If you have been following the work of the OWC, you may have noticed that we invest significant time and effort in restoring Alberta’s landscapes with our many partners—planting willows on streambanks to reduce erosion, building beaver dam analogues, installing wattle fencing, removing invasive plants so native species can thrive, and more. But why does this work matter?
Alvin First Rider is the Environmental Manager with Blood Tribe Land Management. In this blog, he shares his experience working in land stewardship, and his knowledge of the role that fire plays, and has played, on the prairie.
Watershed Stewardship Assistant Chantel Youmans reflects on the experience of learning from Api’soomaahka, and the prairie itself, on ecology and the deep significance of prairie plants in Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) culture as food and medicine.
It’s a beautiful, windy day on the range, where I’m about to receive a thorough sermon on beaver ecology and coexistence from southern Alberta’s resident ‘beaver guy,’ Kirby England.
Here in Alberta, our grasslands are the result of many thousands of years of shaping and influence, from both geologic processes and the animals that came before us. Today, every field I pass is a reminder of the constant effort involved in keeping grasslands thriving through sustainable grazing management.
If you have been following the work of the OWC, you may have noticed that we invest significant time and effort in restoring Alberta’s landscapes with our many partners—planting willows on streambanks to reduce erosion, building beaver dam analogues, installing wattle fencing, removing invasive plants so native species can thrive, and more. But why does this work matter?
Now that we are officially into summer, you may be wondering what kind of summer 2020 has in store for us. Will there be wildfires causing thick, smoky air, making it difficult to spend time enjoying nature? Will farmers have a good crop, bringing economic stability to our region? Will there be water restrictions? Floods?
When we think of agriculture in Southern Alberta, perhaps huge farms out east come to mind with sophisticated irrigation pivots and loads of potatoes or corn. Here's what two dedicated watershed stewards are doing on the Blood Reserve to rehabilitate some of their agricultural land. William Singer III and Lori Brave Rock are signatories of the Southern Alberta Water Charter #SAWC17. The closing ceremony is coming up on November 17th - who will be getting completion awards?
