OCTOBER 2015

Be The River Close the Borders! Promise in the Little Smoky? Two Fish, One Fish, No Fish Grassy Mountain Editor: CONTENTS Ian Urquhart OCTOBER 2015 • VOL. 23, NO. 5 Graphic Design: Doug Wournell B Des, ANSCAD Printing: Features Association News Colour printing and process by Topline Printing 4 Thinking About Rivers 25 Sid Marty: A Man for Alberta’s Mountains 6 Close Alberta’s Borders! (to aquatic invasive species) 28 Gordon Petersen: Voice for the Castle River Wildland 11 Little Smoky – Duvernay Pilot: How Close is Promised Cumulative Effects Management? 30 On Becoming a Modern Day Rockstar 14 Two Fish, One Fish, No Fish: Alberta’s Fish Crisis Events 19 At the Top of Grassy Mountain 31 Fall/Winter Events 21 Species At Risk ALBERTA WILDERNESS Westslope Cutthroat Trout ASSOCIATION 23 Conservation Corner “Defending Wild Alberta through The Leopard Frog and the Fungus Awareness and Action” Alberta Wilderness Association is In Memoriam - Chris Havard 24 a charitable non-government organization dedicated to the completion of a protected areas donation, call 403-283-2025 or Cover Photo contribute online at Early October in the AlbertaWilderness.ca. Crowsnest PHOTO: © I. URQUHART Wild Lands Advocate is published bi- monthly, 6 times a year, by Alberta Wilderness Association. The opinions expressed by the authors in this publication are not necessarily those of AWA. The editor reserves the right to edit, reject or withdraw articles and letters submitted. Please direct questions and comments to: 403-283-2025 • [email protected] Featured Artist: Subscriptions to the WLA are $30 per Our featured artist will return in the December 2015 issue. year. To subscribe, call 403-283-2025 or see AlbertaWilderness.ca.

455-12 ST NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1Y9 403-283-2025 Toll-free 1-866-313-0713 www.AlbertaWilderness.ca AWA respects the privacy of members. Lists are not sold or traded in any manner. AWA is a federally registered charity and [email protected] functions through member and donor support. Tax-deductible donations may be made to AWA at 455-12 ST NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1Y9. Ph: 403-283-2025 Fax: 403-270-2743 E-mail: [email protected] www.AlbertaWilderness.ca ISSN 1192-6287 Letting the Fox Guard the Henhouse

I wish it was just a Halloween prank. redirect them into a fund for the exclusive use this proposal. We expect the government to This October the Alberta Off-Highway of the off-highway Delegated Administrative reject it in its entirety. But we also expected Vehicle Association posted a proposal to the Organization. So, instead of being used for the government to prohibit, not permit, provincial government on the Association’s funding health care or education or hiring OHV use in the Castle Parks. So we may website. The AOHVA is offering to take over officers to enforce existing backcountry OHV have our work cut out for us in the months much of what we expect the Government closures, these millions would go instead to ahead to ensure that such a mistake isn’t of Alberta’s public servants to do: manage the off-highway vehicle community and its made. We expect a better path to the larger and develop trails in the backcountry in preferred regulatory vehicle, a DAO. issue of recreational use of public lands will a fashion that balances recreational use I don’t think there’s a conservation group be outlined soon when the Environmental with maintaining ecosystem health. The in Alberta better placed and informed than Law Centre releases its report on this issue. off-roaders preferred vehicle for assuming AWA to make the reasoned case against this We look forward to what their research managerial and decision-making power in proposal. We have worked for years in the will say on how others are addressing the Alberta’s backcountry is called a Delegated Bighorn documenting how some members challenges of managing recreation on public Administrative Organization (DAO). This of the OHV community abuse seasonal and lands. institution emerged in Alberta, as elsewhere, area closures there. The solution to abuses Coincidentally, the features of this issue of as a way to reduce the size of government. and lawbreaking in Bighorn Country isn’t a the Advocate focus generally on water and The operation of elevators and amusement DAO; it’s active stewardship of the land by fisheries – subjects irresponsible OHV use rides here, for example, has been privatized. public servants. have muddied and sullied. I expect they are There isn’t anything amusing about There’s a reason why places outside Alberta not articles that will sit well with the AOHVA. the AOHVA proposal. The proposed where AOHVA members might like to run For, when writing about a backcountry land- DAO, without any representation from their machines – state lands in Colorado, use framework, the AOHVA says the goal conservation organizations, would have Utah, and Oregon for example or US federal should be “to protect the environment and impressive authority to develop and manage lands throughout the American west – don’t wilderness for the people of Alberta not to off-highway vehicle trails and staging/ have DAOs to manage off-highway vehicle keep it from the people.” This issue’s features random camping areas in the backcountry. It use. It further fragments authority; it doesn’t and AWA’s larger mission believe firmly would take the registration fees from OHV make sense as a way of managing the many that there are occasions when protecting users that currently go into general provincial interests and objectives that good policy wilderness for the people demands putting revenues – the same place where your should consider. restrictions on what people can do in it. automobile registration fees end up – and AWA sees absolutely nothing positive in -Ian Urquhart, Editor Thinking About Rivers

By David W. Mayhood

Man’s engineering capabilities are nearly limitless. Our economic views are too insensitive to be the only criteria for judging the health of the river organism. What is needed is a gentler basis for perceiving the effects of our engineering capabilities. This more humble view of our relation to the hydrologic system requires a modicum of reverence for rivers. — Luna Leopold, A Reverence for Rivers. Geology 5:429-430 (1977)

Not Just Plumbing public hearing. A power company was I also argued, based on available data, There is something deeply troubling about seeking approval for a dam on the Peace that just one of the common fishes, anoth- the way we think about rivers. River. This was the second go-around for er sucker, was likely to number at least in Several years ago I gave evidence at a the proposal: a previous panel had reject- the low hundreds of thousands — a size- ed the same project some years earlier, re- able population. The proponent had felt questing more studies. that, based on catch rates, they were not The new hearing considered extensive especially abundant. I described why these evidence from the proponent relating to species are ecologically important, even the economic need for the project; dam though we do not know their full role in design; hydrology; ice; sediment transport this ecosystem. I clearly remember quoting and deposition; fish populations, habitat, Aldo Leopold’s famous dictum: “To keep distribution, and passage; and more. It was every cog and wheel is the first precaution good work, but I was interested in some- of intelligent tinkering” to make the point. thing else. At least part of my evidence cen- I had had very limited time to prepare my tred, in one way or another, on the value of case but, when done, I thought I had ex- fishes and the larger ecosystem of the Peace plained the “ecosystem value” issue clearly River. The proponent seemed to be mini- enough. Nope. At the end of my testimo- mizing this aspect. ny, the panel allowed a local gentleman I recall in my testimony talking about a to ask me a question. To paraphrase him sucker species unusual in Alberta, but of- from memory: ten common where it occurs. This species “Nobody fishes for suckers, or anything had been found in the proposed dam area else in the river, for that matter. What good in the past, but now was absent from col- are they? Can you tell me? Let’s just build lections despite the proponent’s extensive the dam and be done with it.” sampling. Was it already extirpated, per- My answer, I confess, did me no credit Dense stream networks with their drainage basin haps by dam operations upstream in B.C.? with this fellow. boundaries making 90 small watershed ecosystems in the Highwood, Willow, Oldman, Livingstone, and If so, this represented an already-realized The dam was approved, but never built Crowsnest drainages. Used with permission. GIS loss to the Peace system, and to Alberta, be- for economic reasons. Now a new propo- analysis by Ecology Center, Bozeman, MT, published in M. D. Sawyer et al, Southern East Slopes fore any dam is placed on the Peace within nent wants to build a much larger dam near Cumulative Effects Assessment, 1997. the province. the same place. Much of the same data and

44 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Balancing Accounts comparable to that of any dam that might First, though, let me dispense with an be built on it. This value cannot simply be argument that is advanced whenever a ignored when evaluating dam proposals. dam is proposed. These plans are always But it’s done all the time. accompanied by some estimate of the economic value of the dam and that fig- Rivers and Watersheds ure is commonly in the hundreds of mil- Rivers do not stand alone: they are inte- lions of dollars annually or, often in the gral parts of drainage networks connecting low billions, in terms of the one-time re- entire watersheds. Watersheds with their placement value of property saved from drainage networks form ideal unit ecosys- flooding. The economic value of the river, tems conceptually. They are hierarchically left as a free-flowing river, is never men- arranged over large areas, one within an- tioned. In effect, it is assigned a value of other, tightly adjoined but distinctly sep- zero. The economic cost of losing the nat- arated by heights of land except at their ural river is simply ignored. outlets, where the watercourses that drain This is clearly ludicrous. It is like tot- them meet. ting up only the deposits in your bank Watershed ecosystems are four-dimen- Kananaskis River circa 1970 exhibits a complex account, ignoring all the payments you sional. Within watersheds, terrestrial areas riparian zone and floodplain, with many lateral make against it, and declaring yourself in are tightly tied together by the dense net- tributaries. This watershed ecosystem has been work of watercourses that drain them, and heavily impacted by hydroelectric dams and the black. associated exotic fish introductions. PHOTO: © D. There are many services provided by all of these change over time. The aquatic MAYHOOD free-flowing rivers, often called ecosys- and terrestrial realms are integrated parts arguments will be trotted out to support tem services. Ecosystem services are those of the whole ecosystem, not separate ele- that proposal. And again, I strongly sus- provided by ecosystems from their normal ments. pect, the value of the Peace River as a func- functioning, such as water purification, A riparian zone flanks the watercourses. It tioning ecosystem will be ignored. nutrient cycling, waste decomposition, becomes the zone of interaction between The Peace River dams are just two of doz- and water supply. Robert Costanza and his land and water. This zone is typically the ens that are likely to be proposed on all of colleagues have calculated the global val- most productive, biologically-active part Alberta’s major rivers in the next few de- ue of freshwater ecosystem services. They of the ecosystem, important far out of cades to deal with water supply, flood con- estimate that lakes and rivers globally are proportion to the relatively small area it trol, and hydroelectric power. These proj- worth US$2.3-2.5 trillion annually for the occupies. The riparian-riverine-tributary ects look at rivers as plumbing. According ecosystem services they provide. network so formed connects the water- to this view, rivers carry water, and that is Using their unit values with Alberta shed from headwaters to mouth, forming all they are good for. Or, they are seen as Government data on river and lake area, critical habitats and corridors for move- plumbing that threatens to burst, destroy- I recently estimated the total economic ment of fish, insects, wildlife, and birds. ing homes and infrastructure. Rivers are value of ecosystem services from Alber- Disturbances, especially floods, distribut- seen merely as flowing water to be con- ta’s waters (not including wetlands) at ed over time, and of various magnitudes, trolled by physical infrastructure. US$24.4 billion annually. The Peace Riv- create a patchwork of physical habitats in Here I describe another way to think about er system alone, which carries something this zone. These become a template on rivers. This way of thinking acknowledges more than 40 percent of the flowing wa- which plant communities of different ages their complexity, and the many other val- ter in Alberta, is likely worth billions of develop, creating a mosaic of habitats for ues of rivers that are simply ignored in the dollars in ecosystem services annually. It wildlife, birds and invertebrates. Many “river as plumbing” view. What I hope I is pretty clear that the value of ecosystem plants disperse upstream and down along can give you is a way of thinking about riv- services of any of our major river systems this corridor, which typically offers many ers that helps you judge the many propos- will be at least in the hundreds of mil- disturbed surfaces for their establishment. als for dams and other control works that lions of dollars every year. Leaf litter and woody debris washing into will be coming our way in the near future. These estimates for Alberta are no more watercourses from hillslopes and uplands For simplicity, I will consider only dams, than back-of-an-envelope calculations, powers aquatic food chains through de- but my comments apply to any river con- but they do make the point that the eco- composition. Birds, wildlife, invertebrates trol structure, and more broadly, to any hu- nomic value of ecosystem services from and their foods move in both directions man effect on rivers. an Alberta free-flowing river is likely to be between riparian zone and terrestrial sys-

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES A5 A mosaic of productive habitats dominates the riparian zone of the Bow River near Carseland. PHOTO: © D. MAYHOOD

tem. Those moving inland die or their feces spect the valley rules the stream,” wrote points. Working in Yellowstone National are deposited, becoming incorporated into stream ecologist Noel Hynes. By this he Park, Arthur Middleton and his colleagues upland forests or grasslands. These effects meant that watershed source rock deter- recently documented how lake trout il- are often measurable far from the water- mines ion availability, soil, and slope; soil legally introduced into Yellowstone Lake courses where they originate. Bears, wolves, and climate determine the vegetation; and contributed to a decline in the growth of an bats, and many birds carry stream-derived the vegetation determines the supply of or- elk population. The lake trout preyed on nutrients far inland. On some alluvial riv- ganic matter, which drives nutrient deliv- native cutthroat trout, reducing their popu- er systems, surface water fauna have been ery and ultimately the productivity of the lation, thereby shrinking spawning runs of found in abundance in groundwater more stream. And on and on. cutthroats into tributary streams. Grizzlies than a kilometre from the open channels Because of these connections, landscape that formerly relied on these runs for part where they must complete their life cycles. change in the uplands of a watershed af- of their spring food supply were forced to They are connected to those channels by fects watercourses draining them. Culti- look elsewhere. They successfully redirect- a hyporheic zone underlying channels and vation, clear-cutting, roads and grazing af- ed their attention to elk calves, causing a the riparian margin (the hyporheic zone is fect the physical and biotic stability of the significant drop in elk recruitment, and the groundwater beneath a stream or riv- terrestrial and aquatic realms, significantly reduced growth in the population of elk. er bed which supports bacteria, fungi, and altering the distribution and abundance of Because the elk are migratory, the effect invertebrate animals that are important in aquatic organisms from bacteria and fungi would be felt upstream, downstream, and nutrient cycling). to fish. These tight downhill-uphill link- even outside of the Yellowstone Lake wa- Ecologists work under the strong suspi- ages between the land and the water in tershed ecosystem. cion that, in an ecosystem, everything is the watershed ecosystem mean also that It is important to understand that any connected to everything else. We think that changes wrought by humans on the system perturbations that reduced the size of cut- if we change something in the system here, can have large effects. We know that these throat trout spawning aggregations, such as something will happen over there. This is effects can be expressed both upstream overfishing or habitat destruction, would an oversimplification, but decades of re- and downstream, downhill and uphill, and have had similar effects. The Yellowstone search broadly support the view. sometimes even outside the watershed. example is very unlikely to be unique. “We may conclude then that in every re- One remarkable example makes these

6 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES The Lynx Creek watershed (Carbondale River drainage) has been extensively logged, burned, and roaded. This has increased water temperatures and the loading of sediment, including some heavy metals and nutrients. Overall water quality in the stream has decreased. PHOTO: © D. MAYHOOD

A Greater Reverence for to uplands via mobile bird, wildlife and Dave Mayhood is principal of FWR Fresh- Rivers insect populations. water Research Limited, in Calgary. He When Luna Leopold, a hydrologist and For these reasons we need a more inclu- specializes in the ecology of inland waters, fluvial geomorphologist, called so elo- sive paradigm. We need a reverence, not especially the effects of watershed develop- quently for a modicum of reverence for just for rivers, but for where rivers come ment on Alberta’s southern Rocky Mountain rivers, he was speaking about rivers ex- from — watershed ecosystems. East Slopes, and on the conservation biology plicitly as plumbing systems. He wanted of the native fishes that live there. authorities to recognize that rivers are self-adjusting, but only within limits, and that serious problems result when the lim- its are not respected. Here I urge Albertans toward a more com- prehensive understanding of rivers. Rivers are not just plumbing. River networks are integral parts of much larger watershed ecosystems. Perturbations in watersheds can have surprising, often profound ef- fects, and not just in a downstream or downhill direction. Perturbations in rivers will be reflected upstream, downstream and into the hyporheic/groundwater zones in the drainage network, downhill from the active channel through the groundwa- ter and riparian zone, uphill from the ri- parian zone and floodplain over hillslopes Coleman 1923: Why people don’t belong on floodplains PHOTO: © GLENBOW MUSEUM

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES A7 Close Alberta’s Borders! (to aquatic invasive species)

By Kate Wilson, Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist (Alberta Environment & Parks)

hat is the issue? 2. Eurasian watermilfoil Aquatic invasive spe- W cies (AIS) pose one of the greatest threats to freshwater resources and are one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss in the world. As many of us have ex- perienced, Alberta can be a tough place to thrive in those brutal, long winter months – but, despite this, many invasive species think otherwise and could actually do very well in our climate. Let me first introduce you to a few of these critters that pose high threats to Alberta…

1. Zebra and Quagga mussels Eurasian watermilfoil tangled on a boat propeller. CREDIT: T. WOOLF, IDAHO DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE. Risk Map for Alberta Waterbodies Based on Calcium Data. CREDIT: ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT 7 PARKS, This aggressive rooted aquatic invasive 2013. plant is found throughout the west but with their ability to attach themselves to has not been detected in Alberta at this everything from docks to dams to native time. It spreads by fragmentation, so any mussels and crayfish. tiny leaflet that breaks off from the parent Evidence from jurisdictions across the plant is capable of starting a whole new- U.S. and Canada show the cost of managing colony. It has been found as deep as 30 invasive mussels to be significant. Although feet and is known for its rapid expansion these mussels have not been detected in Al- and ability to reach the surface of the wa- Quagga mussels on boat propeller berta to date, $75 million is a conservative ter in one growing season. It prevents rec- PHOTO: US NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, estimate of the damage they would do to reational boating, decreases property val- LAKE MEAD NATIONAL PARK infrastructure, fishing, property values, etc. ues, and impacts fish habitat by creating a These freshwater mussels are filter feed- if they established themselves in Alberta’s dense monoculture of plants where many ers that can drastically change the entire waterbodies. native plants previously thrived. It is be- food web in aquatic ecosystems, posing Two risk studies, one conducted by the lieved to have been introduced as a result great threats to native species. While they Department of Fisheries and Oceans Can- of the aquarium trade where its robustness remove the vital “good nutrients” we need ada (2012) and one conducted by Alberta makes it a popular aquarium plant. Eur- for our native fish to thrive, they have Environment and Parks (2013), demon- asian watermilfoil is a prohibited species now been linked to causing toxic blue- strate that, based on calcium data and hab- in Alberta – illegal to import, possess, and green algae blooms in the shallow waters itat suitability, most waterbodies in Alberta transport. as well. They pose very real threats to in- could support zebra and quagga mussel frastructure, recreation, and native species populations.

8 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 3. Flowering Rush – Present in cies. They are a long-lived, fast-growing What are we doing about Alberta species that can reach 100 lbs, making it aquatic invasive species in hard for any predator fish to eat them. Alberta? They are voracious eaters, consuming 5 The Alberta Aquatic Invasive Species to 20 percent of their body weight each Program is a provincial program focused day! Their threat to Alberta’s waters is on the prevention and management of growing as the (jumping) silver carp have aquatic invasive species (AIS). In 2012- made their way up the Mississippi and 2013, a prototype was launched that fo- Illinois Rivers and threaten to infest the cused on the “Crown of the Continent Great Lakes. Silver carp can jump up to Ecosystem” in the southwest portion of 10 feet in the air, scared by the sound of the province in order to address the risks boat motors. Small wonder they are nick- of zebra/quagga mussels and Eurasian wa- named “the flying fish.” Some of these fish termilfoil. It became increasingly evident weigh more than twenty pounds. They there was a need to expand the program land in boats, damage property, and injure due to the large ecological and economic Flowering rush on the shoreline. people. Silver, black and bighead carp are CREDIT: T. RUSHCALL, ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT risks facing the entire province. The pro- & PARKS a prohibited species in Alberta – illegal to gram now addresses all of Alberta. It in- import, possess and transport. cludes: This invader has been introduced through the horticulture industry. It is both 5. Bullheads 1) Policy and legislation, an emergent plant along shorelines and a 2) Monitoring, submersed plant in lakes and rivers. It is 3) Education and outreach, an incredibly aggressive plant whose dense 4) Response, and stands can interfere with recreational use, 5) Watercraft inspections water access, native plants as well as fish The AIS Program is much more than a and wildlife habitat. There are few known Three classes of Black Bullheads. government program. An AIS Committee successful control options at this time. CREDIT: R. BALDWIN, ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT & PARKS. comprised of cross-ministry partners has Unfortunately, flowering rush has been worked very closely with national and in- detected in Alberta – in Lake Isle, Ches- Bullheads are closely related to catfish; ternational agencies, regional groups, lo- termere Lake/Western Irrigation District they eat a variety of aquatic invertebrates cal stakeholders, and the public to create canals, in a creek near Innisfail, in the such as crayfish, freshwater mussels, snails, a cohesive program able to capitalize on Sturgeon River, and in the Bow River. and insects. They will also eat other fish, the experience of others while making ef- Flowering rush is a prohibited noxious fish eggs, and plants. They will eat almost ficient use of available resources. With the weed in Alberta – illegal to import, pos- anything that can fit into their mouths. They passing of robust legislation, the operation sess and transport. are able to tolerate turbid or murky/muddy of 12 mandatory inspection stations this water that many fish cannot. Bullheads are season, the monitoring of over 60 lakes 4. Asian Carp able to survive in water with low oxygen and reservoirs annually, two high profile content and often occur in large numbers in education campaigns, and prolific public lakes where winter kill eliminates other fish. and stakeholder support, Alberta has re- In short, bullheads can live in just about any cently become a leader in the prevention aquatic habitat. of AIS in Canada. Bullheads have a single large, sharp spine at the leading edge of their dorsal and pectoral Since the AIS Program was developed, Bighead carp CREDIT: A. BENSON, US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY fins. When bothered, they lock these spines there has been great progress, including: in a straight-out position making the fish very • The monitoring of over 60 Alberta Four species of Asian carp are considered hard to swallow. They also produce a mild lakes and reservoirs for invasive mus- to be highly invasive across North Amer- poison that runs down the spines and into sels annually. ica – the silver, black, bighead, and grass the wound of a victim punctured by one of • Recent amendments to the Fisheries carp. They are filter feeding fish that con- these spines. Black, brown, and yellow bull- (Alberta) Act that provide for all wa- sume plant and animal plankton, which heads are a prohibited species in Alberta – il- tercraft inspections to be mandatory impacts the available food for native spe- legal to import, possess and transport. (which has improved compliance by

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES A9 more than 20 percent already); the cre- which targets all non-watercraft sourc- coming more knowledgeable about the is- ation of a prohibited list of 52 aquatic es of introductions (aquarium dump- sue and the harmful threats posed by AIS. invasive plants, invertebrates and fish; ing, intentional release, ceremonial In 2012, if you had asked a Summer and enhanced authority to mitigate the release, etc.). Village or Irrigation District what a zebra risk of AIS and respond rapidly if these mussel was, most would have had likely invasive species are detected in a wa- While it is often difficult for govern- shrugged their shoulders and brushed terbody. ment to take a preventive approach, the off the issue without much thought. To- • Implementation of province-wide momentum and support provided to this day, these same organizations are standing mandatory watercraft inspections, the effort promises that progress should con- side-by-side with the Alberta government most likely source of introducing in- tinue. in a fight to prevent harmful AIS from vasive mussels (among other species), From the development of the prototype becoming established. In 2014, several targeting 12 of the highest risk loca- in 2013 until today the AIS Program has non-government stakeholder organiza- tions (major entry points and highly achieved great success that will only con- tions even passed formal resolutions urg- trafficked recreational lakes) with sea- tinue due to the commitment of the AIS ing the government to continue efforts sonal watercraft inspections and now Committee and the many supportive part- to prevent AIS. Together, we can protect mussel sniffing dogs as well. ners. This season, over 22,000 boats were Albert’s freshwater resources from aquatic • Development of an Early Detection/ inspected, resulting in 16 interceptions of invaders! Rapid Response plan for invasive mus- mussel-fouled boats, and countless citi- sels (in the event they are found in zens were educated on the risks of AIS and What can you do? an Alberta waterbody) that is close to the need to “Clean, Drain, Dry your boat.” Tell your friends. This is one of the greatest completion. We have also seen a rise in the number threats facing our native species. For more • The launch of two high-profile edu- of public reports of AIS in waterbodies, information or to report AIS, see our web- cation campaigns targeting personal including Prussian carp, flowering rush, site (http://esrd.alberta.ca/recreation-pub- actions and behaviour responsible for goldfish (in urban stormwater ponds) and lic-use/invasive-species) or call our AIS the introduction of AIS: “Clean, Drain, just recently, black bullhead, a species of Hotline (1-855-336-BOAT [2628]). Dry Your Boat” which targets boaters catfish that is prohibited in Alberta. These and anglers and “Don’t Let it Loose” reports demonstrate that the public is be-

10 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Little Smoky – Duvernay Pilot: How Close is Promised Cumulative Effects Management?

By Carolyn Campbell, AWA Conservation Specialist

n August 2015, Alberta Environ- disposal that has been associated with bridges and nearby roads increase the risk ment and Parks (AEP) approached local earthquakes. New protected areas, of large sediment loads entering streams I environmental groups and other plus changes to energy and forestry ten- and smothering aquatic invertebrates (a sectors to seek support for a pilot involv- ure, approvals and compliance regulations key link in the food web) and fish eggs. ing AEP, Alberta Energy, and the Alberta are urgently required to manage land and Roads, power lines, pipelines, and cut- Energy Regulator (AER). The pilot’s aim water impacts within ecologically-based lines increase fragmentation and dessi- is to better manage cumulative develop- thresholds. cation of wetlands, which are crucial for ment impacts to land and water in an area These public lands situated in foothills water storage and purification. Year-round of west central Alberta that AER calls the and boreal forests include home rang- water withdrawals from small creeks and Duvernay-Montney play-based regulation es of endangered Little Smoky and A La lakes damage river-side vegetation and (PBR) pilot area (see map). While the spe- Peche woodland caribou (see April 2015 increase ‘low flow’ risks, such as reduced cific goals and timelines of the pilot need Wild Lands Advocate for background on habitat area, low dissolved oxygen and, in to be much stronger, AWA is encouraged caribou range planning here). Less well summer, dangerous high temperatures. that the government has recognized that known, perhaps, is the renowned fisher- Conservation-minded groups and citi- cumulative effects management is urgently ies habitat under threat in this area. Some zens have made numerous attempts since needed in this area, and that a cross-min- small creeks and rivers in the area still the 1970s to work with government and istry approach is essential. AWA will keep support threatened Athabasca rainbow working with a broad group of conserva- trout; some support threatened bull trout, tion groups that has formed recently to ac- and many support arctic grayling, a spe- celerate regulatory change to protect these cies of special concern (see Lorne Fitch’s imperilled, highly valuable public lands. earlier article in this issue for the plight A land and water crisis is unfolding in of the arctic grayling in Alberta). These the Little Smoky watershed and other species’ status is a vital indicator of habitat nearby upper Peace and upper Athabas- health. The upper Little Smoky River and ca River watersheds, which overlap with Two Creek are examples of local streams the Duvernay-Montney PBR area. Land that originate in peat bog/fen wetland sys- disturbance from ongoing liquids-rich gas tems. Unlike ‘free stone’ systems, these fracking and forestry, plus unreclaimed wetland-fed systems generate a clear, cool “legacy” seismic lines, already far exceeds and year-round discharge of water. Upper science-based thresholds for native fish, Little Smoky flows have a buffering effect grizzly bears, and caribou in the region. As that extends far downstream, creating a well, year-round water withdrawals from highly productive cool water ecosystem. small local streams and lakes for fracking Anglers still consider the Little Smoky a wells are a significant concern. Fresh wa- “blue ribbon” native fishery. Alberta Environment and Parks has proposed a ter withdrawals are growing with little to The concern is that today’s increase in cross-ministry pilot process to manage cumulative land and water impacts from fracking and forestry no baseline ecological information, cumu- intensive landscape conversion and wa- in the outlined ‘Duvernay-Montney play-based reg- lative effects monitoring or auditing. This ter withdrawals will severely degrade this ulation’ area of west central Alberta. AWA and oth- er groups are urging that ecologically-based surface fresh water is contaminated and lost to fishery. Culverts tend to reduce stream disturbance and water withdrawal limits be swiftly the hydrological cycle through deep well connectivity and stream velocity, while adopted to restore and protect these lands.

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 11A Using 2012 human footprint data, this map of four townships in the west central Alberta Duvernay-Montney pilot area illustrates the excessive linear disturbance around the Little Smoky River’s blue ribbon fishery. AWA and other groups seek responsible rules to greatly reduce surface disturbance throughout the region, including sensitive Key Wildlife and Biodiversity Zones (the purple band in this map), caribou ranges, and lake shore buffer zones.

other sectors to develop land use plans price environment, Canadian demand whilst approvals were further streamlined. to sustain lands and waters of this area. for diluent outstrips supply. To its credit, AER’s PBR staff has met every None of these efforts led to protected In 2014, the Alberta Energy Regulator few months with AWA and other envi- areas in these foothills or boreal forests: (AER) launched the west central Duver- ronmental groups since September 2014 instead, the whole area northeast of the nay pilot “Play Based Regulation” pilot ap- to discuss the Duvernay PBR pilot. We mountainous Willmore Wilderness was proval process, with a March 2015 dead- were informed that AER was coordinating allotted to multiple energy and forestry line for operators to file PBR applications. this pilot with Alberta Energy and Alber- tenures. Responsible limits on cumula- Recognizing fracking’s intensive surface ta Environment and Sustainable Resource tive land and water impacts were never footprint and water requirements, the Development (AESRD) – now Alberta En- set; multiple temporary water diversions AER’s pilot encouraged energy operators vironment and Parks (AEP) – with AEP and permanent linear disturbance were to disclose multi-year regional plans. The leading on land and water cumulative ef- approved. idea was to streamline the application pro- fects assessment pieces. In recent years, new directional drill- cess for companies and encourage coordi- But as months passed without prom- ing and shale gas fracking techniques, nation of infrastructure and water supply ised land and water impact limits, AWA plus the surge in tar sands-bitumen ex- requirements. However, the pilot was not and several others began submitting traction, have greatly increased interest supported by a long term environmental Statements of Concern for specific appli- in the liquids-rich gas found in local Du- vision or by overarching land and water cations. In general, the applications we vernay and Montney sub-surface forma- management regulatory plans. reviewed had incredibly limited informa- tions. This gas is refined into condensate Since learning of this pilot in the summer tion on aquatic ecosystem impacts from or ‘diluent’ that is added to Alberta’s un- of 2014, AWA has been very concerned development and water withdrawal: from refined bitumen and heavy oil so it will that, once again, management of cumu- several days to zero field site visits for flow in pipelines. Even in today’s low oil lative environmental impacts was ignored hydrology, river channel or aquatic eco-

12 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES informed AER it would no longer seek a Water Act term water license and will in- stead be pursuing temporary water diver- sion licences for its requirements, adding: “accordingly, the water monitoring and management objections raised in AWA’s SOC are no longer relevant to the Applica- tion and should be disregarded.” Many of these applications for multiple well infrastructure have been approved, though some follow up studies and mon- itoring is required. In one case, permis- sion was granted to operate a fresh water reservoir but the actual water diversion license decision has been postponed . Ecologically-based limits to regional land impacts, and a water management plan that includes temporary water diversion and term water license impacts are still missing. Despite this neglect, Albertans still care deeply about these valuable forests. In June 2015, ten fishing, hunting, trapping and environmental conservation groups jointly called on the new provincial gov- ernment to manage cumulative impacts in these lands. In late September, 10 conser- vation groups met with the three depart- ments and agencies to voice support for swift reforms. Local anglers and trappers graphically outlined the urgency of the situation. We believe AWA’s efforts, together with our conservation colleagues, have raised awareness and resulted in tentative steps by policy managers towards on-the- ground improvements. We are continuing to work in a broad coalition to seek stron- ger goals and urgency for Alberta Environ- Proliferating stream crossings greatly increase the risk of suffocating sediment loads entering the area’s small waterways and harming fish and many other species. These photos were taken June 2015 on bridges over ment and Parks’ west central land-water Waskahigan River (top) and Tony Creek (bottom), important tributaries of the Little Smoky River. integration pilot. For future generations PHOTO: © D. SMITH to be able to enjoy the rich habitat we in- system assessment. There is little to no The applications revealed little awareness herited, there is no better time for deci- local water gauging of streams, and lim- of existing fish habitat, or impacts to en- sion makers to finally start to reduce the ited local precipitation records. Instead, dangered and threatened species, though degradation and threats to these valuable instream flow needs and estimated water some applications did mention voluntary streams, wetlands and forests. available for diversion used a ‘desktop’ efforts to minimize new linear develop- method based on gauges far downstream ment. In one case, withdrawals were pro- on larger rivers, with very limited infor- posed from constructed water bodies that mation disclosed on other temporary or were intended as habitat offsets in earlier term water licenses. construction projects. Another operator

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 13A Two Fish, One Fish, No Fish: Alberta’s Fish Crisis

By Lorne Fitch, P. Biol.

r. Seuss’s One fish, two fish, perilously low levels. pany surveyor, fur trader, and mapmaker red fish, blue fish is a clas- The current status of fish populations wrote in the late 1700s: “…when a new D sic children’s story, a simple cannot be appreciated until we acknowl- trading House is built…everyone is anx- rhyming book for beginning readers. We edge where we were by reviewing his- ious to know the quality of the fish it con- need a similar rhyme to help people grasp torical abundance and distribution. Only tains for whatever it is they have they have the problems afflicting Alberta’s native fish then, will we grasp where we are, appre- no other[food] for the winter.” species. It might read like this: ciate the losses, and see the potential for In 1798 a Hudson Bay Company post Two fish, one fish, dead fish, no fish, recovery. was established on Lac La Biche. Over 200 No grayling or goldeye, something’s It’s sad but true that just too few fish live years later Dr. Andrea McGregor painstak- amiss. here anymore. It was not always so for fish ingly quantified the harvest of fish from This one has a tumor and a rotten fin, and their downward spiral started long Lac La Biche that supported the westward There’s no home for that one to live in, before Alberta became a province. Here’s expansion of the fur trade and settlement Say, what a lot of fish there used to be, that history. in her doctoral thesis. The annual har- Where are the fish for my kid and me? vest of lake whitefish increased from 85 Grant us our daily fish… tons caught in 1800 to over 1,200 tons in My apologies to Dr. Seuss, but what no more 1875. But even subsistence harvest by a would he have thought of the sorry state Fish were once a staple in the diet of relatively small population was not sus- of fish in Alberta? Like convicts on death native peoples and fur traders, especially tainable and the fishery collapsed in 1878. row, trends indicate dead fish swimming, in the parkland and boreal forest regions. One fish collapse followed another. To where populations have been driven to David Thompson, the Hudson Bay Com- add indignity to the mortal injury of over- fishing, by the 1950s the essential water- shed integrity that supported the lake and its fish populations had been compro- mised. Insult followed indignity and by 1970 walleye had effectively been extirpated and by the 1990s pike and perch popula- tions had declined dramatically. The finny wealth of lake whitefish that encouraged settlement has been reduced to a fraction of historic levels. We’ve influenced the ecological cogs and wheels of the lake’s delicate mechanism, tipped the balance so far that the lake may not have the capability to snap back to some previous steady state. David Thompson would not be im- pressed. Fishing Near Fort Macleod 1902 File NA-4954-34 PHOTO: © GLENBOW MUSEUM

14 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Arctic grayling - going, If the changes in the Beaverlodge River What’s the matter with the Battle River? going, gone and the loss of fish provide a lesson, it is Dr. Michael Sullivan, Provincial Fish Sci- Arctic grayling shimmer, even in tea-co- that fisheries management — maintaining ence Specialist, sums it up succinctly: “too loured water and, with their huge dorsal fish — often has little to do with how we many nutrients coupled with too few fil- fin, seem more to sail through the water manage catching fish (ie. seasons, catch ters spells big trouble for fish”. than to swim. limits, harvest size). Instead, the integrity What has changed from the Battle River This member of the trout family had a of the watershed, the integrity of habitat, of Harley Louis’s day to the one of today? historic range through the entire Peace, primarily dictates whether fish will persist As the wave of settlement and develop- Hay, and Athabasca river basins. Grayling or not. The cumulative effects of land and ment spread and the ecological integrity slipped between our fingers. More than water use in the Beaverlodge watershed of the watershed became more and more half of Alberta’s current grayling popula- eroded the ability of fish to persist. Several compromised, fish numbers, fish dis- tions have been reduced to 10 percent or species, consequently, have disappeared. tribution and fish health all declined. It less of their historic population numbers. In most watersheds Arctic grayling are wasn’t the space race, nor the arms race Also, there has been a 40 percent contrac- either a distant memory or, even worse, but the food production race, aided by the tion in the range of grayling waters. Most forgotten about entirely. horsepower race in farming that led to the of this contraction has happened in living decline and disappearance of native fish memory. Looking for the last from watercourses in the settled portion Examples include the Beaverlodge and Goldeye of Alberta. Redwillow rivers of north-western Alber- Goldeye have a prominent place in fish- Perhaps ironically, there is safe haven for ta. Prior to the 1980s these rivers sup- ing stories from the past. Goldeye are fish in the Battle River within the bound- ported one of the largest spawning runs of deep-bodied fish, flattened laterally and aries of Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, Arctic graying in Alberta. No grayling have silvery with large scales. They are named a military base. This isn’t a function of been seen in the Beaverlodge River since for their large, yellow-gold eyes which are armed soldiers protecting fish, but rather 1994; they are now considered “extirpat- adapted to the dim light and turbid water a landscape that is relatively unchanged. ed.” Populations in the Redwillow River of prairie and parkland rivers. The military base, formerly Buffalo Na- are classified as “declining.” The goldeye of the Battle River were tasty tional Park, is uncultivated, uncleared na- Why did historically abundant popu- and once abundant. Harley Louis of the tive Aspen Parkland. lations of Arctic grayling (and northern Montana First Nations near Hobbema re- The Battle River through the military pike, bull trout and mountain whitefish) called how productive fish traps were in base is where the last few goldeye can disappear from the Beaverlodge River? the 1940s: “We’d catch enough fish [gold- find habitat conditions to their liking and Alberta Fish and Wildlife investigations eye] to fill our saddlebags and ride back where pike and walleye populations make report a “perfect storm” of cumulative, for a big feed of fish with our families.” their last stand. As was the case for gray- synergistic causes that resulted in crash- It didn’t last. ling, the lesson from this safe haven on the es in fish numbers and distribution. The A fish biodiversity study sampling 128 Battle River is that effective fish popula- perfect storm came in the form of a series kilometres of the river, from the headwa- tion maintenance and restoration depends of land use decisions. Forest was rapidly ters at Battle Lake to the border, under- fundamentally on habitat. Everything else replaced by agricultural fields; riparian taken between 2005 and 2007 captured done on behalf of fish pales beside water- fringes were narrowed and often disap- just seven goldeye. A few pike and walleye shed integrity. Give me that integrity rath- peared with the patterns of settlement. were found but 80 percent of the catch er than mostly cosmetic window dressing Wetlands were drained and now roads in- consisted of white suckers and minnows. designed to make me feel good. terrupt drainage and channel flow. They Suckers are tough, resilient fish capable Even a goldeye can see that. send water to rivers faster. Both floods and of survival in harsh circumstances. Even droughts are exacerbated. they were suffering lesions, eroded fins, It’s a bear market for The Beaverlodge River has been trans- and growths. bull trout formed from a low productivity water- A provincial government river moni- Bull trout look like baseball bats with course to one with an excess of nutrients. toring program found that over the span fins. They are torpedo-shaped and simi- A small amount of nutrients promote of 2009 to 2010 the Battle River had the larly dangerous to other aquatic species. growth and are beneficial in producing poorest water quality of all river sites Think of bull trout as the aquatic version more of the things fish like to eat. Excess monitored in Alberta. The water’s so bad, of a grizzly bear – a summit predator. overwhelms the system. Oxygen is robbed goes the joke, that when the angler turns And, as with grizzlies, the range of the from the water and fish suffocate. his back, the worm makes a break for it. bull trout has shrunk drastically. Bull trout

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 15A ened” under Alberta’s Wildlife Act. Pop- as a result brought back 400 fish.” ulation trends indicate that 61 percent of Yes, anglers were greedy, wasteful, and Alberta’s 51 bull trout core areas show de- even rapacious, but the bigger impacts that clines; 39 percent are stable or increasing. destroyed trout populations were the land- However, tucked into the tables and un- scape scale impacts on trout habitat: log- justifiably sunny narrative of the manage- ging, mining, hydropower development, ment plan are a series of red lights flashing agriculture, and petroleum development. out danger signals to be interpreted and The combination of overfishing and in- decoded. “Stable” populations are still be- dustrial land uses depleted cutthroat pop- low their historical levels and the word ulations until a cry rose from sport-fishers doesn’t imply the population is healthy, to restock lakes and streams. Although only that there have been no changes in cutthroat from the Spray system were survey results over the short time of mon- used initially, non-native rainbow trout itoring. Of the mere handful of popula- which were easier to obtain and rear be- tions to have increased in numbers over came the species of choice for stocking time most of them exist in areas protect- efforts. Cutthroat populations, already hit ed from industrial land use pressures. A by overharvest and habitat degradation, close examination leads to the conclusion were overwhelmed by the new, foreign that 94 percent of the provincial bull trout neighbour in their midst. population is still in trouble. It is apparent that perhaps less than five It’s a “bearish outlook” for bull trout, a percent of historical habitat is currently pessimistic future given their range has occupied by cutthroat in the Bow water- Bull trout from Allison Creek circa 1920 shrunken and continues to do so while shed, somewhat more in the Oldman. have now been eliminated from the Red- their numbers follow a similar downward Cutthroat trout are now designated as willow and Beaverlodge rivers, the North trajectory. “threatened.” Saskatchewan River below Drayton Valley, There are approximately 5,500 genetical- the upper Crowsnest watershed – includ- It’s a cutthroat world for ly pure fish remaining in both watersheds, ing Crowsnest Lake, the Willow Creek wa- the cutthroat trout which is about the present human popu- tershed, the Red Deer River downstream The trout is called a “cutthroat,” not from lation of the Crowsnest Pass. Not so very of Dickson Dam, the Rosebud River, the personality or behaviour, but rather for long ago cutthroat trout outnumbered lower Bow River, the lower Oldman Riv- a brilliant vermillion/orange slash on the people in Alberta. er and the lower St. Mary, Waterton and underside of its jaw. In the clear streams Belly rivers. In many watersheds bull trout of the upper Oldman and Bow watersheds What happened to all may have disappeared before we even seeing the flash of a cutthroat, a splash of those fish? What can we knew they had been there. liquid sunshine, is to glimpse a magnifi- do about it? These reductions in the current range of cent piece from nature’s art gallery. The simple answer to the first question is: bull trout continue. In 2005, Travis Rip- Duncan McEachran, a veterinary sur- we killed them. We may not have meant ley, then a provincial fisheries biologist, geon, traveled in 1881 from Fort Benton, to, we may not have been aware of the predicted extirpation of bull trout, in as in Montana, to Calgary along the foothills consequences of our actions and we might little as two decades, from 24 to 43 per- of the Eastern Slopes in search of possible have firmly believed more fish existed. cent of streams in the Kakwa River Basin ranch locations. Not only was he stunned Answering the second question is more subject to logging and road construction. by the potential of the foothills grasslands difficult – at least if we want to get off the The provincial government’s recent Bull to support a livestock industry, he com- path we’ve been on since the 1800s. Here Trout Conservation Management Plan mented on the streams that ran clear and I think the first step is to rethink what we (2012-2017) summarizes population sta- cold and were “full of trout…which are mean when we say that “fish are harvested.” tus for the species. Remarkably the report most delicious to eat.” The phrase means much more than the ob- escaped the spin doctors found in the From the June 15, 1903 edition of the vious – the fish caught and kept by anglers province’s Orwellian Public Affairs Bureau Calgary Herald comes this insight into and commercial fishers. We also harvest in 2012. Its authors clearly make the case cutthroat populations in the Bow River fish by the ways we develop, the ways we bull trout are in trouble. No wonder the watershed: “Two sportsmen went out after exploit, the ways we use landscapes. species has been designated as “threat- trout at Fish Creek one day last week and Each unit of habitat, the sum of appro-

16 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Logging on Spray River, 1889-1890 File NA-35535-211 PHOTO: © GLENBOW MUSEUM priate water quality, quantity and tem- habitats, water withdrawals, and pollu- perature along with abundant overhead tion. Alberta’s fish have died by a thou- and instream cover, clean substrate and sand cuts, not a thousand hooks. riparian shading is capable of producing Fish losses in Alberta are not solely an and sustaining a number of units of fish. artifact of history — it’s a current event, Any activity that degrades or eliminates happening as you read this, in a watershed units of habitat effectively harvests fish near you. The past has an annoying way because it removes the potential for fish of trespassing into the present. Every deci- to exist. sion about how we use and develop land, A fish removed from the water on the water, and other resources is a decision end of a fishing line may die sooner, but about the fate of fish. And, the myth of death is just as inevitable when fish habi- endless growth and the policy of multiple tat is altered, compromised or destroyed. use without weighing the consequences of The difference is a fish removed by angling either mindset has sentenced many fish to usually has minimal impact on the viabili- an untimely end. Poorly designed roads such as this one in the ty of the population. Lost habitat not only McLean Creek off-highway vehicle area send silt and eliminates the existing fish but also any A prognosis for Alberta’s sediment into streams to kill fish. hope for population recovery. native fish. PHOTO: © L. FITCH Farmers, miners, off highway vehicle us- With a few tiny exceptions, there has been plementation. It doesn’t demand enough ers, roughnecks, homeowners, politicians precious little movement towards actively actions that would ultimately produce and and a cast of thousands have devastated managing or restoring fish habitat. The re- sustain fish by protecting and restoring Alberta’s fish populations without ever cent Fish Conservation and Management habitat. Since watershed management is catching let alone frying a single fish. In- Strategy for Alberta contains good words the key to keeping fish swimming every- stead, large numbers of fish, populations on integration, planning, monitoring, use one involved in land use and landscape of fish, and watersheds of fish were killed of science and stewardship to benefit fish. planning must pitch in. Fisheries biolo- through habitat alterations, loss of critical But, it is weak on the crucial issue of im- gists cannot do this on their own.

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 17A It is all about priorities. There is consis- The cumulative and, in many cases, ir- habitat losses back? To answer yes means tency in policy that favors economic de- reversible loss of native fish virtually ev- we will require habitat restoration, ripar- velopment over environmental protection. erywhere in Alberta over our history of ian revival, fewer chemicals leaking into What is noticeably absent is the spine to settlement should shock us. If anything the water and, less sediment to muddy the address the thorny issues of conservation approximating this had happened to most water. The affirmative answer commits us targets and thresholds. of Alberta’s charismatic mammalian spe- to watershed improvement, true integrat- One thing about fishery collapses is that cies it likely would have made for banner ed planning, full cost accounting, and an they are not completely predictable and headlines and some level of political com- ecological approach to decision making do not happen according to some recipe. mitment to action. about future resource decisions. All the fish don’t die at once (usually); in- It is perplexing that this happened in Or, we could just answer no and call this stead they disappear in a series of almost modern times, with some level of envi- failure to act, as we have become want to indistinguishable whimpers, too quietly, ronmental consciousness and overlapping do — the price of progress. I hope that, too silently for most to notice. government responsibility. It speaks to on reflection, we will find progress some- However, we are getting better at defin- institutional barriers that preclude action, times has too high a price tag, especially ing thresholds, the crucial lines that, once poor communication between silos in when applied to fish. crossed, signal imminent fish population government, and a lack of oversight mech- In the Dr. Seuss classic that opened this collapse. Sediment from an eroding hu- anisms. Couple a reluctance to regulate essay is found this: “So, open your mouth, man land use footprint has long been rec- and enforce to this daunting list. Mostly it lad. For every voice counts.” Native fish ognized as a mortal threat for fish. The re- speaks to our failure to plan for tomorrow, need acknowledgement, empathy, encour- lationship between road density, the land to use existing evidence to guide us onto a agement and friends. use footprint, sediment, and fish popula- path of better decisions. tion persistence (or not) seems clear. The Lorne Fitch is a professional biologist, a research results are exhaustive, categor- A call for action. retired Alberta Fish and Wildlife biologist, ical, and yet unconscionably ignored as Fish, given their watery homes, are large- and an Adjunct Professor with the Univer- our land use footprint continues to bleed ly invisible to us terrestrial creatures. It sity of Calgary. sediment. isn’t that fish are actually invisible, it is that people are unused to seeing them, of perceiving that they live beneath the surface of the water. Of course, if no one sees them, are they really there at all? And, if they somehow disappear, does anyone note their disappearance? It’s this invisibility of fish that makes it too easy to disregard their present plight and the decline in habitat that supports fish. It makes it easier to ignore potential and lost capability and set erroneous goals for fisheries management. As Dr. Andrea McGregor points out: “…managers, scientists and citizens are likely to assume the ecosystem conditions of the intermediate and distant past resemble those of their own remembered history and thus can be ignored — a classic charac- teristic of the shifting baseline syn- drome”. A question Albertans should answer, be- fore the last fish swims to a watery grave,

Clean gravel substrate, one key to healthy fish popu- is this: Shall we be bold and ask for some Habitat Heaven, Blakiston Creek, Waterton Lakes lations. PHOTO: © L. FITCH of the fish harvest we have lost through National Park PHOTO: © L. FITCH

18 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES At the Top of Grassy Mountain

By Brittany Verbeek, AWA Conservation Specialist

ometimes it takes climbing to the standing at the end of the mine road near Grazing agreements on public and private very top of a mountain to get the the top of the Grassy Mountain. The coal land allow cattle to roam the area. And, al- S whole picture. A 360 degree view. seams were very evident in several deep though not entirely visible from our view- I had the opportunity to do just that on gashes along the crest of the mountain. point, I was told by Riversdale that many of Grassy Mountain at the invitation of Rivers- They also pointed out that the surrounding the legacy logging trails in the area are now dale Resources’ staff. I was invited to tour area is in far from pristine ecological condi- heavily used by motorized recreationists. the proposed coal mine site on what turned tion. And they were absolutely right. As with The Riversdale staff said on several occa- out to be a stunning September day in the so many other areas in Alberta, overlapping sions while on the tour that their company Crowsnest Pass. land uses abound. There is a lot going on is committed to fully reclaiming the mine We met for lunch prior to the tour at the or has gone on behind those hills north of area once they have completed extracting Crowsnest Pass Golf and Country Club, at Highway 3 and many of the scars are visible the coal. Their point of view is that they do a cozy clubhouse tucked in the valley just from the top of Grassy Mountain. The Forest not see any other company or any level of north of Blairmore. I found the meeting Reserve lands to the north and west showed government ready to fund the already much spot somewhat ironic considering Rivers- both old and recent clear cuts. Roads wound needed reclamation. Someone said to me dale has received conditional approval by through the valley on either side headed to afterward that this point of view sounded a council to locate their coal load out facili- oil and gas well pads and private properties. bit like the infamous military quote ‘it be- ty right on portions of the golf course. The Golf and Country Club website touts that it’s been “voted Alberta’s most scenic golf course;” that opinion may be hard to main- tain if the scenery afforded by its mountain vistas is replaced by the stark industrial presence of a coal conveyor belt system and load out facility. After lunch, I headed north on the seven kilometre drive to the mine area with two Riversdale staff, an aquatic ecologist, and a local retired coal miner. The company truck took us past remnants of old buildings, pri- vate lands, evidence of off-highway vehicle traffic, and meandering cows until we be- gan ascending the precarious switchbacks of Grassy Mountain. Riversdale staff helped us orient ourselves; identifying landmarks and explaining some of the current and historical land uses in the area. They told us Grassy Mountain had been previous- ly mined without much (if any) reclama- Grassy Mountain’s ridge was split open by several of these deep cuts revealing the layers of mineral tion. Nowhere was that more obvious than deposits including black coal seams. PHOTO: © D. MAYHOOD

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 19A The view from the top of Grassy Mountain shows the scars of multiple land uses The east side of Grassy Mountain was lined with un-reclaimed dirt slopes. Slumping on the surrounding landscapes and the need for restoration in the area. had occurred in several spots where access fluid from drilling had flowed down into Photo © D. MAYHOOD the valley below. Photo © D. MAYHOOD

came necessary to destroy the village in or- on other streams in the Oldman watershed have been raised about ground and surface der to save it.’ The life of the mine would that are home to native trout populations, water impacts, air and noise pollution, im- be 25 or more years if approved, and that’s including Hidden Creek and Dutch Creek. pacts on wildlife, and whether the mine will not including several years of pre-construc- Riversdale staff also told us they plan ultimately benefit or hurt the local economy. tion and post-reclamation work. Our poor to have their Environmental Impact As- It has become extremely personal for some cutthroat trout, hanging on by a fin in Gold sessment (EIA) completed in the coming of the landowners adjacent to the proposed Creek, and many other local species, may months. The project’s EIA will be submitted mine. Some have, with great reluctance and not have the stamina to withstand such a to the Canadian Environmental Assessment sadness, sold their properties to Riversdale. long period of disturbance and degradation. Agency (CEAA) to be evaluated by an in- Other locals have told me they would se- In good company form, the Riversdale staff dependent review panel. I find it puzzling riously consider moving away if the mine ensured us that protecting Gold creek was that, as news of low coal prices, layoffs, and was approved. I’ve heard many times that a high priority for them. They say they en- mine closures remain in headlines across the Crowsnest Pass community, in a sense, vision a collaborative approach to restoring Canada and around the world, Riversdale’s has been teetering on the fence for quite and protecting the creek and the life it sup- Grassy Mountain Coal Project continues to some time between embracing big industry ports. But I believe we have other options to chug along the regulatory line. Intended or embracing tourism to stimulate the local restore Gold Creek and the mine area that destination? Project approval. economy. With the newly designated Cas- do not involve several more decades of coal Another topic of conversation during the tle Parks now as a neighbour to the south, mining, as well-intentioned as Riversdale tour was Riversdale’s relationship with adja- it seems a better time than any to revamp may be. The provincial government is due cent landowners and the local community. the Crowsnest Pass as a gateway commu- to complete the Linear Footprint Manage- Road access seemed to be a bone of con- nity for angling expeditions, ecotourism, ment Plan and other sub-regional plans for tention with some of the landowners. Riv- and low impact recreation in the surround- the Livingstone area, which includes Grassy ersdale now technically owns the road, and ing areas. I hope it doesn’t regress to a coal Mountain, by the end of this year. These thus far has not restricted access for land- mining community. plans could scale back significantly the owners, recreation users, or members of the As I stood on the top of Grassy Mountain amount of linear disturbance in the region. Gold Creek Grazing Cooperative. Yet that on that near perfect autumn day, I stared all It’s well known that these disturbances have will likely change if the mine is approved. around me at the never ending landscape. I surpassed scientific species at risk thresh- From what Riversdale staff said and after found it hard to imagine what it would look olds. Damaging roads and trails may be re- reading many of the public submissions like during and after 25 years of coal mining. claimed; stream crossings may be improved on CEAA’s website regarding this particular I thought how strange it was that I might or removed. We can begin restoring the area mine proposal, people have some genuine outlast something as sturdy and long lived to a more natural state. Excellent collabora- and very valid health, environmental, and as the mountain I was standing on. tive restoration work is already taking place property value concerns. Many questions

20 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Species At Risk Westslope Cutthroat Trout

By Nigel Douglas

lberta’s native westslope cut- splitting them up into different subspe- a little confusing for a species that is throat trout were in the news cies is a sometimes contentious business. found on the eastern slopes of the Rocky A once again in September, as Up to fourteen different subspecies are Mountains. But of course Alberta is only AWA and Timberwolf Wilderness Society recognized, differing in appearance in a part of the range of this subspecies, announced that they will be taking the various ways, including size, colour, and which formerly occurred across north- Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada life history. The name cutthroat, as Lorne ern Idaho, Montana, British Columbia, as to Federal Court over the department’s Fitch pointed our earlier in this issue, re- well as Alberta. Like all cutthroat trout, failure to issue a critical habitat order fers to the distinctive blood red or orange they are highly streamlined; bold black for Alberta’s population of this threat- slash on the underside of the lower jaw. spots are scattered liberally across a sil- ened species. Such an order is required Of the numerous subspecies, the west- ver background. The belly of the males by law under the Species at Risk Act slope cutthroat trout is the only subspe- can brighten to a rich red at spawning (SARA) because such legal protection is cies native to Alberta and is now restrict- time. More than other species, westslope vital to restoring the species. AWA has ed to the uppermost reaches and extreme cutthroats have a preference for colder, long focused on the cutthroat as an in- headwaters of the Rocky Mountains and higher gradient streams with clear, clean dicator of the health of our headwaters foothills. Though once a widespread water. Spawning generally takes place in and, for many years, the signs have not species throughout southern Alberta, smaller, gravel-bottomed streams which been good. pure strain westslope cutthroat trout are must be free of siltation. Cutthroat trout belong to the Salmoni- now found only in the Bow and Oldman Westslope cutthroat trout have now dis- dae family of fish, which live throughout drainages. They may still exist in the appeared from approximately 95 percent much of western North America. As there headwaters of the Milk River. of their historic range. They were first is a great deal of variation in the species, In Alberta, the name “westslope” is recommended for designation as a threat-

Westlsope Cutthroat Trout PHOTO: © S. PETRY

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 21A ened species by the Committee on the damaging activities. And the continuing need the government to walk its “full Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada refusal of the Minister of Fisheries and protection for the Castle” talk much more (COSEWIC) in 2006. Seven years later Oceans Canada to designate critical habi- seriously in order for this to happen. that recommendation was finally acted tat for the species suggests a distinct lack “Morally, to allow a species like cut- upon. The designation was made because of urgency. AWA hopes the new Liberal throat trout to disappear through apathy, native populations of this fish had been, government will take this crucial step in ignorance, inactivity or greed would be a in the words of the Canada Gazette, the near future. blot on our record as stewards of shared “drastically reduced, by almost 80%, due All is not doom and gloom though, resources.” Those are the words Lorne to over-exploitation, habitat degrada- and there are some signs for cautious Fitch used in his introduction to the Al- tion and hybridization/competition with optimism for the future prospects of berta Westslope cutthroat trout recovery non-native trout.” It went on to say: “For- westslope cutthroat trout. The recent plan 2012-2017. “These resources have estry, hydroelectric development, min- designation of the Castle Wildland and been entrusted to our care,” he wrote, ing, urbanization and agriculture have all Provincial Parks might offer the oppor- “not for our exclusive use and disposal contributed to the loss of habitat.” tunity for meaningful protection of head- but to pass on, unimpaired to subsequent Historically, some would argue that the water habitat for cutthroats. But, we’ll generations.” Amen. over-exploitation of fish stocks would have been the major factor behind disap- pearing populations. But in more recent Quick Facts: years multiple developments resulting • Westslope cutthroat trout, in significant losses in trout habitat have Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi continued the process. Inter-breeding • Federal status: with closely-related introduced species Threatened such as rainbow trout or even other cut- (Alberta, British Columbia populations) throat trout is certainly another signif- icant threat to the persistence of native • Provincial status: Threatened westslope cutthroat trout in Alberta. But (Alberta Wildlife Act) hybridization is certainly not the only threat to the species. The Alberta govern- • Length: 6 to 40 inches (15 to 102 cm) in ment website states, misleadingly, that length, depending “(n)ative stocks of cutthroat trout are in on habitat and food decline in their traditional range due to availability breeding with introduced populations of • Surprising fact: rainbow trout and non-native cutthroat Only five percent trout.” The government fails to mention of the species’ additional threats such as those posed by historic range in industrial development and poorly man- Alberta is occupied by cutthroat trout aged motorized recreation. today Although the westslope cutthroat trout is designated as threatened, provincial- ly and federally, and a recovery plan is in place, threats to trout habitat are as pressing as ever. A June 2015 review by AWA and Timberwolf Wilderness Society of overlapping human impacts through- out the Oldman watershed found that virtually every creek and river home to native trout has been negatively impact- ed or is threatened by logging, off-high- way vehicle use, stream crossings, oil and

gas development, coal mining, roads, PHOTO: © S. PETRY dam operations or combinations of these

22 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Conservation Corner The Leopard Frog and the Fungus

By Niki Wilson

Leopard frogs, once widely distribut- That fungus is Batrachochytrium dendro- for many species, catastrophic. Some stud- ed throughout the province, are now a batidis (Bd), or Chytrid fungus, and it’s a ies document over 200 species extinctions threatened species in Alberta. In the late crafty killer. It attacks the protein keratin across six continents. But did the fungus 1970s and early 1980s their populations that toughens amphibian skin and helps have a role to play in the sharp decline of declined dramatically, and have never regulate hydration in their bodies. In ad- Alberta’s northern leopard frogs? fully recovered. Their survival has been dition, it has nasty and varied effects on “Something wiped out leopard frogs thir- threatened by many challenges; habitat different life stages– in tadpoles it disrupts ty years ago,” says Alberta Environment loss, road mortality, water quality issues, the formation of their mouths, affecting and Sustainable Resource Biologist Dave and a changing climate. Though some of their ability to eat. In juveniles and adults, Prescott. Though Prescott says there is no these factors can be clearly linked to as- it is thought to interfere with the growth concrete evidence linking Chytrid fungus pects of their decline, the mysterious role of cells, and to disrupt the process of elim- to the decline, it’s possible the disease was played by a devastating fungus is still be- inating waste from the body. the culprit. ing unraveled. The global spread of Chytrid has been, “That’s always been my thinking as to what happened in Alberta, because there’s really been no other explanation as to why they disappeared,” says Prescott. Though other threats were actively affecting some populations, those factors were not uni- versally present in all leopard frog com- munities. “It wasn’t habitat loss, it wasn’t sun spots, it wasn’t UV rays, and it wasn’t herbicides, because [leopard frogs] disappeared from a lot of areas that weren’t agricultural. Something we couldn’t see went through the population and wiped out a very big percentage of it in a very small amount of time. To me, that sounds like a disease.” If Chytrid was the main player in the population declines at the time, then it’s interesting to note that most Alberta leop- ard frogs are now resistant to infection. In a 2012 survey conducted by Prescott, colleague Scott Stevens and Doug White- side from the University of Calgary, the fungus was found on numerous seemingly healthy leopard frogs, among other am- How many of these frogs are northern leopard frogs? They all are: two are burnsi morphs, one is a green morph, and one is a brown morph. PHOTO: BY LOBA WOLF (OWN WORK) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (HTTP://CRE- phibians. ATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-SA/3.0)], VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS “What we found, is that Chytrid was

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES 23A far more prevalent in the province than low, though seemingly stable for the time history of Chytrid fungus in Alberta. It we suspected,” says Whiteside. “Approx- being. may have arrived here some thirty years imately 44 percent of sites we tested were “While resistance to Chytrid is good ago, or it may have always been here. “I positive for Chytrid, but the interesting news, we still have to be vigilant,” says wouldn’t be surprised if it was in the prov- thing was that we weren’t seeing a lot of Prescott, explaining that biologists are just ince longer than we think,” says White- mortality with it,” beginning to understand how Chytrid be- side. That makes sense, says Whiteside, add- haves when compounded by other stress- Regardless, the behaviour of Chytrid in ing that studies on northern leopard frogs ors. For example, says Prescott, a frog car- amphibian populations will likely evolve have revealed peptides on their skin that rying the fungus may not succumb to the as the environment changes around the function as antifungals. “[Chytrid] doesn’t infection, but if the climate is changing, or frogs, toads and salamanders that call Al- seem to affect them as much as other spe- there are pesticides in the water, Chytrid berta home. While Chytrid is definitely cies in the world that don’t have as many may exacerbate their effects, making the a piece of the puzzle, Prescott says biol- of these peptides.” frog more susceptible. ogists still don’t know where it ranks in Prescott says this pattern of population Prescott points to a study in which frogs terms of threats to Alberta’s amphibians. devastation and recovery with resistant exposed early in their lives to the herbi- “It’s one of many threats we have to be individuals is often seen in wildlife dis- cide atrazine had a higher death rate, but aware of.” ease. The hope is that eventually popu- only when infected with Chytrid. “Frogs lations will recover to previous numbers, that didn’t have Chytrid in the first place Niki Wilson is a multi-media science though this is not the case with the north- were fine.” communicator and biologist living in Jas- ern leopard frog in Alberta. Numbers are Biologists are working to understand the per. Visit her at www.nikiwilson.com

In Memoriam - Chris Havard, June 12, 1944 - September 18, 2015

A few weeks ago our dear friend Christina Jean Ibbotson Havard passed away after years of struggle with cancer. In June she and her lifelong friend Vivian Pharis gave an inspiring account of what it meant to them to have the chance to learn about our mountain wilderness. The Hostelling Association was their gateway into the world of hiking, camping, and skiing; it also was the gateway to many enduring friendships. Many of those friends, like Chris, became lifetime members of AWA. Chris and her husband Ken have been strong supporters of AWA and their gifts covered a significant portion of the purchase price for the Hillhurst Cottage School. Pictured here during AWA’s 50th anniversary on June 25, 2015, Chris was vibrant, inspiring, and passionate on that day. In the days that followed Chris and Ken spent time in Manyberries, Cypress Hills, Brooks, and other prairie spots, enjoying the birds and reliving memories from days long gone. Chris was Ken’s soul mate, mother to Jennifer and Noel, and grandmother to Kieran, Ryan, Benjamin, and Eric. Chris, a very giving soul who loved nature, was perhaps above all a person who cared so deeply for the values and people she loved. She believed in the work of AWA; she knew her help would make a difference in our day-to-day ability to pursue our shared vision for wild lands and wildlife throughout Alberta. AWA is honoured and grateful to her family as they have asked friends and family to remember Chris with a memorial donation to AWA. Chris is dearly missed. In the days since her memorial service, she has been in our thoughts with warm memories of a kind and gentle woman who believed passionately in what we do.

24 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | FEATURES Sid Marty: A Man for Alberta’s Mountains

By Lindsey Wallis

Sid Marty has will lead to legislated protection. Sid mind and experience that older lifestyle,” been writing is highly regarded and when he stands he says. “It connects us to our ancestors in since the 1960s. up others learn from him and feel em- a way – traveling at a slower speed and tak- For more than powered to take an informed stand ing in everything that’s around us. People half a century too.” were here 10,000 years before we showed his love of Alber- The son of a “truck driver with a grade- up. You get in touch with those old souls.” ta’s wild spaces school education and a feisty Limey war The job of a park warden in the 1970s has made him a bride,” as he puts it in his book Leaning on was never dull. It required Marty to be, powerful voice the Wind, Marty grew up in Medicine Hat in turns, an excellent horseman, skier for conservation at a time when kids were free to play in and mountaineer, as well as carrying out as a journalist, prose writer, songwrit- the wild spaces that surrounded the dusty, mountain rescues and law enforcement er, and poet…occasionally while staring windswept town. duties (there was a history of law enforce- down a bulldozer at a protest site. He and his friends passed time along ment in his family – his great grandfather, His time as a warden in the mountain Seven Persons Creek fishing and camping, grandfather, and a great uncle all worked parks, the time he spent growing up along looking for scorpions and black widow as sheriffs). “It was a wonderful place for Seven Persons Creek near Medicine Hat, spiders, building forts, and playing cow- young people to be – it gave me a lot of and his current residence, tucked in the boys and Indians. It’s where Marty says he personal satisfaction,” says Marty. shadow of the Livingstone Range along first developed an affinity for flowing wa- Even the routine patrolling around town Highway 22, have imbued his work with ter and learned watersheds are the heart of and breaking up drunken fights at park the quiet power and honesty of a man who our wild lands. In Leaning on the Wind he campgrounds was made tolerable by the is inextricably tied to the land. writes: variety of the work and the long stretch- Christyann Olson, Executive Director of “Out from the amber water of Seven Per- es spent in the backcountry. “The best AWA, sums up Marty’s influence: sons Creek, out from the riverine forest part of the job was the ability to travel in “Sid has, for years, influenced of willow and cottonwood, a love of wild wild country for up to 24 days at a time,” thoughts and actions through his creatures and wild places crept stealth- Marty says. “If you went to a new district books, his prose and his songs. For ily into my heart. I learned in childhood they would give you four or five hors- the most part he is likely unaware what every prairie creature knows: it is the es who would show you around – they that he has made a difference to con- coulee, the creek bottom, the river valley knew where everything was. If you had servation in Alberta, in that quiet that offer the only shelter from the freezing any doubts you just gave them their head and most likely immeasurable way. winds of winter and the hot winds of sum- and they would take you to the next camp- AWA is recognizing Sid at this time mer. The coulees teemed with deer, pheas- ground. I enjoyed the backcountry work for all his years of caring for the en- ants, cottontails and grouse.” more than anything else.” vironment, for speaking out softly and After a brief stint as a graduate student Marty left the service at the end of the more recently for protesting loudly in Montreal Marty returned to Alberta and 1970s, only partly of his own volition. He about logging in the Castle. Logging joined the warden service. It was there that says he was fed up with the bureaucratic that has taken a toll on the ecosys- he says he became aware of the power that ineptitudes that he witnessed and was sick tems and that, through protest and de- wild places have to help us slow our lives and tired of things like a ski hill develop- fiance, has stopped and given nature down and live in the present moment. ment being pushed ahead despite evidence respite and time to heal and hopefully “You get the chance to live with a clear that it would be harmful to the park (he

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | ASSOCIATION NEWS 25A With the Livingstone range in the distance its easy to see why Sid and Myrna Marty chose this landscape to make their home and raise their family.

points out the continuation of that attitude al people being mauled and one (human) purchase, bears me up, stiffens my resolve.” with the recent approval of an expansion at fatality. Marty writes in depth about the While Marty freely admits that writing the Lake Louise ski hill). “There were a lot events of this period in his book The Black is a hard way to make a living (“It’s not of problems with politics in Banff,” he says. Grizzly of Whiskey Creek, which was nom- something you get into these days with the “We were always getting accosted by people inated for a Governor General’s Award in idea of getting rich,” he says laughing), he in the tourism industry who had someone’s 2007. thinks it is the role of writers to be a voice ear in Ottawa so you were limited in what Since his time with Parks Canada Mar- for the land, which can’t speak for itself. you could do for wildlife management and ty has made a living as a freelance writer “It’s up to writers to try and put those conservation.” on his and his wife Myrna’s “ranchette” as landscapes (that we feel are so important) The final straw was when the publica- he calls it, at the foot of the Livingstone on the map so they become real to other tion of his book Men for the Mountains, Range. There he continues to draw inspi- people,” says Marty. “We have a road called in which he levelled criticism against park ration from the beauty of the landscape. In the North Burmis road which is the most management, got Marty confined to a desk, the heart of ranching country, Marty can beautiful road in Alberta but the fewer despite it being well-received by the public wander out his back door, up through the people that know about it the harder it is and even receiving accolades from the As- bullpines to a hilltop where one can see all to protect it so in a way you have to bring sistant Deputy Minister for Parks Canada in the way to Chief Mountain in Montana. In some of these landscapes into reality or Ottawa. Being young and impatient, as he Leaning on the Wind he writes, “The bull- bring them to light for other people if you says, he chose to hand in his badge rather pine inspires me to persevere, to strive, to want them to back conservation efforts.” than sit at a desk. endure. It is at war with the wind, but it He has been rewarded in his literary ef- He did manage to get a certain amount contemplates the rock of the infinite. The forts over the years by people who were of satisfaction though, when, in the early sedentary life of a writer goes very much influenced by reading his books or hearing 1980s, the same people who made his life against my grain at times, and then I climb his music to pursue a career in conserva- so difficult were sued for negligence. This up among the bullpine, into the teeth of tion, whether as a park warden or envi- was due to their handling of bear manage- the wind. The one force fills me with the ronmental lawyer. Marty himself was in- ment in the park, which resulted in sever- fierce breath of creation; the other gives me fluenced by the writings of Edward Abbey,

26 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | ASSOCIATION NEWS American author and outspoken environ- mental advocate. He says he was particularly gratified by a letter he received after a piece of his on B.C.’s spirit bears ran in Canadian Geo- graphic. “I got a letter from some hunters who, after reading the article, were horrified to understand that they could be shooting a black bear with black fur but it could have the genetic coding of a Kermode bear. They were going to stop hunting black bears,” Marty says. One of the other roles he has taken on is one of translator. He says: “It became clear to me quite a while ago that one of the roles of writers who address these things is to keep abreast of some of the scientific liter- ature and translate it to a wider audience. Sometimes science isn’t so good at getting its work into the public domain.” For Marty, the use of the landscapes in southern Alberta is the most pressing en- vironmental concern for the province. “It is just a free for all on the eastern slopes – it’s like the Wild West in terms of clear-cut logging, oil and gas development and ATV use,” he says. “For quite a while the ATV lobby has pretty much dictated the recre- ation policy on the eastern slopes. We need The road to Prairie Bluff. In 1987 Sid Marty joined Mike Judd in trying to stop Shell Canada from building this to make more opportunities for low-impact road to Shell wellsites on Prairie Bluff. Shell Canada served AWA with a statement of claim for over $100,000 recreation.” because of the non-violent protests that took place at the Prairie Bluff/Corner Mountain construction site. Sid recounts this episode in his book Leaning on the Wind. He points to the lack of law enforcement, especially conservation officers in the field, well to clean house and listen to them.” development of a gas well by Shell on Prai- as one of the major problems. “I learned rie Bluff in the late 1980s. At the 2015 Mar- that asking people to do the right thing isn’t AWA isn’t the first organization to tha Kostuch lecture in November he will good enough – you need to have people on recognize Sid Marty’s contributions share his recent experience at the standoff the ground representing the government to public life in Alberta. In 2009 Sid in the Castle, where members of the AWA who are there to enforce the regulations for received a Lifetime Distinguished and Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition the benefit of the whole population.” Achievement Award from Mount were protesting logging by Spray Lake Saw- Marty is optimistic that the new NDP Royal University. A video interview mills and some were subsequently arrested. government will create positive change but with Sid on that occasion is available AWA hopes you will be able to join us realizes that they are being cautious right at http://www.mtroyal.ca/Alumni/ when Sid Marty delivers the 2015 Martha now. “We can’t even imagine yet all the legacy_video_09.shtml. Kostuch Annual Wilderness and Wildlife chicanery that went on with the previous Lecture on November 20th at 7pm at AWA’s government,” he says. “I think they have to Recently, Marty has once again taken up home in the Hillhurst Cottage School. go through a period where they can sort ev- the banner of environmental activism and erything out and hopefully they will listen has been on the front lines of protests near A freelance writer & photographer, to the other voices, not just the voices of in- his home. He chronicled his first real taste Lindsey loves tramping through Alberta’s dustry and motorized recreation. There are of resistance to the Alberta government in wild spaces, whether on foot, horseback a lot of young people out there with new Leaning on the Wind, when he stood down or skis, now with her new baby girl in tow. ideas and the new government would do a bulldozer with Mike Judd, protesting the

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | ASSOCIATION NEWS 27A Gordon Petersen: Voice for the Castle River Wildland

By Vivian Pharis, AWA Board Member

Gord’s story is the archetype of environmen- Gord’s mother had worked for the famous area of isolation although not like in the past when talist/conservation stories in Alberta. Years, outfitter Bert Riggall as a summer packer, of- there were no phones, TV, radio or helicopters even decades of hope, long effort, personal ten packing alongside a young Andy Russell. for emergencies. The tides and currents con- sacrifice, deep commitment to the scraps of From his roost and background, Gord became stantly provided new interests including seals natural systems that remain after 60 years of a consistently strong voice arguing for protec- and the occasional polar bear that drifted in on relentless resource extraction, clearcutting, ur- tion of the Castle River region. passing icebergs. ban and transportation sprawl, breaking the Born in Edmonton, raised in Calgary, Gord Eventually family beckoned Gord and Cathy sod and cancerous OHV growth – those efforts first studied electronics at SAIT (Southern Al- back to Alberta and they cast about for a place always thwarted because of the general belief berta Institute of Technology) before taking a that felt like home, settling on the small, beau- that we can grow and extract forever without degree in electrical engineering at the Universi- tifully situated hamlet of Beaver Mines west consequence. ty of Calgary. His subsequent career with Telus of Pincher Creek. Cathy took up a Pincher Gordon Petersen is an Alberta boy who lived and the oil and gas industry left him feeling Creek practice and Gord immersed himself in away for a while and on his return chose the unfulfilled and he returned to university in the the bounty of photographic riches all around Pincher Creek area as his roost. Not wanting 1980s to study in the Faculty of Environmen- him. Today Gord sells photographs to publi- the city life, Gord and his wife Cathy, a med- tal design. His Master’s Degree project looked cations such as Canadian Geographic, Alberta ical doctor, fell under the spell of the alluring at using satellite remote sensing technology to Views, and National Geographic. His wander- southwest Alberta landscape. Undoubtedly map ground cover in the winter range of bar- ings soon revealed the extent of environmental Gord’s mother influenced their choice of a ren-ground caribou. This work brought Gord riches the area had to offer, and their tenuous home too, as she had grown up near Pincher closer to his childhood fascination with nature. circumstances. He was soon a defender of Creek and her tales of colourful horse pack- As a young boy scout at Camp Gardner near these riches. ing trips into the rugged Castle and Oldman Bragg Creek, Gord recalls an influential coun- Starting with the 1993 Natural Resources River drainages are part of Gord’s memory. sellor, Tom Beck, who also happens to be a Conservation Board (NRCB) hearing into the founding member of the Alberta Wilderness proposal to expand the West Castle ski devel- Association. Perhaps an early conservation opment, including major condominium devel- seed was set. opments, Gord became a voice for Castle River It was when he and his wife decided to try wilderness by joining those who formed the life in Newfoundland that Gord seriously Castle-Crown Wilderness Coalition (CCWC) took up wildlife and landscape photography, some 25 years ago. This group has stood the a hobby that has evolved into more of a ca- test of time and endured countless disappoint- reer. For three of the five years they spent on ments from successive Progressive Conserva- Newfoundland’s rocky shores, they lived on tive provincial governments that consistently remote Fogo Island where Cathy administered failed to ensure any significant future for Cas- to community health needs. By choice and by tle River landscapes. Those landscapes were necessity they lived as the locals did, close to once seen as so ecologically and aesthetically the land, often enjoying feeds of fish, wild ber- valuable as to be included in Waterton Lakes ries, and meat from local hunters. Island life National Park. depended on winter ice, as all mainland con- Gord actually sees the 1993 NRCB decision Gord Petersen in the mountains he has defended tact was by ferry, which sometimes needed the as favourable, in that it recommended a com- so well. assistance of an ice breaker. There were periods promise position – it saw ski hill expansion to

28 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | ASSOCIATION NEWS be in the public good, but only if the surround- proved to be unachievable in that political era. lands. Two draft SSRPs were brought forward ing mountain and foothill landscapes were Next came several years of effort into the for public discussion prior to the final docu- protected as a park. Following the decision, C5 Management Plan that was supposed ment. Successively, each plan had fewer con- government, through an Order in Council, to have been a general land planning exer- servation commitments than the previous one, allowed ski hill expansion to begin simulta- cise that incorporated timber cutting, with a with the final one being a major disappoint- neously with plans for a park. There was ex- range of other values recognized, but ended ment – it committed to protect only the rock citement all around, things were unfolding as up being nothing more than a logging plan. and ice portions of the Castle River drainage. they should. But this didn’t last for long. Se- Logging began under this plan in 2012 and Now, with more than 20 years of effort into cretly, three politically well-connected locals so did a plucky protest by local citizens – the the Castle region, Gord’s current best hope who didn’t want a park met with Ty Lund, CCWC offering legal counsel in the wake of lies with the new Alberta Government and that most Machiavellian of Alberta’s long string the protest, and a still-active court challenge. the NDP’s platform promise to finally fully of pro-development appointments to the En- A mid-winter camp-out protest on a proposed protect the Castle region. In the wake of the vironment Ministry. Lund reversed the entire logging site had gone on for three weeks until government’s September decision to protect NRCB decision; he halted the ski resort expan- the Alberta Government took out an injunc- the Castle Gord should be expected to see this sion and the park. tion on the site and arrested several people in- area is seriously managed for conservation. The ski resort was sold and the new develop- cluding local resident Mike Judd and Calgary His interests have been stretched by his ex- er was able to proceed with piecemeal expan- professor Richard Collier. periences though, and he now envisions new, sions so as to avoid environmental impact as- Gord participated throughout that winter more environmentally sound ways of doing sessment scrutiny or any official reviews. West of protest, as a liaison person amongst police, forestry along the Eastern Slopes, although he Castle Development has undergone continu- Spray Lakes Sawmills, media, and protesters. personally feels that forests south of the Bow ous expansion, mainly as a housing complex, He describes the day of the arrest as quint- River are far more valuable for wildlife, water, and although the east side of the river is out of essentially Canadian with the arresting con- and wilderness than timber production, and bounds as a special wildlife area, it remains the stables having allowed prior time to talk to should be left intact for these values. Gord is obvious place for further resort sprawl. lawyers and, on the appointed day of arrest, also buoyed by what he sees as a much more The dogged little group held fast to its dream arriving with coffee and donuts for all. An 8:00 cooperative approach to land issues, by con- of a park through the 1990’s and into the new am deadline had been set for those to step for- servation and landholder groups and broader century. Since the NRCB hearing the CCWC ward who were willing to be arrested. It was a sectors of community involvement. But, he has invested time and energy in several En- serious but calm, relaxed approach and soon also remembers the world trophy rams that ergy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) those not arrested, moved about two kilome- were part of his mother’s Castle experiences hearings, an Environmental Appeal Board tres down the road to continue protesting, and knows protection will have to include a hearing, and actions at the Court of Queen’s while those arrested disappeared in the paddy huge recovery effort, one that CCWC is well Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal. When wagon. (This event will be elaborated on, No- positioned to participate in. a flood washed out the road up Lynx Creek, vember 20, 2015, when Sid Marty presents the Please join AWA on November 20th when the group attempted to secure this area as AWA’s annual Martha Kostuch lecture in Cal- we present Gord with a Wilderness Defenders roadless wilderness by using the courts to try gary.) Logging began immediately and period- Award in recognition of his work on behalf of to enforce the federal Fisheries Act and stop- ic protests occurred throughout the rest of the the Castle and a wild Alberta. ping fish-damaging road repairs. The province winter. Logging was placed under moratorium quickly repaired the road, negating the case. the following year, until the completion of the Meanwhile, the growth in OHV numbers and South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP). their damage to foothills and mountain land- When the SSRP was announced to begin in scapes became increasingly evident, with no 2012, locals were able to rely on a very inclu- legal way to curtail it. sive community planning exercise that had Under the Special Places 2000 program, the involved 35 locals working over an 18-month much-supported Castle River Wilderness was period to develop a thoroughly solid 2009 declared a Special Place. A local implementing document for protection and recreation. It committee was appointed and again, hopes included designated OHV trails. Once again were raised. The Castle had once again met CCWC rallied and was a major participant in all official requirements for protection and discussing this plan. But at local SSRP meet- was amongst the chosen few. However, actu- ings it became evident that government offi- al designation required a revision to the area’s cials were primarily interested in insuring log- The mountain that has lent its name to the Castle 1984 Integrated Resource Plan, something that ging would continue as a major activity on area wilderness PHOTO: © N. DOUGLAS

WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | ASSOCIATION NEWS 29A On Becoming a Modern Day Rockstar

By Joanna Skrajny, AWA Conservation Specialist

thing for everybody. Having so many treasured memories in the great outdoors, I wanted a career in which I could fully immerse myself in ev- erything conservation and environment related. I wanted to play an active part in preserving the landscape I have grown to love. And so I completed my degree at the University of Calgary, and obtained a BSc. in Environmental Sciences. Discour- aged by the lack of jobs in my field, I set out to volunteer so I could help and par- ticipate in any way that I could. And so I began to volunteer at AWA - and imme- diately fell in love. In case you aren’t familiar, AWA is lo- cated in the historic Hillhurst Cottage School, an unassuming house on a quiet unassuming street in a nice neighbour- hood. Inside you will find the conser- vation specialists, quietly chipping away Hello, my name is Joanna Skrajny and I berta. Some of my favourite places in- at the never-ending pile of conservation am the most recent addition to the team clude Writing-On-Stone, Dinosaur Pro- issues that need to be addressed. They of Conservation Specialists at the Alber- vincial Park, Sheep River, Buffalo Lake, answer the phones with a smile, always ta Wilderness Association. I am also a areas around the Crowsnest Pass, and happy to help. And yet it is these peo- self-proclaimed rockstar. I start my crazy the Bighorn. I have also camped and ple that are the modern day equivalent of days at 6:30am, I have coffee and yogurt hiked all along the Rocky Mountains. A rockstars. They relentlessly work to keep for breakfast. My days consist of going particularly memorable trip was back- Alberta wild for future generations. They to work, answering emails, and cooking packing in the Tombstone Backcountry ensure that the legacy of wilderness and dinner when I get home. Typical wild Fri- with my father, catching rainbow trout wildlife in Alberta is one that we all can day nights consist of reading a book, and for dinner and cooking it over the fire. be proud of. And that is why I was so if I am lucky, I’ll try to get out of town for Nothing has ever tasted better! Winters humbled when I was invited to become the weekend and explore what Alberta were often spent skiing, snowshoeing, a part of this incredible team of people. has to offer. ice fishing, and skating to our hearts’ de- I’m excited to begin my career here at the I have lived in Alberta for my entire life. light. I’ve always been fond of Alberta’s AWA. I hope I can serve you well and play I grew up in Calgary, and my childhood amazing amount and diversity of wil- my own part in keeping Alberta wild. consisted of summers sweetly spent in derness. From the expansive skies of the every corner of Alberta. As a family we grasslands, to the rolling foothills and the spent a lot of time camping all over Al- striking Rockies, there is always some-

30 WLA | October 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 5 | ASSOCIATION NEWS Fall / Winter Events Wilderness Around the World Annual General Meeting 2015/16 Edmonton Speaker Series Date: November 21, 2015 Location: AWA’s Hillhurst Cottage School - 455 – 12th St. NW Calgary UGANDA: Land of Sitatunga & Gorilla Time: 11:00am With Dr. Mark Boyce Wednesday, October 7, 2015 Music for the Wild CAMEROON: Evaluation of its Biodiversity With Dr. David Simbo Headline Act Wednesday, November 4, 2015 Allan & Arnell. Alberta musicians Jane Allan and Lance Arnell play INDIA: Mountains and Tigers songs that will bring a memory back, inspire an adventure & warm With David Hobson your spirits. Acoustic instruments compliment their vocals in all sorts of Wednesday, December 9, 2015 combinations and in a variety of musical styles: bluegrass, folk, roots and MOUNT ST. HELENS: The Power of Nature a growing number of original tunes. Their music will take you to the With Dr. Evelyn Merrill blue sky prairies, into the rugged mountains or into a campfire tale. Wednesday, January 13, 2016 Opening Act BRAZIL: Wilds of the Pantanal Diminished Fifth. Diminished Fifth (Michael and Karen Pollock, With Dr. Jim Butler Natalie Manzer and Steven Méthot) is all about close harmony whether Wednesday, February 17, 2016 it be a cappella or multi-instrumental arrangements, all home-grown. ZAMBIA/ZIMBABWE/TANZANIA: Each year they host a non-traditional traditional Christmas benefit show Off the Beaten Track African Parks featuring a variety of entertainment, song, music, dance and serious fun With Bill Reynolds all woven together with a story from Steven. Their set will bring some of Wednesday, March 16, 2016 that magic “on the road” to us.

Location: Jackson Power Electric Ltd. Date: Saturday, November 28, 2015 (9744 - 60 Avenue, Edmonton) Time: Music at 7:30pm, doors open at 7:00 pm Time: Doors open 6:30pm Talks start 7:00pm Location: 455 12 Street NW, Calgary Cost: FREE! Donation at the Door Appreciated Tickets: $20.00 To pre-register and guarantee a seat: Pre-registration is highly recommended: 1 (866) 313-0713 www.gowildalberta.ca/shop/talks or call 1-866-313-0713 Online: www.GoWildAlberta.ca/music-for-the-wild AWA Annual Lecture and Awards Evening Calgary Talk: Art, Activism & 2015 Martha Kostuch Annual Wilderness and The Red Alert Project Wildlife Lecture with Barbara Amos “Banned in Alberta and other tales from the conservation trenches” Artists have a history of working at the edges of many realities. Artwork Guest Lecture by Sid Marty has frequently acted as a social conscience. With this in mind, artist Barbara Amos tells a story of an art project in southern Alberta where Wilderness Defenders Award Winners: people gathered to bring attention to a watershed. Striking visual Gord Petersen and Sid Marty statements were created with collaboration and humour. The intent Great Gray Owl Award Winners: Bob Blaxley was to invite curiosity and engage others in a conversation about Date: November 20, 2015 preservation of watershed. Location: AWA’s Hillhurst Cottage School 455 – 12th St. NW Calgary Cost: $5.00 Time: Reception including refreshments 6:00pm • Lecture and Awards 7:00pm Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Cost: Members $50 • Non-members $75 Time: Talk at 7:00 PM (Doors open at 6:30pm) Reservations are required, space is limited Location: 455 12 Street NW, Calgary Reserve online at www.AlbertaWilderness.ca

For a complete list of AWA hikes and tours go to: gowildalberta.ca/product-category/hikes-tours/ Why are Alberta’s Trout Disappearing?

PHOTO: Ray Blanchard You can help save Bull Trout and Westslope Cutthroat Trout at www.AlbertaWilderness.ca

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Alberta Wilderness Association 455-12 ST NW Calgary, Alberta T2N 1Y9 [email protected]

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