the active efforts organizations Council, most Town the past Canmore of the land uses sequence recommended by the 2002 Golder Report, along with conservation easements on the core wildlife corridor and the west and east have been established corridor buffers, Area of the Three Sisters Resort on the Corridor. Wildlife South Canmore and the public, there would organizations not be a chance for a viable wildlife Now the Valley. corridor in the Bow imperative lies with the current Canmore Council, in conjunction with the Town to extend Province and the developer, corridor functionality and protection to the rest of the South Canmore Corridor Valley. Wind all the way down to the Heather MacFadyen Since 2000, Dr. the campaign to has coordinated establish corridors functional for She has wildlife in South Canmore. of of Directors served on the Board and now of Bow Riverkeeper, CPAWS, for of the Bow Corridor Organization Responsible Development. Previously on the University of Calgary Medical Heather is now a psychological Faculty, consultant in Canmore. What remains to be accomplished by 1. Keeping human use and government sold public land to a private government sold public land to a private Gate Mountain Resort, Banff developer, Wind on property adjacent to the section of the South Canmore Valley The Province is in Corridor. Wildlife the process of revoking the lease of 240 acres of public land and has reduced current the sale close to the resort’s sale the development footprint. However, or development of any land adjacent to the South Canmore Corridor is premature until either the BCEAG or Golder guidelines have been applied to establish maximum functionality. BCEAG 1998 the apply to is Province the guidelines, or their equivalent, to the rest Corridor, Wildlife of the South Canmore This Area. Resort TSMV east of the includes the following: development as far as possible from the Stewart Creek segment of the corridor and extending the 35-metre corridor Now, after years of public hearings, Now, even within the past six However, : R. Sinclair Photo including humans, sharing the Bow Valley. The cougar is one of the many species, Wildlife, Grizzly Bear Alliance, Bow Grizzly Bear Wildlife, of Canmore, and Town the Riverkeeper, These positive efforts Alberta public. the and outcomes have been documented by Stephen Kennett in the 2005 publication of the Canadian Institute of Resource Corridors and the entitled “Wildlife Law, Three Sisters Decision” (www.ucalgary. ca/~cirl/pdf/OP163Sisters.pdf). open houses, and the ruling of the NRCB in 2004 that “more recent scientific thought” be applied to the designation of Wildlife Canmore South the corridors, the Corridor is well on its way to setting a standard significantly above that which the Province was prepared to accept in standard will now become the This 2000. minimum for the remaining sections of the corridor. months, against the recommendations of of Canmore and the opposition Town the of conservationists, the provincial

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F 8 Fe a t u r e s WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 9 e n e f i t In the coming years, Dr. Clevenger In the coming years, Dr. Like it or not, we must recognize that B maintain viable populations of rare and maintain viable populations of rare and wide-ranging species. and his crew plan to study how birds use crossing structures and how small mammals respond to culverts and fences. Studies are currently addressing the feasibility of mitigating sections of Highway 93 South through Kootenay TCH through National Park as well as the the Kicking Horse Pass in B.C. as Nevertheless, roads are here to stay. we understand how wildlife respond to to mitigate the roads and through efforts of roads, we can work negative effects to create a smarter transportation system that allows people and goods to move safely throughout the country while on wildlife. having a negligible effect Bennett (left) is the Banff Wildlife Andrew technician. research Project’s Crossing After completing an MSc in plant moved west to enjoy Andrew ecology, a winter of skiing, snowshoeing, and (right), a Ford Adam T. home-brewing. specialist, is conservation AWA former associate with the Western a research Institute at Montana State Transportation Banff is teaching Bozeman. University, Adam to enjoy winter outside of a hockey arena. o s s i n g s r C : A. Ford/WTI : Photo a y w u m a n s i g h H H a n d rk a P Not only do carnivores use the Use of the crossings has increased Current research is directed at by 80 percent, despite increases in traffic by 80 percent, despite increases in traffic volumes. but they also crossings frequently, have distinct preferences. Grizzlies and wolves tend to choose wide open culverts or overpasses, while black bears and cougars prefer tight concealed passageways. over time. Grizzly bear crossings, for to example, increased from seven in 1996 This shows that more than 100 in 2006. animals take time to become accustomed to the structures and to incorporate the passages into their trail networks. Perhaps the most important lesson for wildlife conservationists is the paramount importance of long-term studies. questions of population and individual use of the crossings. Using bears as a model, PhD candidate Mike Sawaya from Montana State University in Bozeman is from hair obtained samples taking DNA at the crossing structures and in the Combined, these backcountry of BNP. reveal which data will two pools of DNA individuals are crossing the highway and how populations separated by the By highway are mixing genetically. ensuring that highway mitigation is performing as planned, we are helping to Banff National Park to cross elk contemplate using one of the underpasses in Two Highway. the Trans-Canada i l d l i f e a n f f By Andrew Bennett and Adam T. Ford T. Adam Bennett and Andrew By B W

lberta is the proud site of North lberta is the proud site premier experiment to America’s encourage reduce roadkills and

Increasing traffic through the 1970s of construction By 1996 Phase 3A Tony For the past 12 years, Dr. Mitigation reduces ungulate collisions A connectivity. The 40-km stretch of The 40-km connectivity. (TCH) in Highway Trans-Canada the National Park (BNP) between Banff Junction is fully Canmore and Castle underpasses and two fenced, includes 24 overpasses, and has been continuously monitored for wildlife activity since The short story is simple: 1996. mitigation works. convinced transportation planners to between BNP’s Trans-Canada twin the townsite. Early East Gate and the Banff mitigation attempts sought to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by erecting fences, while passage across the highway was made possible with six underpasses. Crossings were placed at common the known if roadkill sites, but it wasn’t After the underpasses would be effective. completion in the early 1980s, project’s it was soon obvious that elk and deer This were quick to use the crossings. finding was corroborated in the late 1980s when Phase 2 of construction extended mitigation to the Sunshine overpass. was complete and included the 18 km of twinned highway from the Sunshine overpass to Castle Junction. More fencing and underpasses had been added, as well as the two overpasses that stand The most visible icons. as the project’s time had come for a rigorous long-term study of the crossing structures to answer many pressing questions. For example, we know ungulates use the structures, is the mitigation in but how effective reducing roadkill? Do carnivores use What kinds of crossing the structures? species prefer? architecture do different Clevenger has guided an enthusiastic team of researchers ever deeper into The the complications of road ecology. answers have been revealing. s n e s t w o r For each of the six species, the shed light on the potential To C maintain populations that are healthy and maintain populations that are healthy and to resilient, and that can shift in response climate change. researchers developed and applied regional models to identify likely areas of core habitat and security throughout the region, and potential zones of population They then sampled linkage across Hwy 3. actual occurrences of grizzly bears and lynx within a 10- to 20-km zone, adjacent The report to and including Hwy 3. describes the results and conservation implications of this research. impact of future human development on carnivore populations in the Crowsnest Pass, this summary of the project’s conclusions will be restricted to the three wildlife corridors identified in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, on the east side of the Continental Divide, referred to as the Crowsnest Municipality East corridors. Centre, and West, : AWA Files AWA Map: t h e i n e a t e n e d r h T s r i d o rr As this network of human o wildlife corridors in the M.D. of Crowsnest Report identified three The Carnivores and East. Centre, to as West, Pass, referred connectivity in the southern Rockies for the six carnivore species chosen for the study is becoming increasingly vulnerable to fracturing not only by Hwy 3, but also by the Canadian other intersecting Pacific Railway, roadways, and expanding human development and recreation. Hwy 3, poses particularly difficult however, challenges to carnivores due to the narrowing of the valley at this juncture, the high volume of traffic, negligible conservation management in the region, and the high concentration of private and corporate ownership of land abutting raises which the transportation corridor, the potential for development that may further fracture populations of wide- ranging species. development intensifies, carnivore populations are increasingly subjected to fragmentation into smaller and more vulnerable units, reducing the flow of individuals and genes as necessary to C e r n i v o r a By Barbara D. Janusz By Barbara C

Carnivores in the Southern Carnivores

he section of the southern he section of the southern Canadian Rockies between National Park and Glacier Banff A team of five researchers identified A

Hwy 3, running east-west, bisects T National Park supports the most National Park supports of carnivores diverse, intact system America. Carnivores are at in North and tend the top of the food chain to influence the behaviour of their among other animal interactions prey, species, and supporting vegetation. For conservation planning, carnivores serve as an appropriate focal species. The lack of resilience of some carnivore species in the midst of intense human pressures was, therefore, a primary factor contributing to their selection for a study designed to determine existing options that would facilitate and preserve connectivity of wildlife populations The study through changing landscapes. Apps and John was led by Drs. Clayton Wildlife with the in partnership Weaver, Conservation Society and with funding Foundation. Wilburforce from the the important core areas and linkage zones for carnivores in the southern Canadian Rockies, with emphasis on landscapes bisected by the Crowsnest gather data on To Highway (Hwy 3). and movement security, the viability, of carnivore populations in the region, the researchers selected six carnivores indigenous to the southern Canadian wolverine, Rockies — grizzly bear, They wolf, bobcat, and lynx. badger, conducted modeling and field research during 2001-2004 to determine the impact of Hwy 3 on habitat and and in September 2007 connectivity, released and Areas Canadian Rockies: Core the Crowsnest Connectivity across Highway (the Carnivores Report, www.wcscanada.org/media/file/ crowsnest_web.pdf). several conduits for wildlife movement The natural in the Rocky Mountains.

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F 10 Fe a t u r e s WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 11 ). Approval for ). According to Shane Stewart, a to Shane Stewart, According Capital’s Stewart Investment Further east, in Blairmore, the very Despite the Centre corridor’s Councillor David Cole says Town condominium project of 77 lots, which in 77 lots, which project of condominium the from opposition ignited similar 2006 owners. same acreage president Pass resident and Crowsnest one of Investment Capital, of Stewart Ridge of both Sawback the developers “The economic Wilds, and Kananaskis in the mountains reality of development you density, is that without affordable to build.” Stewart is open, afford can’t addressing Council Town to however, the development wildlife corridors in wildlife and planning process, since habitat is a key preservation of natural luring investors to environmental amenity the Crowsnest Pass. Ironstone Lookout Condominiums, located along the north side of Hwy 3 in Coleman, was the first Crowsnest Pass project to actually break ground. Ironstone is a $35-million project consisting of 70 duplexes and four- plexes, and an 80-unit condominium complex. 100-acre Southmore subdivision is projected to accommodate 300 single- And a second family dwellings. Bridgecreek Development project, River Run, has progressed beyond the planning stage to excavation of the site in preparation for construction of a hotel and a combination of multi- and single- family dwellings. high limitation to passage, it should not be overlooked that “the entire Crowsnest Pass as a unit forms an integral landscape link for low-elevation, east-west movement of animals, plants, weather This is lowest pass in the systems, etc. Timoney, southern Rockies” (Kevin Areas Significant 1998, Environmentally Inventory of the Rocky Mountain Natural Alberta Regions of rezoning by Municipal Council is only the first step in the development process. development plans are Subsequently, submitted for approval to a development officer and the Subdivision and Appeal Board, and at this Development stage, public input is crucial to ensure responsible density development. Land Use Bylaw that the municipality’s could be amended to require that Council address wildlife corridors when considering an application for rezoning. In Coleman, south of Hwy 3 on the Also in Coleman, Municipal Council, : C. Wershler : C. Photo The dry open grassland north and south The dry open grassland Alberta, is of Highway 3, near Lundbreck, one of the excellent habitat for the badger, study. six species chosen for the carnivore conduit, the Centre corridor, is conduit, the Centre corridor, characterized in the report as having “less more human activity and security cover, greater distance to core habitat than the Accordingly, previous one to the west.” this conduit was rated as having “low conservation significance, very high limitation to passage and very high that also stated Weaver Dr. vulnerability.” the highly tenuous nature of this corridor has already resulted in displacement and West of carnivores to the adjacent The “very high limitation East corridors. to passage” rating is likely to become exacerbated by the recent approvals of six developments in the area. Parks Canada historic site of the Coleman largest Colleries, Luscar Ltd. (Canada’s coal producer) has recently conveyed 297 acres of land along the Crowsnest River to Green Mountain Company, On October an Edmonton developer. 9, 2007, with a view toward achieving a higher standard for reclamation of the site, Municipal Council passed a resolution to rezone this parcel of land to “residential.” despite local opposition, recently voted in favour of rezoning a 40-acre site “residential” to pave the way for the Sawback Ridge development along the Kananaskis-Highwood Road (Hwy 40). Slated to accommodate 27 residential lots and 78 condo units, Sawback Ridge is across the road from another a Wilds, development, Kananaskis Currently, no more than a dozen no more than a dozen Currently, John Dr. In a telephone interview, The Centre Corridor The Centre movement option potential carnivore A between Coleman and Blairmore is highly tenuous because this second The West Corridor West The wildlife facilitates corridor West The edge of of the western circumvention Municipality and passage Crowsnest that The study concludes 3. across Hwy in this developments “[m]ajor residential remaining likely hinder any area would movements options for the carnivore and would likely through this corridor activity in Crown generate more human core areas” (p. 87). lands in the nearby corridor was rated by the West The “high conservation researchers as having to passage, significance, high limitation and very high vulnerability.” in Sentinel — a residences are located of Crowsnest Lake, hamlet on the shore and adjacent to the Crowsnest River, In West corridor. within the identified Bridgecreek September 2005, however, Development purchased a 26-acre parcel of land in Sentinel, with a view toward constructing a $1.5 billion resort complex in Canada) next to the lake. (the largest The developer has yet to break ground on the shores of the lake, but according Administrative Chief to Gordon Lundy, engineering Officer of the municipality, drawings for extension of the municipal water and sewer lines to facilitate development of the proposed resort are nearing completion. Dorothy Lock, Alberta Environment, confirmed with that, as no upgrades to the municipal water treatment plant are planned, provincial regulatory approval for such infrastructure extension is not required. one of the authors of the Weaver, Carnivores Report, confirmed that the the most viable of corridor is West the three conduits. He stated that the Bridgecreek lake development will likely result in displacement of carnivores. He also cautioned that not only is the increased volume of highway traffic a activity cause for concern, but spin-off such as the use of hiking trails, caving, and rock climbing, could also further restrict carnivore movement. Requests for feedback from Bridgecreek Development position on regarding the corporation’s impact on wildlife potential the resort’s corridors have remained unanswered. Calgary Herald, January The Karelian dog initiative, adopted The Karelian dog initiative, Morton, Minister for Sustainable Ted Barbara D. Janusz is a lawyer, wildlife crossing locations across Hwy 3. across locations crossing wildlife 30 they report update 2007 In a January November observations since carnivore were seen which crossed or 2004, 17 of Also, metres of Hwy 3. within 100 June 2007, 2004 and between November 226 bighorn sheep collected Watch Road 100 metres of Hwy observations within crossing Their data highlight two key 3. east areas, one near the Blairmore at the west end of access and the other areas, for the time Crowsnest Lake. Both inordinate human being, are devoid of appears that wildlife development, and it to circumvent is using these corridors human activity. is office, Wildlife and in 2002 by the Fish is to Its aim Canada. kind in first of its the reduce human-caused mortality of bears and to eliminate the need for relocation The aversive and extermination. conditioning techniques of associating people with discomfort and noise was pioneered by Montana wildlife biologist The Karelian dogs – a breed Carrie Hunt. originating in Finland, where it was used mammals – are trained to hunt large After being to track “nuisance bears.” sedated and kept overnight in a trap, the bear is conditioned to become averse to human contact by wildlife officers inciting the dogs to chase it back into wildlife officers the wild. More recently, have reduced roadkill of bighorn sheep near the Blairmore east access by training the Karelians to shepherd the ungulates the beneath across the Crowsnest River, bridge, and to condition them to avoid crossing the highway in order to connect with the southern wildlife corridor. Resource Development, recently announced that “the major uses for the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies will be for watershed and recreation, with all other activities accommodating the priority uses” ( 12, 2008). It is incumbent upon us to in that recreation appreciate, however, generates development, Alberta affluent which significantly impinges on wildlife habitat, and that protection of such habitat safeguards the watershed and the wildlife that is increasingly being pushed to the brink of extinction. writer poet, and freelance educator, Pass. in the Crowsnest residing

Photo: C. Apps C. Photo: 1. Continue to maintain a network of conservation 2. Develop a proactive Some positive actions are already corridor is rated as “having moderate conservation significance, but with high limitation to passage and high While the East corridor vulnerability.” is not experiencing the same pace of development as the Centre corridor, in Bellevue, north of Hwy 3, two subdivisions of 30 lots each and in close proximity to one another have been approved for development. Report Recommendations foster carnivore conservation To and connectivity across Hwy 3, the Carnivores Report makes the following recommendations: with a high level of security.... areas core Important considerations include access management... and avoiding excessive hunting appropriate mortality through and trapping regulations. and plan to maintain connectivity across This Highway. the Crowsnest around plan should consider assessment and planning of possible highway expansion, incentives for land-use covenants, and other practices. such One municipality. the in place taking Watch ongoing work of Road is the effort project initiated by a local A in the Pass. coordinator and the Miistakis Institute, collects, analyzes, and Watch Road communicates information highlighting Kirk Olchowy with Fish and The Crowsnest Centre wildlife corridor, with a view from northwest to southeast over northwest with a view from wildlife corridor, Centre The Crowsnest Coleman (foreground) and Blairmore (background). (background). and Blairmore Coleman (foreground) The East Corridor Although the East corridor is distant from core habitats for grizzly bears, the Carnivores Report concludes that it might facilitate north-south movement of cougars, badgers, bobcats, and wolves between the two communities This of Bellevue-Hillcrest and Burmis. Cole envisions a formal delegation of citizens and other interested parties appearing before Council to request such an amendment. Once such an amendment has been passed, Council can make appropriate recommendations to ensure that development proceeds in a manner consistent with preservation of identified wildlife corridors. in Blairmore would welcome Wildlife such an amendment, as the potential for encounters with carnivores is likely to rise with development in the Pass intensifying. Olchowy also advised that his office does not have any current plans to facilitate wildlife crossings Transportation until the Department of and Infrastructure decides whether Hwy 3 through the Pass will be diverted or twinned. Metal culverts and bridges, do not generally Weaver, according to Dr. work well for carnivores, and Olchowy believes that the Canmore solution to establish 50-metre right-of-ways to accommodate wildlife movement through developments is simply ineffective.

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F 12 Fe a t u r e s WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 13

: C. Hansen Photo t h e

While the initial focus of the Since 2006 a new raptor observation after the Denali eagles produced 69 young during the “up” cycle of hares, the hare numbers had crashed and the eagles produced only three young. migration counts was on golden eagles, the researchers have always recorded all wildlife, including other raptor (bird- of-prey) species; to date, 18 species of raptor have been recorded at the Mount And the importance of the Lorette site. mountains and ridges for bird migration total of 245 A with raptors. stop doesn’t bird species have been recorded at the site, not to mention grizzly bears, wolves, and lynxes. site has been monitored in the Crowsnest Pass, at the southern tip of the Livingstone Range. Interestingly, the traditional name for the site is Piitaistakis, or “Place of the Eagles.” Here a number of north-south running streams and different ridges converge, a l o n g a t i o n s r i g M d r i — B o n t i n e n t s Breeding success of golden eagles r C The eagles use rising air currents to soar in circles, effortlessly gaining height until to soar in circles, The eagles use rising air currents off with a slight tilt of the wings then break than pinpricks. They little more they are up to 120 kph. gliding at and gather momentum until they are in the south has been poor. Spring counts in the south has been poor. from the Mount Lorette observation site suggest a 60 percent loss of young birds from the fall; this tallies with the Denali figures, which point to a 65 percent loss This is quite a high rate. of juvenile birds. eagles are particularly vulnerable Young they partly because to winter mortality, developed the required yet haven’t survival skills in a dangerous world, but also because their black-tipped white tail feathers are particularly attractive to human collectors. is very much dependent on numbers of northern breeding snowshoe hares in their grounds, particularly soon after the snowshoe but spring, the in arrival eagles’ hare populations are notoriously susceptible to boom-bust cycles. If hares are plentiful, the newly arrived eagles quickly reach peak breeding condition; may the eagles if hare numbers are low, not breed at all. In 2003, just three years i d o t h e rr o o f

C y k p i n e S By Nigel Douglas, AWA Conservation Specialist Conservation AWA Douglas, By Nigel S

tanding in a small hay meadow at tanding in a small hay Country’s the foot of Kananaskis Sherrington Mount Lorette, Peter

Since 1992 Sherrington and is thought to be the main lift Wind So how does counting eagles in If the proportion of young eagles if few young birds come Conversely, S can give you a pretty good idea of what can give you a pretty Alaska this like in the conditions were Or in Mexico last winter. past summer. eagles tell The this? How does he know him. volunteers with the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation (RMERF) have been studying the golden eagle migration. Every spring, thousands of golden eagles leave their wintering grounds in the southern and western U.S. and Mexico, and follow the eastern slopes of the Rockies, all the way north and Yukon to their breeding grounds in And every fall, they head south Alaska. again. For 16 years, researchers have been there to count them on their way. “This is the longest running systematic Western study of raptor migration in Canada,” says Sherrington. reason why migrating eagles stay so close to the Rockies. “The westerly and southwesterly wind dominance is amazing,” says Sherrington. “It gives the birds a continual lift as the air rises off the mountains.” Kananaskis allow one to make complex Alaska projections about conditions from to Mexico? In fact, the principle is very simple. heading south in the fall is high, the breeding conditions in the far north were good. In fall 2000, for example, the immature to adult ratio was 0.4 (or almost one immature bird for every two adults), which would suggest that most paired adults raised young. Sure enough, Denali Alaska’s Carol McIntyre from National Park reported that roughly 80 pairs of eagles produced 69 young. north in the spring, then winter survival 96 30 21 14 586 409 299 275 183 169 127 9,648 6,660 1,955 1,552 1,472 1,233 133,711 108,982

Golden eagle Bald eagle hawk Sharp-shinned Red-tailed hawk Northern goshawk Rough-legged hawk hawk Cooper’s Northern harrier Merlin American kestrel Osprey Broad-winged hawk Peregrine falcon Prairie falcon Gyrfalcon hawk Swainson’s Ferruginous hawk vulture Turkey TOTAL Another important lesson is just information about the eagle For more Numbers of migrating raptors counted counted raptors of migrating Numbers and fall Lorette Site, spring at Mount 1992-2007 combined, birdwatchers such as Wayne Smith Wayne birdwatchers such as were already suspecting that the eagle migration was more significant than had been previously thought, it was generally believed that there was only a limited movement of young eagles, which tend The April and May. to pass through in migration of adult eagles is much more purposeful, but it takes place in March missed. If largely April, and was and nothing else, it makes one wonder what else is going on out there that we haven’t yet noticed! how much can be achieved by amateur naturalists. “It shows that you can do good studies just by observing,” says Sherrington. “There is still an important place for good empirical observation, and overemphasize the importance you can’t And it can of time in such studies.” essentially be done with little more than a notebook and a pair of binoculars. migration, check out the Rocky Mountain Foundation website at Eagle Research www.eaglewatch.ca. : C. Olson Photo The newly discovered movement discovered movement The newly Development plans Micrex Similarly, The importance of this Piitaistakis One of the most striking things The red-tailed hawk is among the many The red-tailed raptor species using the Rocky Mountain migration corridor. term survival strategy. Sherrington has Sherrington survival strategy. term exposed on these that trees observed than appear more productive ridges do down. trees lower has along the ridges of small birds the Not far from other implications. the serried ranks Piitaistakis site stand prominent feature of wind turbines, a of Pincher Creek. of the landscape west done as a “Raptor studies have been of wind turbines, background to the siting says Sherrington. or microwave towers,” to consider “But it is also important which could migrating songbirds, impacts with such also be at risk from at night.” installations, especially to locate a new magnetite mine just to The new the north of the Piitaistakis site. are discovery of just how many songbirds migrating along these ridges raises the question of just what the impacts of the proposed mine would be. observation site is reflected in the fact that it will soon feature in a new National Geographic tourist map of the Crown of the Continent. observations is revealed by RMERF’s that every spring and fall, up to five thousand golden eagles migrate up and down the Rocky Mountains, but until This 1992, nobody had really noticed. a bird with a seven-foot is, remember, wingspan! Before then, although some

mouth (AWA) Wear C. ratis image: Geog Satellite added by In 2007, between the end of August In 2007, between the end of Once again, this migration of small The ridge tops seem to be a The Rockies lead the migrating eagles The Rockies lead the Raptors straight to their destination. at Mount Lorette have been monitored (#1) since 1992 and at Piitaistakis (#2) since 2006. / details of migrating birds converge toward one toward of migrating birds converge the This may be relatively narrow area. reason for a record count of 5,445 golden eagles at this site in fall 2007. a total and the beginning of December, finches of nine species was of 11,188 recorded migrating along the ridge at Piitaistakis. “Early in the morning, there is a significant movement of sparrows, warblers, and thrushes on the ridge,” says Sherrington. Meanwhile, at the base of the same ridge, there may be very few records, despite the presence of birdfeeders and people watching for I recorded 1,000 birds. “On one day, redpolls on the ridge, and they recorded none at the bottom.” birds has not been observed before, perhaps simply because nobody was watching. “No-one has stood up on a ridge for months and counted dickie The early birds,” observes Sherrington. morning movement of small birds takes place possibly because there are fewer predators around at that time. significant habitat for migrating birds. It is likely that the early morning sunlight hits the tops of the ridges first, stirring into activity the insects upon which many birds feed. For the seed-feeding birds, pine trees along the ridges are an important food source. Pine trees that are more stressed by climatic conditions — lack of water or high winds — tend to produce more pine cones as a long-

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F 14 Fe a t u r e s WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 15 ? The tunnels are to be installed in Simon Cyndi Smith has an MSc from o a d measures normally include herbicides in addition to pulling/digging, but there is concern about possible impact on the salamanders. The use and success of the May 2008. tunnels will be monitored intensely in will the first two years, and modifications anticipate that We be made if required. vehicle-caused mortality of long-toed salamanders and other small wildlife will decrease due to the tunnel installation, and that the Linnet Lake population of salamanders will increase … due to sex, of course! For further information, contact Cyndi Smith, Conservation Biologist, Waterton Lakes National Park: (403) 859-5137, [email protected]. Since 1980, she has Fraser University. worked for Parks Canada in a variety of to resource law enforcement from roles, Lakes National management. In Waterton for ecosystem Park, she is responsible and monitoring activities, research species at risk, and data management. R t h e o s s r C r under the road. arks Canada a l a m a n d e We’re hoping an effective solution hoping an effective We’re will also university student A S Long-toed salamanders face many challenges in Alberta, including the introduction Alberta, including the introduction in Long-toed salamanders face many challenges drainage for industrial and recreational of game fish in ponds and lakes, wetland seasonal habitats, and drought. that separates different development, road-building : P Photo often remove the remains. One researcher often remove the remains. One researcher noted that highway traffic in the months and October, September, April, May, of when salamanders are migrating increased by 52%, across the roadway, 17%, 18% and 20% in those months, between 1989 and 2000. respectively, is to install specialized culverts, or “amphibian tunnels,” to allow the salamanders to cross These would be the first such tunnels for national parks amphibians in Canada’s and only the second location in Canada. Each tunnel will be 600 mm wide by 520 mm high and will have slots that moisture, and light into the allow air, series of small fences will direct A tunnel. amphibians to the tunnels. study the dispersal of salamanders to habitat, which is their over-wintering not well documented in the scientific literature. Better knowledge of non- breeding habitat would help ensure that this habitat is adequately protected and managed. For example, the hillside above the road, which the animals traverse, is a serious problem for non- native plant management and control t h e i d D h y By Cyndi Smith By Cyndi W

ex, that’s why … and trying to ex, that’s the kids And then get home again. when they get have to come home

oad in Waterton Waterton On the Entrance Road in The issue was first raised by one of The community soon pulled together, But salamander mortality on the S big enough. a section there’s Lakes National Park, to Linnet Lake that of highway adjacent salamanders. is a killer of long-toed Studies have shown that the salamanders time cross the road during three different periods annually: when adults migrate from non-breeding habitat to Linnet Lake to breed, when adults leave Linnet Lake to return to their non-breeding habitat, and when juveniles leave the lake for the non-breeding habitat. Migration is intermittent, taking place primarily at night during rainfall. as he noted an interpretive staff the park’s unusually high mortality of salamanders along the primary visitor access road Park. It became apparent Waterton into that the mortality was, in part, the result of a new sidewalk that had been built The right-angle curb two years earlier. prevented the night-time migration of the salamanders — stranded on the road, they were killed by cars and predators. with adults and children coming migration (on April out during the cold wet nights) to physically move This the salamanders over the curb. hands-on, personal commitment of the community was a significant educational opportunity that solidified local support for the salamanders and led to additional investments in replacing the curb with a sloped curb to allow the salamanders to climb to safety. road continued because of increasing vehicle traffic. In 1994, at least 10% of the salamanders that attempted to cross the road were killed by vehicles, and up to 44% during more recent counts. The number of carcasses found along the road represents an unknown fraction of the total killed, because scavengers ). (SARA — Joyce Hildebrand AWA is also seeking leadership AWA The Federal Court lawsuit, brought The once widespread grouse has to save this support our efforts To well licence be averted through effective effective be averted through well licence This includes early consultation process. any with all interests regarding access approval. applications for surface Alberta Parks in developing a from for the Rumsey new management plan Area Ecological Reserve and Natural ecological area’s that recognizes the to restore past significance, the need condition, and disturbances to native cumulative adverse the need to prevent in future. effects — No Place to Dance Sage Grouse Wilderness Alberta Day, Valentine’s On Association and five other conservation groups announced the launch of a major lawsuit against federal Minister of Environment John Baird for refusing to identify critical greater sage-grouse refusal habitat. Environment Canada’s soon will sage-grouse the that mean could have no place to perform its spectacular ritual mating dance — and therefore little chance of survival. by Ecojustice Canada on behalf of the that failure to identify six groups, argues for strategy recovery the in habitat critical the grouse amounts to a refusal to enforce Act Species at Risk Canada’s been listed as “endangered” since 1998 and now survives in a remote area in and southwestern Alberta southeastern Saskatchewan. In addition to the refusal to identify federal government’s critical habitat despite having ample scientific information to do so, Premier Alberta government has Ed Stelmach’s refused to limit oil and gas installations in grouse habitat despite having approved the 2005 provincial sage-grouse recovery plan. Scientists have clearly shown that oil and gas activity undermines breeding and survival of greater sage-grouse. endangered species from extinction, please consider donating to cover the Write high legal costs of this campaign. to Environment Minister John Baird and Prime Minister Harper asking that they Although the EUB’s Information Although the EUB’s the Despite the denial, however, believes that licences with AWA AWA Gains Voice in Rumsey’s Future in Rumsey’s Voice Gains AWA well licence The coalbed methane Resources in granted to Pioneer Natural Area expired 2007 in Rumsey Natural and was a year after it was granted, 28, 2008 by the cancelled on February Board Resources Conservation Energy This is good (ERCB; formerly the EUB). significant news for this internationally all who have protected area and for to keep Rumsey free worked strenuously of industrial activity. will be AWA Letter 90-21 (1990) says advised of well licence applications in received no notification until we Rumsey, after the Pioneer licence had been granted AWA in February 2007. In March 2007 Alberta Native Plant Council and the (ANPC) jointly requested that the EUB Accompanying the review its decision. request was a submission documenting the historical interest of both in Rumsey and providing organizations reasons for objecting to the licence. August with a The EUB responded in denial of our request, stating that neither or right legal a advanced had organization interest in relation to the proposed well. intervention resulted in several important changes that may mark the beginning First, of true protection for Rumsey. Pioneer Natural Resources allowed the well licence to expire, choosing not to proceed with drilling in the protected area. Second, on February 20, an ERCB representative informed Area and that Rumsey Natural AWA Ecological Reserve is now flagged so that any application within Rumsey will immediately trigger contact with Third, the ERCB has committed AWA. to participate in AWA to inviting consultations with Sustainable Resource Development should any applications be submitted. surface access should not be considered Area, nor should for the Rumsey Natural any new oil and gas dispositions be makes that Energy Alberta posted. Until commitment, it is essential that system failures such as occurred with Pioneer’s — Nigel Douglas p d a t e s U One of the two components of the One of the two components Under the second component, concerned has joined with other AWA and the opposes paid hunting AWA For more information on the Say “No” to Wildlife Privatization Wildlife to Say “No” is a The Open Spaces program sponsored government initiative Alberta Sustainable Resource by Morton. Ted Development Minister Many hunters and conservationists, if fear that the program, AWA, including to paid hunting and approved, will lead wildlife. the privatization of is the Recreation Open Spaces program Program (RAMP), Access Management which is intended to compensate landowners for increasing/improving habitat and for allowing public access for hunting and angling. Hunting for Habitat, landowners would receive 10 to 15 percent of the province’s elk hunting tags (and perhaps tags for other species as well) and could sell these The primary purpose is to to hunters. increase elk herds. groups to oppose the proposed Open believe that, as We Spaces program. Alberta is a “public resource,” wildlife in Albertans must be involved in wildlife all management decisions, not just hand- picked “stakeholders,” as has been the case in Open Spaces, the planning of which has been anything but open. recognize We privatization of wildlife. that there is an issue here that needs There is currently no to be addressed. mechanism for rewarding landowners who take seriously the responsibility of providing ecological services such as wildlife habitat or for penalizing those we firmly believe However, who don’t. that the proposed Open Spaces project also know that this We is not a solution. program does nothing to address our in failing to protect neglect government’s and care for public lands and protected Alberta. areas throughout proposed Open Spaces program, go to poli.ucalgary.ca/wildlifestewardship. and other AWA see the response of To go to conservation organizations, AlbertaWilderness.ca.

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W W 16 Wi l d e r n e s s Wa t c h WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 17 – Nigel Douglas Migratory Birds Migratory Birds are likely to result in a In theory, the regulations surrounding the regulations surrounding In theory, But in practice, as Environment that is very concerned AWA response AWA’s As an example, full response to the proposed AWA’s Migratory Bird Regulations Bird Migratory concerns of number a expressed has AWA proposed Canada’s about Environment Bird the 1994 Migratory changes to at Act, aimed specifically Convention take” the issue of “incidental dealing with birds. of migratory probably as strong as migratory birds are measures in the any wildlife protection Act prohibits the destruction The country. nests, eggs, or disturbance of the any migratory birds, young, or adults of birds such as robins including common or crows. documents suggest, Canada background destroyed in the “many are inadvertently course of ongoing industrial activities This inadvertent and development.” destruction is termed “incidental take.” Environment Canada does not currently the to issue exemptions to ability the have regulations, so the current situation is a strong law which is, if not unenforceable, certainly unenforced. any changes to the Act Convention without effectiveness, dilution of the act’s delivering any remedies to deal with the problems migratory birds are facing. Like the original regulations, the proposed changes talk about protecting migratory birds and their nests, but do nothing to As with so habitat. protect the birds’ many pieces of provincial and federal legislation, the regulations attempt to do the impossible: to protect individual animals without doing anything to protect the places where they live. to Environment Canada mentions that Wildlife “Even the Suffield National Area, a supposedly protected area which falls under Environment Canada’s regulatory jurisdiction and is critical migratory bird habitat, is under threat from a major new natural gas infill Area Wildlife development. National management plans must prohibit new industrial activity and phase out existing activities.” changes can be seen online at issues. albertawilderness.ca/WL/archive.htm.

— Joyce Hildebrand Meanwhile, some provincial Meanwhile, the department is However, Alberta Environment also instructed Alberta Sustainable Resource to will continue its efforts AWA that the delay is an abuse of the hearing of the hearing an abuse delay is that the to advantage an unfair and gives process EnCana. to be ministries appear government altogether. region Suffield the abandoning the Joint declined Alberta Environment request to participate Review Panel’s to share the in the Suffield hearings on water use, expertise department’s stating that licensing, and management, responsibility. is a federal the NWA responsibility clearly abdicating its EnCana’s water. for the province’s includes Statement Impact Environmental drilling reports copies of water-well Alberta Environment, as well as to groundwater diversion licenses issued by Alberta Environment to EnCana for their operations on CFB Suffield, showing that the department has responsibility for groundwater on the Base. representative on the department’s Advisory the Suffield Environmental Committee (SEAC) not to participate in submission to the Joint preparing SEAC’s Review Panel, leaving only two SEAC members to write the submission — the Alberta Energy Environment Canada and and Utilities Board representatives. Development (SRD) was also invited by the Panel to participate in the hearing to provide input on species at risk, ungulate of the and key effects use of the NWA, as well as other project on the NWA, issues. Despite SRD having written to is “of major the Panel that the NWA Alberta wildlife significance to many species,” the department declined the believes AWA invitation to participate. that this is unacceptable: SRD is responsible for wildlife management and public lands, and much of the wildlife widely onto the ranges that uses the NWA adjacent provincial public land. by protect the integrity of the NWA project application. opposing EnCana’s If you would like to support the Suffield please go to campaign financially, www.albertawilderness.ca/AWA/Donate. htm and designate your gift for Suffield. appreciate your would sincerely We donation toward the considerable costs of this campaign. and

— Nigel Douglas — Joyce Hildebrand Species at Risk Act at Risk Species The positive long-term benefits of stated AWA Responding to the plan, takes also noted that it AWA For more information, see comply with the with the comply immediately amend the federal greater greater the federal amend immediately to identify recovery strategy sage-grouse critical habitat. the species’ Parks Draft Fire National Management Plan been asking Parks Canada has recently Fire Management for input into its draft Plan for four Rocky Mountain National and Yoho, Jasper, Parks: Banff, The draft plan will govern Kootenay. for the period fire management practices of the The stated objectives 2008—2017. to provide for the proposed plan are (1) of life, property, safety and protection wildfire, and (2) and adjacent lands from to achieve ecological goals through the use of prescribed fire and appropriately managed wildfire. of a restoring fire as an active component healthy ecosystem are generally seen to outweigh any short-term negative effects on terrestrial ecosystem health or on wildlife. that it is “broadly supportive of the use of fire — both wildfire and prescribed burning — as a management tool in the National Parks, and sees it as a positive At the same time, we development.” stressed that “when there are endangered species involved, particularly woodland caribou, then they should take priority over prescribed burning programs.” substantial resources to implement wildfire management practices such as These resources prescribed burning. must come from new funding and not be diverted from other essential Parks Canada programs. parcscanada.pch.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff. response can be seen at AWA’s www.albertawilderness.ca Its Hands Washes Alberta Government of Suffield Hearing Despite strong opposition, the Joint Review Panel overseeing the hearing into drilling project in proposed EnCana’s Area (NWA) Wildlife Suffield National request for a chose to approve EnCana’s 2008. delay of the hearing until October, The Suffield Environmental Coalition, believes is a member, AWA of which : R. Berdan Photo AWA concurs with the Waterton Waterton concurs with the AWA Last fall, Minister Morton instituted Provincial Hunting Day to “promote hunting and hunter awareness and Albertans about the important educate role hunting plays in wildlife management and conservation.” But the proposed wolf cull has received heated public opposition from hunters and non-hunters alike. It seems that killing carnivores to artificially inflate the numbers of huntable ungulates is way to promote hunting not an effective Albertans who amongst 94 percent of Alberta Recreation do not hunt (2004 Survey). can Lakes National Park website: “We The real challenge eradicate wolves. will be to see if we are wise enough to listen to the howl of the wolf objectively and find creative ways of sharing the landscapes we both depend upon.” Send your comments to Morton Ted Honourable Sustainable Resource Minister, Development 420 Legislature Building Avenue 10800 – 97 T5K 2B6 AB Edmonton, (780) 415-4815 [email protected] Herald, and i l d l i f e W a v e Journal, “Manipulating S t o

Opposition to the proposals has The research proposals also received The Journal also put its finger on Alberta Sustainable Resource Department spokesperson Darcy Whiteside responded to Whiteside responded spokesperson Darcy Department Alberta Sustainable Resource with a surprising and revealing proposal public concern about the wolf sterilization swatting a mosquito.” comment: “No one has a problem the justification being that the apparent the justification being that the apparent need to improve highway safety by controlling the excessive number of deer adjacent to highways. been extensive, coming from a range of sources. “This is 1950s wolf management that has been updated to include sterilization,” said wildlife biologist Paul Paquet. He described the proposals as “destructive and morally reprehensible.” The considerable opposition in the media. Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal both carried numerous letters objecting to the wolf cull, and both published editorials against it. “Left alone, the elk and wolf populations regulate themselves pointed out the quite nicely,” according to the one species for benefit of human sport directly contradicts the conservation principles of sustaining natural biodiversity and the naturally determined populations.” balance of species’ the real issue, which is still not being addressed: “Preservation of habitat, a much more difficult but important task, is the key to maintaining healthy populations.” i l d l i f e W i l l i n g By Nigel Douglas, AWA Conservation Specialist Conservation AWA Douglas, By Nigel K in portions of this

proposed University of proposed University that Alberta research project and is investigating killing

According to the research proposal, has is asking just who AWA The proposed research program is But are they really at a “historic A sterilizing wolves near Rocky Mountain sterilizing wolves near unprecedented House has received again, people public opposition. Once we are managing are asking exactly who Alberta. wildlife for in “Concern over ungulate herds that are below objective area has led to discussions of reducing To wolf predation” [emphasis added]. accomplish this reduction, the proposal suggests sterilizing the alpha male and female wolves, and killing the rest of the pack in order to maintain wolves on the landscape at a low density. determined that ungulate numbers are Alberta in Wildlife “below objective.” is a “public resource,” so presumably the public has a major role to play in determining how they want this Albertans “resource” to be managed. Do believe that sterilizing and killing carnivores to increase ungulate numbers is acceptable? not intended to assist endangered species as with the culling of wolves recovery, AWA in disturbed caribou habitat (which also opposes, but some see as justifiable). its objective is increasing Rather, numbers of common ungulates, including The Minister of elk and mule deer. Sustainable Resource Development Morton, has strongly Ted (SRD), supported the proposals, citing “very disproportionate, almost historic lows of elk, mule deer and mountain sheep.” or are they simply not distributed low,” according to human convenience? Parks Canada recently investigated the possibility of sterilizing elk near the because of their high townsite Banff RD has recently been And S numbers. lobbying local authorities to support the introduction of Sunday hunting, part of

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W W 18 Wi l d e r n e s s Wa t c h WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 19 WLA, Feb. violations from

Fisheries Act Fisheries s h e d r Also on the political-legal front, The Keepers are in the process Legislature to raise awareness about the pressing health and environmental concerns of the aboriginal community of Athabasca. Fort Chipewyan on Lake Keepers member Peter Cyprien of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations Auditor filed a petition with the federal General in early January (see 2008, p. 18). Citing recent public health and ecological research, the petition calls on Fisheries and Oceans Canada to investigate Athabasca River contamination of the below Fort McMurray and throughout The petition also Athabasca. Lake demands that Health Canada research human exposure to contaminants from drinking surface water or consuming Athabasca fish and wildlife in the Lake The River region. Athabasca and lower Office has indicated Auditor General’s that the petition meets the criteria for an environmental petition, and the two federal departments have 120 days to give substantive responses to the petition. State of the of compiling a Citizens’ Athabasca. for the report Watershed According to Crooked Creek a t e W t a r l b e A — d s r and Branches a w t e n i t i a t i v e s One of Alberta’s newest watershed Alberta’s One of of the Keepers particular strength A I S many stewardships groups across the province working on stream clean-ups and bioengineering projects for their local river channels. stewardship groups is the Keepers of Council. Watershed Athabasca the pressures on Responding to urgent Athabasca watershed, a coalition the of groups and individuals formed the Keepers in mid-2007. Its goal is to unite Athabasca River and the peoples of the Lake watershed to secure and protect water and watershed lands for ecological, social, cultural, and community health and well-being. is the strong connections it is forging between First Nations and environmental Fifteen First Nations organizations. reserve-based communities, as well as numerous other indigenous communities, River and Lake Athabasca depend on the demonstration An important watershed. of support for Keepers activities came 6, Treaties with a recent resolution by Alberta calling for 7 and 8 Chiefs of a halt to new tar sands approvals (see sidebar). Keepers supported a rally on Alberta March 1, 2008 on the steps of the Branches and Banks volunteers planting native trees near Cochrane, June 2007. native trees Branches and Banks volunteers planting : Banks Photo d s h i p a t i n g r r a w e l e b t e By Carolyn Campbell, AWA Conservation Specialist Conservation AWA Campbell, By Carolyn C S strategy as “neighbours strategy as “neighbours

itizen-initiated watershed itizen-initiated watershed have a key stewardship groups and role to play in protecting

Every spring, volunteers in the In another hands-on project,

restoring Alberta’s surface and ground Alberta’s restoring health. and aquatic ecosystem water, government’s Alberta Described in the for Life Water and taking action sharing information to protect and enhance their local watershed,” watershed stewardship groups engage in an amazingly The trio diverse variety of activities. a of initiatives profiled here offers sample of inspiring, creative ways in which citizens are working to address watershed management challenges. Cochrane community gather for a morning of tree planting and creek clean-up along local waterways. group Branches and Banks, a spinoff Action of the Cochrane Environmental is the water stewardship group Society, this event since 1996. that has organized of all ages have planted Volunteers approximately 31,000 native trees so far. Branches and Banks also partners with others in awareness-raising activities, such as wetlands appreciation and the initiatives promoted citizen water-testing Awareness Quality Water Alberta by Day. Branches and Banks worked with a bio-engineering expert in May 2007 to stabilize an eroding bank on Big Hill Creek. Bio-engineering is a simple, riverbank-stabilization effective technique using cuttings of live local cuttings The willows. as such trees native are pounded and pushed into the bank in simple woven or stake structures. The structures provide stability and encourage the tree cuttings to reroot as a natural stabilizer and silt catchment. Fairly labour intensive, with a one- or two-day timespan and inexpensive an ideal project choice materials, it’s for volunteer groups. Branches and Banks is very representative of the C VCA) VCA was started in 2001 by was VCA While Keepers of the Athabasca Athabasca of the While Keepers OR The group has developed a particular ecological knowledge about the river, the the river, about knowledge ecological lands. the watershed and tributaries, watershed range over a massive members Valley Onoway River system, the (OR Association Conservation Sturgeon the much smaller operates in focus on River watershed. Its members and quantity the risk to water quality of surface and from cumulative effects Over the years, subsurface disturbances. an important local this group has become concerned about resource for others water protection in ground and surface watershed. the North Saskatchewan west of residents of three counties River Edmonton in the Sturgeon watershed (a sub-basin of the North The group’s Saskatchewan watershed). pre- name comes from an underground glacial river valley known as the Onoway River channel, and the group is dedicated They have sustainability. to the aquifer’s been vigilant in drawing attention to unsustainable cumulative diversions, unlawful diversions, and mining practices that risk groundwater contamination. local As issues. mining gravel in expertise landowners dependent on groundwater wells for their own domestic use, group members have observed neighbouring gravel mines and questioned them on practices such as containment reservoir locations, fuel/chemical spill control, and pumping volume license authorizations.

tnership ar The people of Fort Chipewyan rally on the steps of the Legislature to bring attention The people of Fort Chipewyan rally on the steps of the Legislature 1, 2008). concerns of their community (March to the health and environmental : C. Bresnahan Photo way. They will hold Keepers Days in They will hold way. several watershed communities, likely Athabasca, Whitecourt, including Hinton, Assiniboine, Lac La Biche, Fort Fort and Poplar Point Fort McKay, McMurray, on the Saskatchewan portion of Lake The tour expects to conclude Athabasca. Keepers gathering in Fort with a large August. Keepers Day will Chipewyan in workshops include water-monitoring and video documentation of Citizens and Elders Forums where participants will share stories, concerns, and traditional rshed P ate r W River : Elbow Photo strategy describes WPACs WPACs strategy describes On behalf of the Keepers, a a The Keepers are also organizing row, second from left. second from row, – the Elbow River Watershed bank stabilization using bioengineering Stream Author is in second May 2007. west of Calgary, project McLean Creek Partnership’s Conservancy Society Director and Keepers Co-chair Harvey Scott, it is simply unacceptable to wait for provincial authorities to set up an official Planning and Watershed Athabasca Alberta’s WPAC). Advisory Council (or for Life Water as the “multi-stakeholder councils that work with government in an adaptive management cycle of basin planning a and evaluation.” It could take years for to produce a baseline report, Scott WPAC points out, while river water quantity and quality decline and health risks multiply. professional scientist is compiling previous northern river basin studies dating back to the 1990s, along with water data. Alberta Environment recent They would appreciate more volunteer expertise. “Having a few more water scientists with volunteer time to pull together the statistics and analysis would The report greatly assist us,” Scott says. will help to highlight the cumulative and other mining, forestry, of effects Athabasca River industrial projects in the watershed. starting from the summer 2008 river tour, Glacier and ending at Athabasca source Athabasca Fond du Lac at the east end of watershed community tour crew A Lake. of three or four members will be assisted by various groups and individuals in watershed communities along the

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W W 20 Wi l d e r n e s s Wa t c h WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 21 VCA’s history history VCA’s The province has continued to The energy and commitment of and commitment The energy joining a water Whether it’s Keepers of the Athabasca member, member, Athabasca Keepers of the noted, “The cumulative impacts of oil sands development have all but destroyed the traditional livelihood of Athabasca First Nations in the northern watershed. issue approvals for new developments without obtaining their consent or consulting with First Nations in a This meaningful and substantial way. 8 First Treaty is in direct breach of Aboriginal treaty-protected Nations’ rights to livelihood, and thus a violation of s.35(1) of the Constitution and Articles 26 and 27 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, an international agreement which Canada, along with three other nations, has refused to sign.” drilling operations. OR operations. drilling in persist citizens who how illustrates become a advocacy can environmental for others. resource valuable knowledge watershed stewardship the volunteer undisputed. For many groups is concern is to secure groups, an ongoing Alberta The resources for their activities. established in Stewardship Network, this need by 2004, has helped meet exchange and facilitating information these groups, capacity-building for Watershed a and by administering funded Stewardship Grant program Alberta government. Capacity by the stewardship groups issues of watershed are one element remain a concern and project Council’s Water Alberta of the Watershed on Shared Governance and Management Planning Framework. monitoring workshop along the Athabasca or initiating a local water stewardship group, more and more Albertans are reaching out and forming alliances to address their local water The and watershed protection concerns. Alberta Stewardship Network website has (www.ab.stewardshipcanada.ca) Alberta a directory of more than 100 With watershed stewardship groups. why summer just around the corner, not check out the opportunities to get involved in your community? VCA members are VCA VCA will continue VCA Farther afield, OR On February 22, 2008, Treaty Treaty On February 22, 2008, 6, Treaties Chiefs representing the Alberta passed 7 and 8 nations of a unanimous resolution calling for no new oil sands project approvals First Nations have Treaty until approved a comprehensive watershed management plan and resource development plan for the region. Athabasca Adam of the Allan Chief Chipewyan Dene First Nation and member of the Keepers of the Athabasca brought the resolution After meeting. forward at the Chiefs’ Adam the resolution passed, Chief commented that “thresholds have to be put in place that will protect ecosystem and human health along with the well-being of our land.” Beisel, another Vivienne Lawyer Treaty Chiefs Call for No New Tar Sands Project Approvals Sands Project Tar No New Chiefs Call for Treaty project was put on hold because of gravel project was put on hold because of gravel haul road issues; OR to support Sandy Lake residents in highlighting groundwater concerns if the project resumes. in touch with citizens’ groups concerned groups concerned in touch with citizens’ about the huge Dodds-Roundhill surface coal mine project proposed southeast Another issue they are of Edmonton. investigating is cross-contamination between aquifers and natural gas in or contamination. In early March the and VCA members Mike VCA VCA has been responding VCA Through their experience in tackling In 2008 OR : I. Skinner Photo An unlawful operation identified by ORVCA in May 2001, which has since been in May identified by ORVCA An unlawful operation a generator engine for pumping As part of a gravel mining operation, rectified. The blue canvas catches aquifer reservoir. water stands at the edge of an exposed Neither the engine nor the nearby the engine. leaking from products raw petroleum in case of a fuel spill. structures diesel fuel tank had any containment 4,000-litre When Alberta Environment’s responses Alberta Environment’s When to their concerns have been insufficient, they have launched Environmental Appeal Board actions. In the process, they delved into the intricacies of Act Public Lands the province’s Act. Municipal Government local concerns, OR Northcott and Ian Skinner became Alberta laws convinced that existing provide municipalities and provincial authorities with the regulatory tools The and air. needed to protect land, water, problem they see is that these laws are not responsibly administered or enforced. raise awareness of this situation, To in late 2007 they drafted a two-page “Environmental Regulations and primer, Bodies,” which Water Management of they have circulated to other water stewardship groups. to requests for help from other groups who want to take action on watershed protection issues. For example, residents of Sandy Lake, which is also in the River watershed, are concerned Sturgeon about a proposed gravel mine within According two km of the lakeshore. to Mike Northcott, they cannot get a definite answer from project proponents that the mining will not interfere with the groundwater they depend on for The residents are their domestic wells. the precautionary principle that urging be followed to prevent quantity impacts encouraged ecreation Corridors The Recreation Corridors This “light touch” approach to This would “protect the longevity of the “protect the longevity This would of designated investment” for operators historical trails such as municipalities, clubs, says societies, or recreation that recommends AWA Strong-Watson. placed on using a higher priority be cumulative effects this information for wildlife habitat management to protect by industrial and already fragmented recreation activities. forwarded Coordinating Committee its draft recommendations in late 2007 and Parks, Tourism, to the Minister of They have not yet been Recreation. publicly released, so their environmental stewardship ethos remains to be seen. a 2003 legislative committee However, report that was supposed to guide the Committee had relatively weak environmental recommendations: “Designated recreation corridor owners and operators are [emphasis added] to work with landowners or lessees to preserve and protect the environment, to maintain wildlife habitat, and to follow good environmental stewardship practices when locating, designing, constructing and maintaining recreation corridors.” accompanying “suggested The report’s direction” was that trail operators “must be aware of and agree to comply with all existing legislation requirements for environmental protection and requirements for compliance and mitigation” but there will be “no obligation by the trail owner/operator or the landowner … to enter into an agreement related to environmental stewardship.” environmental stewardship may make sense on a converted rail-bed trail through highly settled land. But by sanctioning existing trails without assuring wildlife and watershed protection, the designated corridors program has abdicated an important be Our generation must responsibility. more vigorous stewards of this habitat: the status quo is not good enough. u o Q t a t u s S t h e a p s M t c A multi-stakeholder Alberta multi-stakeholder A we have to make a place “Yes, Data collected as part of the trail In another example of a missed o j e pro-active approach should have been approach should have pro-active program pursued within the designation itself. Coordinating Recreation Corridors in January 2006 Committee was created and policies to implement standards scientist Dr. for the program. Political at two AWA Ian Urquhart represented in 2006. He early committee meetings consisted mainly of recalls that the group motorized vehicle representatives from groups, and the meetings focused on club liability issues and trail construction AWA After several meetings, techniques. concluded that wildlife habitat issues to the committee’s were so marginal considerations that attending was not worthwhile. for responsible motorized recreation use,” Urquhart comments. “But the fundamental, mortal flaw of the committee was that it missed the most important issue when it comes to any be trails program: what lands are going to allocated or set aside for various uses — motorized, equestrian, bike, foot — and for various trail types. For example, we should be re-examining the motorized trails in Lakeland Provincial Park.” mapping may contribute to integrated land-use planning in the future, according Information on trail to Strong-Watson. conditions, services, and topography This is collected, as well as route data. is the first comprehensive information available on recreation trails outside of parks. It will be added to SRD data on other public land uses. the data will not however, opportunity, be used in the near future to monitor and regulate unsustainable trail use. Strong- that unless the land explained Watson SRD Zone, Use Land Forest a within falls has no tools to regulate trail usage. So the main application of the trail for now, inventory will be to prevent inadvertent trail damage by oil and gas or forestry Where competing land uses activities. are at issue, the database could also be used to notify and consult stakeholders. r P s r i d o rr o C e a t i o n

cr

new Northeast Alberta Trails map Trails Alberta Northeast new 2008 by was released in January Alberta the government-initiated e By Carolyn Campbell, AWA Conservation Specialist Conservation AWA Campbell, By Carolyn R

The Northeast Alberta Trails map Trails Alberta The Northeast corridor” “designated recreation A A ecreation Corridors Program. The map Program. Recreation Corridors will be a province- is the first in what or eight recreational wide series of seven positive There are certainly trail maps. and the underlying aspects of such maps Program. However, Recreation Corridors to date reveals a review of the program stewardship concerns that environmental to economic are taking a back seat development and recreation priorities. Alberta’s By reinforcing the status quo of recreation trail network, the program misses an important opportunity for stronger wildlife habitat and watershed protection. covers the region from Edmonton to and northeast the Saskatchewan border, Air to Lac La Biche and the Cold Lake This map identifies Range. Weapons designated snowmobile trails, non- motorized trails, and “multi-use trails including motorized” both in and outside of parks and recreation areas. Half the total layout is devoted to text map’s tourist and photos promoting the trails’ back fold section The map’s potential. encourages environmentally responsible trail use and briefly describes wildlife habitat qualities of the boreal forest and parkland regions. is simply a continuous length of trail for recreation use that is designated under the Alberta Recreation Corridors Program Alberta and formally approved by Sustainable Resource Development According to (SRD) or municipalities. Executive Director TrailNet Alberta pre-existing trails Linda Strong-Watson, that are “designated” under this program do not go through a new environmental assessment. She emphasized that environmental criteria would have been considered at the time they were originally approved as trail routes. Tourism, Alberta’s she added, Moreover, Parks, and Recreation department monitors and relocates trails as needed in consideration of environmental perspective is that a more AWA’s impacts.

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r a T r t h e O t h a t

MOSS’s proposed public consultation proposed public consultation MOSS’s Public reaction to the substance and i t h w this landscape in its natural state. Instead, this landscape in its natural state. Instead, grand promises of a better it offered The hubris of these “reclaimed” future. After mining’s promises was palpable. “temporary impact,” future generations will benefit from “a new valuable landscape.” It would not be today’s ecosystem. Instead, reclamation would “create an ecosystem that fits within the concerns for Any remaining region.” “seamless reclamation to a self-sustaining boreal forest ecosystem” were to be Alberta’s soothed by the promise that improved boreal would have “a new, natural look.” process was duplicitous and cunning in the extreme. Consultation would only take place in Fort McMurray in Its public open balmy January weather. house would open its doors for only 150 minutes; in addition, four identical workshops were promised. proposed consultation process of MOSS weather was as frigid as Fort McMurray’s on the day scheduled for the open house. the government respected Surprisingly,

t t r t a S s ’ : I. Urquhar Photo e t of northeastern 2 — L h a n g e C The strategy would abandon any For at least a generation, MOSS Alberta, tar sands mining would get “the highest priority”; wildlife habitat protection would “not be implemented This prior to or during oil sands mining.” meant that wildlife issues (not to mention biodiversity or ecological sustainability) would not be entertained at all for at least the next 30, 40, or more years. interest in preserving even a fraction of fens. Open-pit oilsands mining, which will destroy the fen and surrounding wetlands, has the fen and surrounding destroy fens. Open-pit oilsands mining, which will for this area. been approved The McClelland Lake watershed contains one of the world’s most spectacular patterned one of the world’s The McClelland Lake watershed contains not sparked a meaningful response from not sparked a meaningful response from government — other than to thank the Committee for its valuable work. Consultation Background The catalyst for this consultation came from one of the most honest, yet chilling, government documents on the tar sands I have seen — the Mineable Oil Sands Strategy (MOSS), released for public There was comment in October 2005. no pretence that ecological sustainability mattered to the government. Athabasca Oil Sands proposed to turn the region north of Fort McMurray into an Throughout industrial free-fire zone. approximately 2,900 km a n d

onsultation C e n p e a t T a n d s By Dr. Ian Urquhart, AWA Board Member Board AWA Ian Urquhart, By Dr. A S February 25, 2008 — Premier Ed Stelmach — Premier

n early March, a disappointingly n early March, a disappointingly re- Albertans small number of Stelmach’s elected Premier Ed

During the campaign the Conservative the campaign the During forgotten feel bad if you’ve Don’t I “Environment takes precedence over the takes precedence “Environment economy.” Conservatives. Our first-past-the-post electoral system turned an impressive victory in the popular vote for the Conservatives (53% of those who voted) The into a landslide in terms of seats. 72 seats captured by the Conservatives on March 3 amounted to 87 percent of the seats in the legislature. For the Conservatives, this was their “tenpeat” — their tenth successive re-election since Peter Lougheed led the party out of the political wilderness in 1971. mantra was all about “change” — Albertans” was “change that works for As his new what the Premier promised. Cabinet thinks about what that promise means specifically for our province, I hope they will remember that the Royalty Review Panel was not the Conservative only tar sands consultation. government’s Between September 2006 and summer Albertans spoke 2007, hundreds of out about the future of the tar sands to another government-appointed review Oil Sands Consultation Multi- The panel. stakeholder Committee traveled to eight cities and towns to hear what values, principles, and actions people thought the government should embrace with respect to the greatest resource boom That consultation, in Canadian history. unlike the Royalty Review Panel, had a very broad mandate: the “consideration of economic, environmental and social issues in an integrated manner.” about this other tar sands consultation. government seems to have forgotten Your about it as well. It is now going on eight months since the Committee reported. hard work has the Committee’s So far, (2002) Making It Everyone on the committee was on the committee was Everyone If the Stelmach government really The Last Great Forest: The Last and co-author of Alberta’s Japanese Multinationals and Northern Forests (1994). He teaches political science at the University of Alberta. Work: Kyoto, Trade, and Politics Trade, Kyoto, Work: but could not achieve consensus on on consensus not achieve but could of land that amount the total limiting an on establishing could be disturbed, setting network, or on interconnected areas.” specific protected aside four areas say that new protected prepared to it came to walking made sense. But when and industry that talk, government of the ENGO- refused to regard any protected areas designated candidate Complex, Wetland – McClelland Lake Athabasca Rapids, or the Gipsy Gordon, – as worthy of Richardson Backcountry protection. Next? What Should Come meant to say the None of the above is possible environmental actions outlined The by the Committee have no value. intention instead is to suggest that ecological merit most often rested with the actions the Committee could not build In many cases these a consensus for. non-consensus recommendations were those enjoying the most support among those citizens who appeared before the seriously these consider To Committee. non-consensus recommendations would be to follow the guidance provided MacNichol, the retired Vance by senior public servant who chaired the work. He wrote: “It is my Committee’s view that it would be beneficial for the Alberta to look at not Government of only the consensus actions but consider and deal with the non-consensus issues I expeditiously as well…. Frankly, believe there are positive opportunities for moving forward on them with some additional time and effort” wants to implement “change that do much Albertans,” it could works for worse than start its new mandate with action on many of the non-consensus recommendations found in the Oil Sands Multi-stakeholder Committee final report. is the author of Ian Urquhart t An example of this enthusiasm The ultimate emptiness and poverty for the general and abhorrence of the specific appears with respect to the strategy called “Improve cumulative environmental impact assessment There was no process for oil sands.” disagreement on the desirability of gathering comprehensive environmental baseline data or on the value of doing regional cumulative environmental impact assessments. But the Committee or could not define the relevant baseline assessment “in more specific terms.” It could not reach consensus on the merit of establishing a baseline generated by historical data, modeling, and traditional environmental knowledge. Government objected to this proposed “specific This meant that prescriptive definition.” refused government, as well as industry, to entertain the idea that the condition of the boreal forest before this black gold rush began was a suitable yardstick for environmental assessments or reclamation. environmental of the Committee’s health vision is best seen in the section discussing the strategy entitled “Minimize the impact of oil sands development on the biodiversity of boreal forests.” Is my eyesight jaundiced when I see the following statement, ostensibly written to demonstrate the Committee’s commitment to establishing protected areas, as essentially meaningless? “The committee also reached consensus on establishing new protected areas … : I. Urquhar Photo When it came to this environmental Is Consensus as Good as It Sounds? In June 2007 the Committee submitted its final report to the Ministers of and Sustainable Environment, Energy, As befitted the Resource Development. the mandate, breadth of the Committee’s report contained 120 recommendations The 19-member to government. committee produced 96 consensus recommendations; consensus could not be reached on 24 action-requests. Fifteen of the 24 non-consensus items concerned the vision to ensure a healthy environment. vision, the Committee developed 11 strategies and proposed 50 actions to implement those strategies. Consensus was reached most often when proposed actions were general or abstract, were and were not calling for voluntary, significant changes to government legislation and/or industry behaviour. when Consensus also emerged proposed actions spoke to motherhood concepts such as “good information,” “comprehensive planning,” “better management systems,” or “cumulative environmental impact assessment.” Consensus broke down when deciding wardrobe these ideas should what specific wear. this reaction and abandoned the MOSS this reaction and abandoned the MOSS The Oil Sands consultation model. Multi-stakeholder Committee was instead created to undertake a more honest and accessible public consultation. Oilsands mining north of Fort McMurray. Oilsands mining north of Fort McMurray.

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W W 24 e p a r t m e n t s D WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 25 Species at , and Arctic grayling have been , and In summary, I would really like to In summary, fisherman, and As a fellow hunter, Sincerely, Carl Hunt AB Edson, I have been made aware of the Risk Act Risk tributaries of decimated in the headwater The accumulated Athabasca River. the on our impact of human activities monitored. even been watersheds hasn’t can legally remove Private landowners mark. vegetation to the high-water On public land, the number of stream crossings is unrestricted and riparian even required on the aren’t buffers thousands of kilometres of small feeder streams that nourish our trout waters. For example, aerial herbicide spraying for intensive forest management (approx 30,000 hectares sprayed per year) is allowed within five metres of fish-bearing waters and there is only a one metre for ephemeral streams. buffer Alberta government understand why the money to to use taxpayers’ is offering protect habitat and promote elk hunting on private property while they squander the renewable wildlife and fisheries habitat on public lands. unabashed environmentalist, I implore 2008), “if (quoting from your letter, persuaded you, I hope you I haven’t will keep an open mind” and support a broader view of the critical habitat protection that is greatly needed and long overdue in this province. Open to Revisit Promises Premier Spaces Program the days before 1, 2008, three On March Stelmach election, Premier provincial the following letter to Mr. wrote Alberta Fish and Game, Lowry, Wayne Lethbridge. Lowry: Dear Mr. serious and legitimate concerns of stakeholders in the development of the access to fishing, but says nothing about but says nothing access to fishing, trout have been habitat protection. Bull for over 10 years, protected from harvest are being considered westslope cutthroat federal for listing under the : N. Douglas Photo Grizzly mismanagement is following The Open Spaces Project implies The Mule deer in the Castle area. the government continues to ignore preferring need for habitat protection, instead wildlife management that ungulate populations increases for hunting. 1980 and continue to decline while the 1980 and continue to decline while the government ignores the real problems of habitat degradation. Logging companies continue to log these areas even though the demand for wood fibre products and lumber has declined. Petroleum companies are building roads and “voluntarily” promise to share them Thirty years with the logging industry. of caribou recovery plans, and all we have seen is a caribou cowgirl trying desperately to prevent road-kills on a highway and caribou cows rounded up and penned like livestock to reduce has Now the government calf mortality. resorted to culls of wolves, which – as science has repeatedly shown – rebound to even greater numbers after the killing gas stop when the wolf kill the Will stops. Are caribou recovery field is developed? plans written by industries? the same scenario as caribou. Stop the hunting, blame poachers, and allow industries to continue “business as Alberta government is the When usual.” going to implement some industrial road planning, stop the unlimited motorized access to every quarter section on Crown land, and recognize that road densities are destroying wildlife habitat? benefits for fishermen, such as better while the s r e t t e L Your letter to “Fellow Hunters and Your Like most hunters, I would welcome I fail to understand who would What really confounds me is having Dear Minister Morton, answer my Conservationists” didn’t concerns that the Open Spaces program might evolve into paid hunting. the opportunity to hunt on private land and like all conservationists/ environmentalists, I think the protection and development of wildlife habitat should have a high priority compared to emphasis on monetary values. today’s But nowhere could I find the safeguards to prevent the proliferation of a black- issued market in the sale of farmer- tags or information about how public access would be controlled to protect the access rights of resident hunters or how the safety and vandalism concerns of landowners would be addressed. evaluate the qualities of productive wildlife habitat that, according to the original pilot program description, would landowners an annual profit return private per of up to $2000 for 100 hunter-days year for a section or landowner! How much would this cost taxpayers if it were widely applied to private property? Habitat characteristics vary for each species, so how would the government could Taxpayers habitats? value different end up paying for aspen scrub to produce a pileated sooner watch but might elk bull woodpecker or caribou in an old-growth forest. taxpayers pay private landowners to protect wildlife habitat of the protection government ignores critical wildlife habitat on grazing lands. Our mountain leases and crown been hunted since caribou herds haven’t Close the Gate on the Open Spaces Gate on the Open Close the Program Carl Hunt, a hunter-conservationist version of this Edson, sent a longer from on February letter to Minister Morton as a fish biologist 20, 2008. Carl worked than 30 years with Sustainable for more a brief Development. For Resource Spaces program, summary of the Open see page 16.

all qualified 2) An open process that allows 2) 3) Formal legislated protection of Neil Brown I understand that Dr. In addition, I hope this government Thank you for considering my A. Rew Dorene AB Red Deer, The AWA demands full public demands AWA The Aside from the public involvement, 1) Identification of all ecologically ecologists and take place within a regional framework that examines the need for prairie conservation and endangered species protection. Albertans, not just local interest groups, Albertans, not just local interest groups, to participate. Alberta want lands that the people of preserved in perpetuity. Habitat has sponsored a Wildlife and I believe that this Act Preservation would complement the protection that is required to preserve these lands for the Albertans. future benefit of new Land-Use Morton’s will release Dr. Albertans can judge Framework so that just how well this government has done at protecting the future land wealth and Albertans. thus the future prosperity of requests. the areas of our province that store that store of our province the areas carbon and water. review of the sale disclosure and public lands, of all government-administrated Recovery Land. I fully Tax including must The public agree with this demand. be fully involved in any sale or transfer of these lands. development and I call for the AWA of a provincial prairie and parkland conservation strategy that includes the following: significant lands administered by the This Area. White government in the should go beyond the Environmentally Areas report and involve a Sensitive comprehensive review by yet this When is a policy coming that will When is a policy coming I am extremely angered that the Taber I understand that in the M.D. of date this government has allowed To from the sale of this land. from the sale of this Public Lands for Alberta’s preserve and others Albertans? Environmentalists years to get legal have been asking for protection for public lands and a process that would scientifically assess the true value of ecosystems versus the short-term “buck in the hand” derived from selling this property to either the highest bidder or the municipalities bordering these lands. public has, for the most part, been kept of in the dark about the ongoing disposal these lands by this government, which continues to tell us how much more open and accountable it is than the previous And by this, I government was. Tory mean recording it in some obscure don’t website. section of the government’s alone, there are 569 quarter sections of Recovery Land, and that the process Tax of transfer has already begun and will continue until 2016, when the last lease expires. Is the government waiting until Albertans what they 2016 before telling are doing with our land? Much of this land is native prairie and is home to numerous endangered species and species at risk. Is it fiscally responsible for the government to give away this land for $1 a parcel when its ecological value is beyond price because of its ability to support biodiversity and also assist Albertans to survive global warming? millions of acres of natural wetlands This and natural prairie to be destroyed. government has mismanaged water to the point that many regions have water Global shortages and contaminated water. warming predictions say that our area severe droughts and water will suffer shortages in the near future, government has done nothing to protect I have been writing for several years promised us a new Morton When Dr. I can assure stakeholders that elected truly, Yours Ed Stelmach Progressive Conservative Leader Dear Premier Stelmach, SRD Minister Jablonsky, Morton and MLA continued government’s Tory about this practice of selling (more like giving Tax away) our public lands – including Recovery Lands – without any discussion (the real owners) about Albertans with the value of leaving at least the most ecologically valuable lands as a public trust for the benefit of future generations Albertans. of Land-Use Framework, I was hoping that this lack of fiscal responsibility would Tax stop, and that at least some of these Recovery Lands would be protected. Once transferred to the municipalities, they are not obliged to preserve the land that is ecologically valuable, but are at liberty to get the most money they can proposed Open Spaces pilot program. proposed Open Spaces let me assure This concerns me and under my Albertans that a government open, to fair, leadership is committed prior consultation. officials of the caucus will always be the final arbitrator of public policy and will be guided by the public interest. In our system of government, each legislature has the right to review decisions of policy and make changes as deemed this point, should the To necessary. Alberta entrust my Progressive people of Conservative party with the honour and Alberta, I will mandate of governing commit to bringing the Open Spaces pilot back to my Caucus to be revisited. An Owner’s Public Land Sales – Perspective February 1, 2008 : J. Hildebrand Photo

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D 26 e p a r t m e n t s D WLA April 2008 • Vol. 16,No. 2 27 , and I did not start the first recycling I ran barefoot through clover fields, : G. Kynaston Photo program in my public school while Nor did I take a still in kindergarten. biology degree and work directly for I wish I environmental organizations. had, but my path was more circuitous and grassroots. Reusing and repurposing was an economic necessity on the farm. Our clothes made the rounds of all the cousins, until they arrived thread-bare in the bottom drawer of the youngest one – My mother kept string balls, jars, Billy. blankets, and dresses past their prime. were organic We Nothing was wasted. and free-range before the word or the concept was fashionable. skipping over the thistles, headed for the fence stile and the nearest neighbour, where there were eight more children to Through binocular eyes, I run wild with. searched the horizon for storms and Great . In 2003 I won Glenbow Magazine Award Heritage Canada Foundation’s the City of Calgary’s for Journalism and Award. Heritage Public Library, and more recently, recently, and more Public Library, manager for on contract as records I at Morley. Nation Tribal the Stoney about built have written extensively and art for history, heritage, Canadian including the a variety of publications, Alberta History Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun, archivist I have recently accepted a position as I have recently accepted The seeds of my awareness, in terms The formal part of my education a very good time. I am currently taking time. I am currently a very good course through a non-profit management was looking Mount Royal College, and I within an for volunteering opportunities with. that I felt a connection organization experience but was I was hoping to gain in a a difference also looking to make personal area of concern. and one of my first Outreach Specialist, Wild coordinate the responsibilities is to very excited about Alberta Expo. I am both the position and this fantastic Earth Day event. I am thrilled to be part of such and such a an outstanding organization wonderful team. Cook Bobrovitz Jennifer Staff Profile: Wilderness Alberta I recently joined as part-time librarian Association staff responsible for maintaining and developing the collection in the Resource Centre, which Wilderness In the AWA. supports the work of the spirit of “all who wander are not lost,” my life has not been a straight line trajectory to this place that feels like home to me. of nature and the environment, were planted early and deep, without the benefit of naming, on a small lakeside farm settled by my grandparents after they returned from their turn-of-the- century homesteading adventure in Saskatchewan. My parents took over the 40-acre farm around 1950, about three years before my birth, and it was there that I learned everything I know about contentedness and peaceful cohabitation with the earth and its inhabitants. But I did not know what I knew until I was around 50. After earning spanned two decades. degree in history an undergraduate a BEd in history and and psychology, counseling, and a Masters in Library and Information Science, I moved to Here I have worked as Chief Calgary. Librarian for the for the Glenbow Museum, archivist- curator for the historic Lougheed House, local history librarian for Calgary s w e N i a t i o n c s s o A I have always loved being outside Alberta me to the friend introduced A : C. Miller Photo Staff Profile: Carly Miller Staff Profile: It took a trip to the top of Kilimanjaro for me to realize that I had much more to give back than I was giving. It was a life-changing experience and it really reconnected me with the things that I truly care about, one of which is the environment. in nature and consider myself very fortunate to be a native Calgarian living so close to such breathtaking beauty. Being active has always been important to me, and if I can be outside, I am. I love to hike and snowshoe and do so at Although I’ve traveled every opportunity. variety I have never seen the extensively, Alberta of landscapes that we have in anywhere else. I have had amazing mountains, lush Alberta’s experiences in forests, grasslands, and badlands and each of these areas is equally important to me. For as long as I can remember, I have been concerned about the environment and in this particular field, I taught my parents everything they know! Association, and it came at Wilderness

The Species at Alberta list. The consultation document The list. SARA — David Mayhood & Christyann Olson : C. Olson Photo . Unless protection and recovery plans are SARA ) as “threatened.” The recommendation was made because native The recommendation ) as “threatened.” (SARA list. If it is added, a recovery strategy must be completed within two years list. If it is added, a recovery strategy must AWA is urging Fisheries and Oceans Canada to list all populations is urging AWA COSEWIC recommends that a wildlife species be listed as “threatened” when COSEWIC recommends that a wildlife of cutthroat trout) is Alberta, the westslope cutthroat (one of 14 subspecies In Fisheries and Oceans Canada is As part of the decision-making process, implemented in the near future, this subspecies will be extirpated from this province. If the westslope cutthroat trout is listed, there is great hope that these They are a resilient species, but they cannot compete with fish can recover. recreation, and lack of management and the cumulative impacts of industry, Wildlife. Alberta Fish and enforcement by states that “all available information suggests that many populations are lower states that “all available information suggests that many populations are lower relative to historic levels and numerous local extinctions have occurred.” document further clarifies the source of the problem: “Habitat degradation and document further clarifies the source of the problem: “Habitat degradation and loss due to timber extraction, mining and hydroelectric developments have been directly responsible for loss of habitat and decline of several populations.” For example, the proposed Petro-Canada Sullivan field project will impact numerous south Eastern Slopes streams that are either the last known refuges of pure will have to be native populations, or the streams where major recovery efforts implemented to restore this fish to secure status in this province. of genetically pure westslope cutthroat in their native habitats in as “endangered” under populations of this fish have been reduced by almost 80 percent by habitat loss, populations of this fish have been reduced fish species. overharvesting, and introduction of non-native if nothing is done to reverse the that species is likely to become endangered is then submitted to the federal assessment factors threatening it. COSEWIC’s decide whether to add the species to the Minister of the Environment, who must SARA then have responsibilities in the and the provincial and federal governments recovery and protection. species’ and possibly the headwaters of the Milk found in the Bow and Oldman drainages, major Although poaching is still a problem with respect to these fish, the River. habitat destruction from resource decline are ongoing factors in the species’ and the continuing failure to address development and motorized recreation, Alberta The vast majority of species. hybridization and competition with exotic with rainbow trout, which have been populations are now extensively hybridized are non-native. widely introduced to places where they conducting consultations on whether the westslope cutthroat trout (Alberta populations) should be added to the Westslope Cutthroat Trout Assessed as “Threatened” Assessed as “Threatened” Trout Cutthroat Westslope in Canada Wildlife Endangered In 2006 the Committee on the Status of westslope cutthroat trout, found in Canada (COSEWIC) assessed the status of the listed under the Alberta, and recommended that it be only in B.C. and Risk Act Risk The westslope cutthroat trout prefers cold, clean moving water with various forms clean moving water with various cold, prefers trout The westslope cutthroat on the front with red silver to yellowish-green, Body colour ranges from of cover. the slashes beneath the jaw distinguish The orange-red and sides of the head. cutthroat from the rainbow trout. the rainbow trout. from cutthroat I have always struggled with city I have always struggled 18 Tasha, My children, Niklas and I can change the world with my own two hands make it a better place with my own two hands make it a kinder place with my own two hands. Tibet’s I remind them that when the my own I look forward to offering Lakes ships. I checked bird sightings sightings bird ships. I checked Lakes book kept bird the illustrated against carefully table. I listened on the dinner always pee instructions: to my father’s into when the tractor goes downhill, for on for dear life, head gear – hang and the the wind picks up cover when the silver side, and poplar leaves turn to plant trees. Many plant trees, plant trees, the tractor with moonlit nights I rode ploughed and “our” my father while he ahead of the light fox ran in the furrow searching for mice. comfortable with life, feeling much more water, earth, sky, the vast expanses of many years for and mountains. It took sown in my youth to the seeds that were And just as germinate, sprout, and grow. a it takes a village to raise a child, it takes friends, and community village of family, working together to nurture, encourage, and support a sense of responsibility to this world. what can we do and 21, ask in despair, in this to make a positive difference given the seemingly Why bother, world? insurmountable challenges of global warming and pollution and clear-cutting and oil sands development and … ? I smile and turn up the volume on the CD mellow voice Jack Johnson’s player. the province, the fills the room, the city, world: spiritual, the Dalai Lama, was asked how he managed to hike the long, treacherous route through the mountains during his escape from China to India, he replied, “One step at a time.” two hands to the work that needs to be wilderness Alberta’s done to ensure that areas are preserved and protected. I am grateful that my journey has led me back home, one step at a time.

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Summer Solstice Stroll Devonian Botanic Gardens, Edmonton Acorn Nut” John “Nature With 20, 2008, 6:00 p.m. June Friday, Adults – $25; Children – $10 required Pre-registration Online: shop.albertawilderness.ca 1-866-313-0713 Toll-free: Join us for a summertime barbecue, “Nature Alberta’s entertainment by Nut,” and a summer evening stroll through these beautiful and diverse botanic gardens. Learn about the significance and mystery surrounding the Solstice. Come walk with us and learn about unique A Spaces! Wild Alberta’s and enjoyable event for the whole family. For directions to the Devonian Botanic Gardens, see www.devonian.ualberta.ca. Big Sagebrush Natural Area Natural Big Sagebrush Ernst Reg With June 21 Saturday, Join expert Reg Ernst on this ecological the world of rare field trip exploring This wilderness. plants in the Castle will delight budding short but steep hike richest Alberta’s botanists with one of sure to also keep bio-diverse areas. Be many birds and your eye out for the the area. animals that frequent Dry Island Buffalo Jump & Rob Barratt Tjarda With June 25 Wednesday, Just in time for the magical blooming of ed the cacti, explore the badlands of the R Climb to the top of the park’s Deer River. namesake – the “dry-island,” rising 200 metres above the water; look out to the jump; and of an ancient buffalo cliff-top Albertosaurus. search for the bones of the : C. Wearmouth : C. Photo DAY HIKES DAY members AWA $20 $25 non-members Whaleback in the Summer Bob Blaxley With June 7 Saturday, along the horse and game trails Wander of this pristine montane landscape. Experience the stunning display of wildflowers, visit ancient trees eking out an existence, and take in the dramatic views of the surrounding landscapes. elk, bears, animals such as deer, Wild Always coyotes, and wolves may be seen. a popular hike – be sure to book early. Area Rumsey Natural Dickson Dorothy With June 14 Saturday, relatively Rumsey is the only large, Aspen Parkland left untouched area of in Canada. Its seemingly endless rolling hills of fescue grasses, interspersed and small sloughs, with aspen bluffs Alberta. make it an area like no other in of knowledge about wealth Dorothy’s Rumsey reveals a treasure that few Albertans have experienced. v e n t s E Trip departs from Lac La Biche. Trip Discover one of Alberta’s best-kept Alberta’s Discover one of only official secrets – the province’s the raucous mating Watch canoe circuit. of red-necked grebes while gliding across lakes. Enjoy the haunting boreal Alberta’s to sleep in calls of loons as you drift off your tent. Participants are responsible for their own canoes, safety equipment, and all including food. camping gear, WEEKEND CANOE TRIP WEEKEND CANOE Park Lakeland Provincial Davies Aaron & Ian Urquhart With May 25 May 23 – Sunday, Friday, members AWA $50 $60 non-members BUS TOUR BUS Waterfowl Wheels & Medicine Jay Bartsch With May 22 Thursday, members AWA $45 $50 non-members Spring on the prairies is not to be missed – bug-free warmth, wildflowers in bloom, and waterfowl in full breeding plumage. Human history also abounds in this area. Step into the past for a day as we visit early 1900s homesteads and a sprawling medicine wheel believed to be 4,500 AWA. years old. Lunch provided by Online: shop.albertawilderness.ca or By phone: (403) 283-2025 Free: 1-866-313-0713 Toll Is Required Pre-Registration Trips All for www.AlbertaWilderness.ca. AWA’S EARLY SUMMER HIKES EARLY AWA’S is hikes program AWA’s in Participating the wilderness of a great way to explore diverse province’s Alberta, discover our the work we wildlife, and learn about these magnificent are doing to protect information about landscapes. For more see the 2008 hikes all our summer hikes, website: brochure or visit our

: C. WEARMOUTH : C. photo Be sure to check out our 2008 In 2007 AWA members explored members explored AWA In 2007 our Summer wild side through Alberta’s by the public Hikes Program. Joined trip leaders, we and our many fantastic landscapes of our explored the diverse flora, fauna, province, learning about and the traditional land use, geology, great wilderness issues surrounding our of the best places. Here are some to evoke last photos from the season this year’s memories and inspire year’s adventures. program. Our early summer hikes are listed on page 29, and a complete summer hikes list can be found in our 2008 hikes brochure and on our website: www.AlbertaWilderness.ca. Rare plant expert Reg Ernst leads a hike along Adanac plant expert Reg Ernst leads a hike along Rare their shared Ridge in the Castle. Hike leaders freely insight into and offered abundant knowledge of the areas our wild places. the issues surrounding : C. WEARMOUTH : C. photo : N. DOUGLAS photo r u m m e S i l d W n e O Wandering deep up Yarrow Canyon in the Castle during a three- deep up Yarrow Wandering like this little known treasures day backpack, we came across rock. lush waterfall cascading down the red Outstanding natural beauty across the seasons graced our rambles in Alberta’s Alberta’s graced our rambles in the seasons Outstanding natural beauty across of the ancient limber pines one two hikers meander towards Here, wilderness areas. during its autumn glory. on a windswept ridge in the Whaleback

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: C. WEARMOUTH : C. photo : J. HILDEBRAND photo After climbing to the saddle of Ram Ridge, J. C. Dufort After climbing to the saddle of Ram Ridge, celebrate the camaraderie born of Jollimore and Darren exertion and wilderness adventure. Albertans, including Liz and Tony Fricke, seen here gliding across the tranquil waters gliding across Fricke, seen here Albertans, including Liz and Tony Park. Lake in Lakeland Provincial of Kinnaird Last year’s trips through the wilderness offered adventure and renewal for many and renewal adventure the wilderness offered trips through Last year’s 2007 : C. WEARMOUTH : C. photo e s k i H r Sightings of wild animals and their sign Hike in the Bighorn. u m m e : C. WEARMOUTH : C. photo of this black bear track during the Ram Ridge abounded on the trips, including the discovery A S W A

Hikers were rewarded with showy displays with showy displays rewarded Hikers were and endangered of wildflowers, rare paying attention to plants, and for those of clubfoot garden wild minutiae, this tiny area Ha Tinda lichen found in the Ya of the Bighorn. register at climbforwilderness.ca or 283-2025

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Alberta Wilderness Association Box 6398, Station D Calgary, Alberta T2P 2E1 [email protected]

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