Podcast appearances and mentions of alberta environment

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2019 31:52

As the largest irrigation district by irrigated acres in Canada, St Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) has licenses to divert water from the St. Mary, Waterton and Belly rivers. The total volume of SMRID's allowable diversion is 722,000 ac/ft. or about 890 million cubic meters of water. On average however, the SMRID diverts only around 50 per cent of its total license. One of its licenses now allows for not only water for irrigation as originally conceived, but for other uses such as municipal, industrial, recreational and environmental. It must be noted though, the SMRID does not allow water to be used for well injection. Investment by the district and irrigators to improve the efficiency of transport and application of water to crops has facilitated reduced diversion volumes, while irrigated acreage has increased. Almost all of the reservoirs within the SMRID system have the benefit of opportunistic recreational use. Ridge, Sauder, Forty Mile and Stafford reservoirs are heavily used and some include public camping and boat launch facilities. SMRID has the ability to efficiently deliver water to more than 2,000 irrigators, who irrigate nearly 400,000 acres of land. This is done by diverting almost 400,000 ac/ft. of water per year through 2,100 kilometers of canals and pipeline. The speaker will give an overview of irrigation impacts on this region and explain how improved infrastructure and technology opportunities has benefitted irrigators in the St. Mary Projects. He will also speculate on future challenges irrigation districts might be facing. Speaker: Terrence Lazarus Terrence is currently the General Manager at St. Mary River Irrigation District, a job he has held for the past five years. He was born in Zimbabwe and educated in Civil Engineering Technology in South Africa. His exposure to irrigation and water management started after he graduated and worked in Malawi, Central Africa, constructing a canal system for a large sugar cane plantation. Terrence's experience in Canada started in 1982 when he inspected the construction of the Lethbridge Northern Main Canal and other water management infrastructure in southern Alberta while he was employed by the Alberta Government. Terrence progressed up the Government ranks and retired as the Operations manager for Alberta Environment in charge of the operations of dams and canals south of Calgary, including the Oldman River Dam and St. Mary Dam among others. Moderator: Klaus Jericho Date: Thursday, November 7, 2019 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with dessert/coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required.

Irrigation is the Economic Lifeblood of Southern Alberta and its Agriculture: How much Water will you use today? Can Technology support increased Effi...

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2019 31:52

As the largest irrigation district by irrigated acres in Canada, St Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) has licenses to divert water from the St. Mary, Waterton and Belly rivers. The total volume of SMRID's allowable diversion is 722,000 ac/ft. or about 890 million cubic meters of water. On average however, the SMRID diverts only around 50 per cent of its total license. One of its licenses now allows for not only water for irrigation as originally conceived, but for other uses such as municipal, industrial, recreational and environmental. It must be noted though, the SMRID does not allow water to be used for well injection. Investment by the district and irrigators to improve the efficiency of transport and application of water to crops has facilitated reduced diversion volumes, while irrigated acreage has increased. Almost all of the reservoirs within the SMRID system have the benefit of opportunistic recreational use. Ridge, Sauder, Forty Mile and Stafford reservoirs are heavily used and some include public camping and boat launch facilities. SMRID has the ability to efficiently deliver water to more than 2,000 irrigators, who irrigate nearly 400,000 acres of land. This is done by diverting almost 400,000 ac/ft. of water per year through 2,100 kilometers of canals and pipeline. The speaker will give an overview of irrigation impacts on this region and explain how improved infrastructure and technology opportunities has benefitted irrigators in the St. Mary Projects. He will also speculate on future challenges irrigation districts might be facing. Speaker: Terrence Lazarus Terrence is currently the General Manager at St. Mary River Irrigation District, a job he has held for the past five years. He was born in Zimbabwe and educated in Civil Engineering Technology in South Africa. His exposure to irrigation and water management started after he graduated and worked in Malawi, Central Africa, constructing a canal system for a large sugar cane plantation. Terrence's experience in Canada started in 1982 when he inspected the construction of the Lethbridge Northern Main Canal and other water management infrastructure in southern Alberta while he was employed by the Alberta Government. Terrence progressed up the Government ranks and retired as the Operations manager for Alberta Environment in charge of the operations of dams and canals south of Calgary, including the Oldman River Dam and St. Mary Dam among others. Moderator: Klaus Jericho Date: Thursday, November 7, 2019 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with dessert/coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada – Protecting our Grasslands (Part 1)

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2019 30:45

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada's leading national land conservation organization. A private, non-profit organization, partnering with individuals, corporations, other non-profit organizations and governments at all levels to protect our most important natural treasures — the natural areas that sustain Canada's plants and wildlife. NCC secures properties (through donation, purchase, conservation agreement and the relinquishment of other legal interests in land) and manages them for the long term. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to conserve 2.8 million acres (more than 1.1 million hectares) of ecologically significant land from coast to coast. NCC's work in the Prairie Grasslands is contributing to the conservation of our planet's most endangered ecosystem. People often think of rainforests and coral reefs as the planet's most critical habitats in need of conservation, but in fact grasslands, including those in Alberta, are the world's most endangered ecosystem. Grasslands are also important to prevent flooding, and as well, for carbon storage and sequestration in its deep and extensive root networks. Grasslands are a working landscape that support a wide range of animals and economies, from large grazers like cattle, which are an integral land management tool for NCC, to many species at risk. The speaker will expand on the role NCC plays in protecting Alberta's Prairie Grasslands and will elaborate and highlight ways farmers, ranchers and the general public can assist conversation efforts. Speaker: Leta Pezderic, Nature Area Manager – Prairie Grasslands, AB Leta Pezderic is responsible for the delivery of conservation programs in the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) natural areas, specifically the Prairie Grasslands of Alberta. She works with local landowners, partner organizations, conservation volunteers, funders, and other stewards of the land. Leta grew up in Claresholm, AB, but moved to Lethbridge to pursue her post-secondary education. She received her diploma in Renewable Resource Management as well as her certificate in Fish and Wildlife Technology from the Lethbridge College. From there she transferred to the University of Lethbridge where she obtained her Degree in Environmental Science. Leta spent her summers working in Waterton Lakes National Park. After graduating she was fortunate to work at a variety of places including Cows and Fish, Lethbridge College, and Alberta Environment. She spent nearly seven years with the Oldman Watershed Council as their Program Coordinator before joining the NCC team in 2015 as the Natural Area Manager for Prairie Grasslands. She is passionate about all things nature and tries to capture its beauty through photography; you'll rarely find her without her camera in hand. Moderator: Curtis Goodman Date: Thursday, May 16, 2019 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with dessert/coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

university canada fish protecting degree ab presentation cows rsvp environmental science program coordinator ncc nature conservancy lethbridge grasslands lethbridge college alberta environment claresholm waterton lakes national park

The Nature Conservancy of Canada – Protecting our Grasslands (Part 2 Q&A)

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2019 31:14

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada's leading national land conservation organization. A private, non-profit organization, partnering with individuals, corporations, other non-profit organizations and governments at all levels to protect our most important natural treasures — the natural areas that sustain Canada's plants and wildlife. NCC secures properties (through donation, purchase, conservation agreement and the relinquishment of other legal interests in land) and manages them for the long term. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to conserve 2.8 million acres (more than 1.1 million hectares) of ecologically significant land from coast to coast. NCC's work in the Prairie Grasslands is contributing to the conservation of our planet's most endangered ecosystem. People often think of rainforests and coral reefs as the planet's most critical habitats in need of conservation, but in fact grasslands, including those in Alberta, are the world's most endangered ecosystem. Grasslands are also important to prevent flooding, and as well, for carbon storage and sequestration in its deep and extensive root networks. Grasslands are a working landscape that support a wide range of animals and economies, from large grazers like cattle, which are an integral land management tool for NCC, to many species at risk. The speaker will expand on the role NCC plays in protecting Alberta's Prairie Grasslands and will elaborate and highlight ways farmers, ranchers and the general public can assist conversation efforts. Speaker: Leta Pezderic, Nature Area Manager – Prairie Grasslands, AB Leta Pezderic is responsible for the delivery of conservation programs in the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) natural areas, specifically the Prairie Grasslands of Alberta. She works with local landowners, partner organizations, conservation volunteers, funders, and other stewards of the land. Leta grew up in Claresholm, AB, but moved to Lethbridge to pursue her post-secondary education. She received her diploma in Renewable Resource Management as well as her certificate in Fish and Wildlife Technology from the Lethbridge College. From there she transferred to the University of Lethbridge where she obtained her Degree in Environmental Science. Leta spent her summers working in Waterton Lakes National Park. After graduating she was fortunate to work at a variety of places including Cows and Fish, Lethbridge College, and Alberta Environment. She spent nearly seven years with the Oldman Watershed Council as their Program Coordinator before joining the NCC team in 2015 as the Natural Area Manager for Prairie Grasslands. She is passionate about all things nature and tries to capture its beauty through photography; you'll rarely find her without her camera in hand. Moderator: Curtis Goodman Date: Thursday, May 16, 2019 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with dessert/coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

university canada fish protecting degree ab presentation cows rsvp environmental science program coordinator ncc nature conservancy lethbridge grasslands lethbridge college alberta environment claresholm waterton lakes national park

The Nature Conservancy of Canada – Protecting our Grasslands (Part 2 Q&A)

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2019 31:14

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada's leading national land conservation organization. A private, non-profit organization, partnering with individuals, corporations, other non-profit organizations and governments at all levels to protect our most important natural treasures — the natural areas that sustain Canada's plants and wildlife. NCC secures properties (through donation, purchase, conservation agreement and the relinquishment of other legal interests in land) and manages them for the long term. Since 1962, NCC and its partners have helped to conserve 2.8 million acres (more than 1.1 million hectares) of ecologically significant land from coast to coast. NCC's work in the Prairie Grasslands is contributing to the conservation of our planet's most endangered ecosystem. People often think of rainforests and coral reefs as the planet's most critical habitats in need of conservation, but in fact grasslands, including those in Alberta, are the world's most endangered ecosystem. Grasslands are also important to prevent flooding, and as well, for carbon storage and sequestration in its deep and extensive root networks. Grasslands are a working landscape that support a wide range of animals and economies, from large grazers like cattle, which are an integral land management tool for NCC, to many species at risk. The speaker will expand on the role NCC plays in protecting Alberta's Prairie Grasslands and will elaborate and highlight ways farmers, ranchers and the general public can assist conversation efforts. Speaker: Leta Pezderic, Nature Area Manager – Prairie Grasslands, AB Leta Pezderic is responsible for the delivery of conservation programs in the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) natural areas, specifically the Prairie Grasslands of Alberta. She works with local landowners, partner organizations, conservation volunteers, funders, and other stewards of the land. Leta grew up in Claresholm, AB, but moved to Lethbridge to pursue her post-secondary education. She received her diploma in Renewable Resource Management as well as her certificate in Fish and Wildlife Technology from the Lethbridge College. From there she transferred to the University of Lethbridge where she obtained her Degree in Environmental Science. Leta spent her summers working in Waterton Lakes National Park. After graduating she was fortunate to work at a variety of places including Cows and Fish, Lethbridge College, and Alberta Environment. She spent nearly seven years with the Oldman Watershed Council as their Program Coordinator before joining the NCC team in 2015 as the Natural Area Manager for Prairie Grasslands. She is passionate about all things nature and tries to capture its beauty through photography; you'll rarely find her without her camera in hand. Moderator: Curtis Goodman Date: Thursday, May 16, 2019 Time: Doors open 11:30 am, Presentation 12 noon, buffet lunch 12:30 pm, Q&A 1 – 1:30 pm Location: Royal Canadian Legion (north door) 324 Mayor Magrath Dr. S. Lethbridge Cost: $14 buffet lunch with dessert/coffee/tea/juice or $2 coffee/tea/juice. RSVP not required

university canada fish protecting degree ab presentation cows rsvp environmental science program coordinator ncc nature conservancy lethbridge grasslands lethbridge college alberta environment claresholm waterton lakes national park

066 Finally, free roaming bison in Banff, and bear safety during buffaloberry season.

Defender Radio: The Podcast for Wildlife Advocates and Animal Lovers

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2018 27:25

Parks Canada has just announced that it has opened the gates and finally allowed its growing herd of wild bison out of their enclosure and, for the first time, letting them wander somewhat freely within the park, at least within a 1,200 sq km release zone. The release has happened a little later than planned. The calving season was delayed and while last year saw its first birth on Earth Day, this year calving only began on July 15. In a recent article in The Province, Banff's Resource Conservation Manager was quoted as saying: “We’ve been expecting calves this spring, but it’s certainly been a little later than we saw last year, but because these are young cows, we also anticipated the calving dates might be stretched out over a longer period this year. “The first two calves were born July 15 and the last of the three was born on the 19th.” As of July 23, Park staff were hoping to see as many as 6 more additional calves. All of that changed on August 1st when Parks Canada staff opened the gate to allow the growing herd to leave the enclosure and begin to explore their 1,200 sq. km soft-release zone. Almost immediately, the bison zigged when the Park's staff wanted them to zag. According to the Rocky Mountain Outlook: "The bison reportedly headed toward Scotch Camp, but were stopped on the Snow Creek Summit before being herded back towards the upper Panther River Valley." Park staff realized they would need to guide the bison during the early part of their release. They don't want them to move east towards the plains because they have no legal status there. All of that changed on August 1st when Parks Canada staff opened the gate to allow the growing herd to leave the enclosure and begin to explore their 1,200 sq. km soft-release zone. Almost immediately, the bison zigged when the Park's staff wanted them to zag. According to the Rocky Mountain Outlook: "The bison reportedly headed toward Scotch Camp, but were stopped on the Snow Creek Summit before being herded back towards the upper Panther River Valley." Park staff realized they would need to guide the bison during the early part of their release. They don't want them to move east towards the plains because they have no legal status there. Bears, Buffaloberry, and Bikes Well, it's already happened this year! On Saturday, July 21 a mountain biker collided at high speed with a black bear at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Just last week, I warned that the buffaloberry season was upon us and that we need to begin to be extra vigilant. According to a story in the Rocky Mountain Outlook, Alberta Environment and Parks human-wildlife conflict specialist Jay Honeyman stated: "They were coming downhill at a fairly good clip and came over a rise and there was the bear…He literally hit and flattened the bear and got knocked off his bike." Luckily, the rider had bear spray on his person and he got ready to deploy it, but the stunned bear took off before he needed to spray it. He also saw a second bear that also ran away from the commotion. Here are 10 tips for staying safe while riding and hiking during buffaloberry season: Make lots of noise. Since bears are not paying attention to what's happening around them while they're busy mowing down their berry feast, it's important that we make lots and lots of noise; and not all noise is created equal. The best sound is the sound of your voice. Bears know that humans mean danger and if they know you're coming before you arrive, then they'll usually move away from the trail until you pass. You probably won't even know they were there. Bear bells are just marketing hype and they won't keep you safe. Just throw them in the garbage. You're more likely to be killed by your hiking companions for the sheer irritation they provide. Remember that sound may not travel as fast as you do. Much like the sound of an approaching train, it isn't always as evident when the train is approaching. The bear may not hear you if you're flying down the hill. Slow down, and if possible, stop before the descent and give a loud "Hey bear" before you slowly go down the hill. Learn to recognize buffaloberry. If you learn one plant in the mountains, make it buffaloberry. If the trail is lined with these tasty morsels, then the chance of meeting a bear goes up dramatically. If the trail is berry free, it doesn't mean there won't be a bear, but the odds at this time of year will have the bear focusing on berry-rich sites. Make sure you have bear spray and know how to use it. It's also critical that the spray is on your person and not on your bike. This recent encounter really brings this to the forefront. The rider collided with the bear and was ejected from his bike. Had the spray been on the forks or handlebars of the bike, he would have been separated from it just when he needed it most. The same goes with spray on or in your pack. Encounters happen fast and without warning. Have it on your body and you'll have it when you need it. You also want to practice so you don't have to think about how to deploy it when the time comes. Head to the high country. While this tip may not apply to mountain bikers, it definitely is a good one for hikers. Since the berries happen at lower elevations, this is a good time to go high. While the berries are more common in the valley bottom, they can extend into the subalpine as well. This is a great time to bag those peaks and passes. Trails like the Centennial Ridge Trail (the highest trail in the Canadian Rockies), Ha Ling (check the trail report as they are doing trail maintenance), and scrambles like the East End of Rundle are perfect choices. Keep in mind that the approaches will likely be at a lower elevation so keep an eye on the foliage and if buffaloberries are present, make a ton of noise. Watch for droppings. When bears are mowing down massive quantities of berries, let's just say, it keeps them regular. Watch for dark red piles of former buffaloberries. If it looks fresh, then it's likely the bear may still be in the area. Look for moving bushes. Very large bears can completely disappear behind a buffaloberry bush. Sometimes the easiest way to spot the bear is to not look for the bear. Look for something that doesn't belong - like one bush moving when none of the others are. On a still day, this can often be a sure sign that something is hanging out behind the bush. Keep dogs on leash; or better yet, leave them at home. I know you want to hike with your dog, but every encounter with wildlife has a worse outcome when a dog is involved. They are likely to be perceived as a threat by a bear and now you are also perceived as a threat. Take Fido to the off-leash area and give him a good run there. Be aware though that the margins of the Grassi Lakes off-leash area are also a great habitat for buffaloberries so watch if he's playing too close to this area. Leave your earbuds at home. One of the most dangerous things you can do in bear country is to wear earbuds when walking on trails - even within the townsite boundaries. When you wear earbuds, you're not aware of the sounds around you. You are not paying attention to what's happening around you. Earbuds put you at a much higher risk of a negative encounter, and you won't even hear it approaching. When you're out in nature, pay attention to nature, and stay safe. Respect closures. During buffaloberry season, it's much easier to manage people than bears. Unfortunately, in the recent past, locals and tourists alike have violated closures with the mistaken belief that they don't apply to them. Alberta Environment and Parks, Parks Canada, and the Towns of Canmore and Banff take these closures very seriously. If you're caught you will be charged! Don't put a bear's life at risk simply because you were too lazy to walk around the closure. Always remember that you are also a risk by ignoring closure signs. For the full show notes for this episode, visit www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep066

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Day 6 - Canadian Rockies - with Luke Vander Vennen

Wild And Exposed Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 8, 2018 82:01

Discussion with Luke Vander Vennen. Wildlife Biologist. Government of Alberta. Peace River,. Alberta.Talked about Luke’s career path to become a wildlife biologistDiscussed wolf, black bear, grizzly bear, caribou, and moose researchTalked about multi-agency cooperation (govt.,private, and public) on wildlife researchLuke talks about a new app his peers developed to involve the public as Citizen Scientists -GrizzTracker was developed in partnership with Peace Region's Operations Division staff, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) in collaboration with industrial stakeholders (Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd., Boucher Bro Lumber Ltd., Canfor, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Manning Diversified Forest Products), Alberta Conservation Association and the Miistakis Institute to enable industrial personal working in the Lower Peace Region to collect sightings information on grizzly bears. The collaborative efforts of all parties to mobilize this work is truly a success in itself!http://www.grizztracker.ca/about.phphttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grizztracker/id1071096740?mt=8

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Stream Flows This Spring

Alberta Morning News

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2018 5:46

Colleen Walford of Alberta Environment & Parks speaks about the spring melt and its impacts on Alberta streams and rivers.

spring stream parks flows alberta environment

Cautiously Optimistic: Alberta Ready To Allow Rehab For Bears (514)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2018 19:29

The story of Russell, the orphaned and injured bear cub outside of Calgary, broke hearts around the world. Wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians were ready, willing, and able to assist by examining his injured leg, and providing a safe environment for his rehabilitation over winter, but Alberta Environment and Parks refused. While the story of Russell is sad, and his fate following hibernation remains unknown, it highlighted a greater problem: several indigenous species that the government has decided cannot or should not be rehabilitated from injury or illness, or cared for as orphans. The story of Russell also accomplished something remarkable: the government has stated they are now reviewing and implementing protocols for black bear rehabilitation in the province. Due to an overwhelming response by all of you, and the hard work of a core of advocates in Alberta, the media did not relent, and the science, ethics and logic of rehabilitation, forced a change. To discuss the cautious optimism of this important victory, the combination of ethics and science behind rehabilitation, and why the advocacy can’t end now, Defender Radio was joined by biologist and former rehabilitator Lisa Dahlseide. Take Action: Send a Letter to Alberta's Government Defender Radio Patreon Sign Up for Email Updates

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047 Canada's 150th birthday and its effects on visitation to the Mountain Parks an Ode to Bear 148, and interviews with several candidates.

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2017 46:04

Canada 150 Visitation Unless you've been living under a rock this past year, you know that 2017 represents the 150th birthday of Canada. As a nation, we were born just 150 years ago on July 1, 1867. Now this wasn't the Canada we know today, but a teeny tiny Canada with a lot of well, wilderness. Canada, such as it was, was made up of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and that's it. Upper Canada then became Ontario and Lower Canada, Quebec. Looking at the rest of what would become the rest of Canada, in the far west, there was the Crown Colony of British Columbia, but it would be 4 more years before it became a province on July 20, 1871. The vast majority of what is now Canada though, remained as either Rupert's Land or the Northwest Territories. If the water's flowed into Hudson Bay, it was part of Rupert's Land, and if it flowed north into the Mackenzie River system, it was part of the Northwest Territories. Alberta and Saskatchewan did not join Canada as full provinces until 1905. Canada's National Park system began with the 10 sq km Banff Hot Springs Preserve in 1885, with just a tiny section protected around the Cave and Basin Hot Springs. It sowed the seeds of Canada's National Park system though and was the third National Park in the world behind only Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. and Royal National Park in Australia. Today Canada's National Park system includes 47 National Parks and 970 National Historic Sites. These include the Cave and Basin, Abbots Pass Refuge Cabin, Banff Park Museum, Banff Springs Hotel, Howse Pass, Skoki Ski Lodge, and the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station. Other sites across the Mountain National Parks include Athabasca Pass, Yellowhead Pass, the Jasper Park Information Centre, and the Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. Across Alberta, you can add Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Calgary City Hall, Nordegg, Atlas No. 3 Coal Mine, Coleman, Fort Edmonton, Fort Macleod, Fort Whoop-Up, and the Turner Valley Gas Plant. 2017 was a year steeped in history but also steeped in tourism. The Trudeau Government decided to make all visitation to National Parks and National Historic Sites free for 2017 and this led to huge fears that the parks would be inundated. I have been a strong critic of Parks Canada's focus on bringing more and more cars through the park gates for the past decade while allowing the backcountry to wither. All the marketing has focused on 4-5 million visitors pointing their cars and buses towards the same 2% of the park. Over the past few years, I have watched the park get swarmed by more and more and more visitors. In iconic locations like Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and Peyto Lake, I've witnessed the crowds growing to levels unimaginable just a decade ago. Many of the park roads, like Sulphur Mountain, Lake Louise, and Moraine Lake, are one lane in and one lane out. This creates finite limits on the amount of traffic the roads can accommodate. In past years, I experienced wait times as long as 2-1/2 hours driving the 3 km or so between the Village of Lake Louise and the actual Lake. With traffic jams like these, nobody is having a good experience. Over the past year, after the announcement that park passes would be free this year, there was well-justified fear that these delays would just get longer and longer. Parks was regularly criticized by Banff and Jasper town counselors for their lack of transparency and discussion on how to deal with the influx of traffic. As the season approached, though, the pieces began to fall into place. Parks Canada made some very bold moves that dramatically reduced the congestion within Banff National Park. Some of these moves included: Permanent parking boundaries along narrow roads such as the approach to Moraine Lake, Johnston Canyon and Lake Minnewanka. These reflective pylons made sure that narrow sections of road weren't choked by cars parking in the driving lanes and making it very difficult for cars and buses to negotiate the road. Free shuttle buses between Banff and Lake Louise, Banff and the Lake Minnewanka Loop as well as from the Lake Louise Overflow Campground and both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. These buses proved to be incredibly effective with some 280,000 people using these new shuttles. An additional half a million people took advantage of the local Roam bus routes during July and August. The Calgary to Banff bus averaged 260 people per day when it was running. This brought it into Banff where visitors could connect with other regional options. The free Lake Minnewanka shuttles average 470 people/day The free shuttle between Banff and Lake Louise has been averaging 200 people/day while The shuttles between the Lake Louise Overflow Campground and Lake Louise has moved over 150,000 people this summer. In an interview with Gord Gillies of Global News, Park Superintendent Dave McDonough indicated that Parks Canada was planning: "to continue and improve that shuttle service as we go forward because as we continue to see we anticipate we'll continue to see increases in visitation over time, and this is a great way to get people out of their cars and eliminate some of that congestion issues that are associated with those increases." This was just one prong of the traffic management in the park this summer. Parks also had an army of traffic control personnel at all the intersections in the Lake Louise area this summer. They were part of ATS Traffic from Calgary and they did a superhuman job of keeping the vehicles flowing. Not once this years did I experience the huge delays that I have had in past years trying to get from the Village of Lake Louise to the actual Lake. Moraine Lake Road was much easier to negotiate without miles of cars parked half-way into the traffic lanes. On most days, by 9 am, the Moraine Lake Road was simply closed to most vehicles. Buses were given a priority but most private cars where SOL by 9 or 9:30 am. With all of the shuttles, traffic cones, flag people, and free park passes, what are the actual numbers this year? In the end, the increases were lower than many of us anticipated. In July and August, Banff had 1.7 million cars enter and exit the park. This was up 7% over 2016 and overall the vehicle numbers are up 3.5%. The town of Banff counted 4.6 million cars so far this year which is an astounding increase of 21% over 2014. A full 1.7 million of those were during the summer. While the maximum vehicle count was 34,275 on July 2, the average count was 27,512. This means that almost every day was above the congestion point of 24,000 cars. The town helped to alleviate this by manipulating the traffic lights to bias busier sections of road. The main bottleneck within the town of Banff is Sulphur Mountain Road. Cars come into Banff, drive Banff Avenue, cross the Bow River Bridge and then head up Sulphur Mountain. On the way down, they descend the road and hit a traffic light on Spray Ave where the traffic begins to stack. They then turn left for a short distance to wait to turn right onto Banff Avenue. The traffic continues to back up here. The challenge of biasing the lights to move this traffic up and down the mountain means that the Mount Norquay exit into Banff can backup. I June this year, I had to call the Park Wardens as the offramp coming from the east had backed up into the traffic lanes of the Trans Canada, setting up a dangerous situation. For 2017, as much as I didn't think I'd be able to do this, I need to give Parks a gold star for pulling some rabbits out of their hats at the eleventh hour. They were pilloried in the media for the simple fact that they didn't communicate with local communities, nor offer any additional support to help them deal with the realities of massive potential increases in tourism. Overall, it looks like Banff will see no larger increase in numbers then it has over the past few years. Visitation has been growing at a rate of around 5%/year and this year will fit right into that trend. Visitors seem to have gotten the message that things would be busy and so they are taking advantage of early and late season to try to avoid the biggest crowds. Did everything go smoothly, nope! However, I was impressed with most of the traffic control. With tightly controlled traffic at sites like Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, the parking at Lake Louise and the road to Moraine were simply closed when they reached capacity. This meant that all the cars that wanted to visit were simply turned away. They had the option to head back to the highway and use the shuttles, and thousands took advantage of that option. To a certain extent, it actually reduced the number of bodies swarming the shoreline of these two iconic sites. Here is my call to action! There is a fear that much of the critical work that ATS Traffic did this year may have been a one-off, with funding coming from the Canada 150 funds. We simply can't go back to the chaos of past years. If you support the work this amazing group did this year, be sure to contact Parks Canada and make your voices heard. I for one, want to make sure that, at the very least, this is the new norm. Why were the increases in visitors not even higher? It has to do with the simple fact that there are only so many hotel rooms in the region. As the season got busier, so did the hotels get more expensive. There is a point at which there is simply no way for more people to access the mountains. When the rooms and campsites are gone, then people are limited to day trips from larger centres like Calgary. That being said, the current 4% increase in visitation still represents an additional 200,000 people visiting Banff this year. These are unsustainable growth numbers. At some point, park managers will need to begin to say yes to saying no! We are nearing the moment when we need to begin to say "NO, you can't visit Lake Louise". We are too close to beginning to love this place to death! Farewell to Bear 148 If you're a regular listener to this podcast, you've heard me talk time and again about grizzly 148. This 6-1/2-year-old daughter of Bears 66 and 122, better known as the Boss, ran out of luck this summer when she wandered outside of Banff National Park just one too many times. This summer, the buffaloberry crop in Banff was not very strong, but in Canmore, we had fabulous berry patches. This attracted 148 out of the park and into the area around Canmore. In episode 38, I talk about the translocation of Bear 148 to northern Alberta and Kakwa Provincial Park. You can listen to the episode at www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep038. Essentially, after returning back to Canmore she had another run-in with people illegally violating a closure and bluff-charged them. This was the final straw for Alberta Environment and Parks, and she was trapped, trucked and translocated far from her home range. With a distant translocation like this, the odds of her surviving were very slim in the first place. Bears become intimately connected to their home ranges. They need to know where all their seasonal foods can be found and at what time of year. Moving them to a new territory is like being forced to shop in a new grocery. Not only is it difficult to find things that you usually eat, but it may not even have the same foods. There may also be other shoppers pushing you away from the best selections. Near the end of September, 148 wandered across the border with British Columbia, likely in search of late season foods, when she was legally shot by trophy hunters. Ironically, B.C. is set to ban grizzly hunting permanently as of Nov. 30. She had the misfortune of crossing the border just over a month too early and it cost 148 her life. Over the past few years, 148 became a symbol of what's wrong in Canmore. What good are wildlife corridors if animals are punished for using them? What good are corridors if people ignore the closures and put themselves and the wildlife in jeopardy? On Oct 7, well over 100 Canmore residents came out to say goodbye to 148 and to pledge to do better in the future. This has also become a major election issue and many of the presentations really focused on the need for political will if we are to keep grizzlies on the landscape. I was lucky enough to record the presentations during the event and I want to present them here. Please keep in mind that I was recording speakers using an old-fashioned bull-horn so the audio quality is not perfect - but their message is! First up was Harvey Locke, co-founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon and long-time conservationist. Following Harvey was Bree Todd, Bree is one of the co-creators of the Bear 148 Appreciation Page on Facebook and has been a strong voice advocating for viable wildlife corridors. Local NDP Member of the Legislature, Cam Westhead followed Bree. He vowed to help the province work harder to improve the situation for bears in the Bow Valley. Following Cam's presentation, the group marched through Canmore towards the Civic Centre for the final two speeches. First was Bill Snow of the Stoney Nakoda. He is the Stoney Consultation Manager and was instrumental in spearheading a Stoney grizzly study in 2016. The last speaker was Kay Anderson, another outspoken advocate of bears and corridors in Canmore, and one of the main organizers of the march. In addition to the presentations, I had the opportunity to speak to a few people outside of the presentations. First up is Mayoral candidate Ed Russell. Finally, I had the opportunity to ask Jeff Laidlaw a few questions. Jeff is looking to be elected to Canmore's town council in the upcoming election. Overall, this was a great event for Canmore. I showed that local people really care about our bears and keeping our corridors wild. This is our last chance to make the right decisions for wildlife. Let's hope that Bear 148 is the last bear to die because of local apathy. And with that, it's time to wrap this episode up. Don't forget that Ward Cameron Enterprises can offer you the expertise and local knowledge to make your visit to the Rockies a memorable one. Don't forget to check out the show notes for links to additional information and photos from this week's event. Drop me a line using the contact page on this site if you'd like to book a step-on or hiking guide, workshop facilitator or speaker. If you'd like to connect with me personally, you can hit me up on Twitter @wardcameron or at www.facebook.com/wardcameronenterprises. And with that said, the hills are snowy white so it's time to tune up the snowshoes - snowshoe animal tracking season is just around the corner. I'll talk to you next week.

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039 The bear bites back and Hells Bells Rogers

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2017 27:26

The Bears Bite Back I hate it when the inevitable happens! We've been talking for weeks about people entering closed areas during the most critical time of the year for black and grizzly bears to put on fat for the winter months. I've witnessed numerous people violating the closures and have called for a wildlife ambassador program for Canmore, similar in some ways to the Wildlife Guardians program that has been pioneered by Banff National Park. If you might be interested in getting involved in such a program, drop me a line at info@wardcameron.com or leave a comment in the show notes for this episode. This week, this all came to a head. This week an 18 year old Canmore woman decided to violate the closure in order to take her dog for a walk. Keep in mind that any time there is a close encounter with a bear and you have a dog, there is a chance that the encounter will escalate simply because a snarling dog can be perceived as a threat by a bear. She was walking the trail that runs beside the Rundle Forebay when the attack occurred. She met what is believed to have been a black bear, and the bear made contact resulting in some superficial injuries. She was treated at hospital and released…for now! For the sake of a walk to let her dog pee, she now faces both enormous fines and jail time. Her family and friends dispute the contention that she was in a closed area, stating that it was an open area connecting the Highline far connector along the reservoir. Alberta Environment and Parks insist however she was indeed in a closed area. The entire Rundle Forebay area is closed and it is well publicized within the local area. According to a story in the Rocky Mountain Outlook, Sherene Kaw, assistant director of communications for Alberta Justice and the Solicitor General indicated that the woman did NOT have bear spray and that, while the dog was on leash, she released the leash when the attack occurred. While it can't be definitively determined if the bear was a black or grizzly, no grizzlies were known to be feeding in the area, at least based upon trail camera evidence. This incident really showcases the need for a Wildlife Ambassador program in Canmore. In most years, it may only last for 6-8 weeks. The buffaloberries only last until the first frost, and then they all fall from the bush. Programs like this must operate in conjunction with programs focused on reducing attractants within the townsite. In 2015, when the buffaloberry crop failed, the town saw a huge influx of bears attracted to our flowering fruit trees. Since then, Banff, Jasper and Canmore have developed various programs designed to help reduce the problem. Buffaloberries are no different than any other crop. They need the right conditions at the right time, and if we don't get them, we get a failure in the crop. This year and last were bumper crops, but 2015 was an utter failure. This young woman is being publicly vilified. Her identity is currently being protected and I support that. The tendency of internet vigilantism has no role in this story. Her life is changing by the moment. It is NOT confirmed at this point, whether she is guilty, but let's set that aside for the moment. I truly believe that her point of view has shifted dramatically in the last 48 hours. Instead of vilifiying her, why not bring her into the conversation? It's easy to pour on hate but let's put this into perspective. She's a kid who, as the story currently stands, did a dumb thing. I personally would like to spend some time simply talking with her to understand her point of view at the time, and how it may have changed since that encounter. Protecting corridors is not going well. Social media is composed of adversarial groups unable to see any other viewpoint. I understand that completely. I find it difficult to comprehend the decisions that many people make when their actions do not match their stated beliefs. So let's talk. If found guilty, she faces the potential for large fines and even jail time. The fact that the spokesman for the Alberta government is in the Solicitor General's office indicates that there may be plans to make an example of her in the courts. So many of us that are expelling comments on social media are, well how do I say it, more experienced. How do we reach that younger generation which is far more likely to violate closures simply from a feeling of invincibility and entitlement? Maybe we just talk to them. I would love to talk with you. Please reach out. If you know her, please have her contact me. I will protect your privacy 100% because I think you have something to add to the conversation. Let's put away the pitchforks and look at this as another chance to build a bridge to a community that is an important part of the conversation. Just sayin' And if we're keeping score, this is not a new story. A colleague of mine that is interested in helping coordinate the wildlife guardian program pointed me to a Calgary Sun article from 2014 that looked into the same issue in Canmore. In this story, there was an aggressive bear was known to be in the area. It had, in a similar situation, had a minor infraction where it bit the finger of a Danish tourist. It was a minor encounter, but bears sell newspapers and the story was all over the media and airwaves. Just like this year, yellow flagging tape and signs indicated that the same areas were closed to access. And in case you're wondering, the same closures will happen next year, and the next, and the next. However in this case, Fish and Wildlife officers placed automated cameras at the main access points to the closed area. What did they find? In just 8 days they photographed some 60 people completely ignoring the closure and entering the restricted area. In one case, an entire family with Mom, Dad, one kid on a bike and a burley in tow went under the flagging tape closing a trail and continued on their merry way. This is the world we live in. it's time we embrace the conversation, create a visible wildlife guardian program, provide eyes and provide ears for Conservation Officers. We can help remove the potential for people to 'anonymously' enter closed areas. Guardians would be there for education and outreach. The goal would be to help Parks keep both people AND bears safe. We may find other areas where we can assist in keeping people and wildlife safe down the road. I'm a believer in dialogue and collaboration. I don't know how this will eventually manifest itself, but I'm willing to do what I can do help reduce the challenges we are experiencing this year in the future. Maybe Bear 148 will be one of the last to be removed from the landscape on our watch. Please remember, any time that Parks has to make a decision like the one they did with 148, it's a gut wrenching one. Nothing moves forward without their help and support. Let's build bridges towards viable corridors. Next up…Hells Bells Rogers. Hells Bells Rogers Last week I talked about railroad surveyor Walter Moberly. He was a pivotal figure in the early days of the Canadian Pacific construction. Another surveyor of note was American Major A.B. Rogers. Railroad surveyors were an independently minded lot. Each would select one route for the railroad - their route - and they would defend that to the death. "Nobody could possibly have a better route than the one I selected" However there were a few things that the surveyors agreed upon. One was that the Selkirk Mountains in the interior of British Columbia were impossible to put a train through. Even Walter Moberly planned to go around the Selkirks rather than through them. Well clearly we needed to find someone with an open mind - and we found that in Major A.B. Rogers. Rogers had earned his reputation as an Indian fighter during a Sioux uprising in 1862 during which he rose to the rank of Major. Later, while working as a surveyor for the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, he earned a reputation as a man that could find the best route for a new rail line. He was not a well-loved man. He was described by the CPR's locating engineer, J.H.E. Secretan as: "A short, sharp, snappy little chap with long Dundreary whiskers. He was a master of picturesque profanity, who continually chewed tobacco and was an artist of expectoration. He wore overalls with pockets behind, and had a plug of tobacco in one pocket and a sea biscuit in the other, which was his idea of a season's provisions for an engineer." He also had a reputation for heading out a little short on supplies, if not faculties, and many of his expeditions returned on the verge of starvation. At one point, the general manager of the railroad, William Cornelius Van Horne tried to urge him to bring more supplies. The exchange apparently went as follows: Van Horne stated: "Look here, Major, I hear your men won't stay with you, they say you starve them." The Major replied with: "Tain't so, Van." Van Horne continued: "Well, I'm told you feed 'em on soup made out of hot water flavoured with old ham canvas covers." To this, Rogers replied: "Tain't so, Van. I didn't never have no hams!" James Jerome Hill, more well known as the builder of the Great Northern Railroad in the U.S. was also a part of the Canadian Pacific project and he hired Rogers to find a shorter route between Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and Savona's Ferry in British Columbia. The only way to do that would be to go straight through the impenetrable Selkirks as well as through the southern Rockies. While the Rockies had seen more exploration both as part of the Railroad project, but also earlier as part of the fur trade, Rogers would need to link one of these passes with a route through the Selkirks. Jim Hill offered Rogers a bonus of $5,000 and his name on the pass if he could find a route through the Selkirks. Rogers scoured the journals of explorers and surveyors like Walter Moberly to look for some hint of where he might begin to explore for a potential pass. In Moberly's journal, it looked like there might be a possibility by following the Illecillewaet River. Rogers took note of a particular passage in Moberly's journal from 1865: "Friday, July 13th--Rained hard most of the day. Perry returned from his trip up the east fork of the Ille-cille-waut River. He did not reach the divide, but reported a low, wide valley as far as he went. His exploration has not settled the point whether it would be possible to get through the mountains by this valley but I fear not. He ought to have got on the divide, and his failure is a great disappointment to me. He reports a most difficult country to travel through, owing to fallen timber and underbrush of very thick growth..." In the spring of 1881, the Major, along with his favourite nephew Albert Rogers, and 10 Indians headed out towards the Selkirks. While Albert was his given name, the Major generally just referred to him as that Damn Little Cuss. It took them 22 days to reach Kamloops, and from there, the 'Gold Ranges', today known as the Monashees also had to be crossed before they even arrived at the start of the Selkirks. That ate up another 14 days. After spending another 22 days on a raft on the Columbia River, they finally reached the mouth of the Illecillewaet River where the real work began. Each man hoisted a 45-kg pack and they slowly tried to make their way upwards. They went through mile after mile of the most horrific plant to ever grace the planet Earth - Devil's club. If you've never had the pleasure of Devil's club, imagine a six to seven foot woody shrub with huge maple-style leaves and everything from the leaves to the trunk is armed with razor sharp thorns that can easily tear through a pair of canvas pants. So terrible was Devil's club that entire stretches of the railroad were rerouted to go around the worst patches. You couldn't even hack through with a machete. As they made their way through swamp and up vertical rock faces. Albert Rogers later stated that: "many a time I wished myself dead," and added that "the Indians were sicker then we, a good deal." The going never got easier. On numerous occassions, they had to cross bridges of snow suspeded 50 metres above the foaming water of the Illecillewaet River. By this time, their supplies were also beginning to run low, and the cold nights sent a chill right through their thin blankets. They clung to the lower slopes of a mountain that would later be named Mount Sir Donald after Donald Smith, one of the two chief financiers of the railway. "Being gaunt as greyhounds, with lungs and muscles of the best, we soon reached the timber-line, where the climbing became very difficult. We crawled along the ledges, getting toe-hold here and a finger hold there, keeping in the shade as much as possible and kicking toe-holes in the snow crust. When several hundred feet above the timber line, we followed a narrow ledge around a point that was exposed to the sun. (Here four Indians fell over the ledge.) It was in the evening when we reached the summit, very much exhausted. Crawling along this ridge, we came to a small ledge protected from the wind by a great perpendicular rock. Here we decided to wait until the crust again formed on the snow and the morning light enabled us to travel. At ten o'clock, it was still twilight, on the peaks, but the valleys below were filled with the deepest gloom. We wrapped ourselves in our blankets and nibbled at our dry meat and bannock, stamping our feet in the snow to keep them from freezing, and taking turns whipping each other with our pack straps to keep up circulation." Now doesn't that sound like a good time? In the end, they found a stream which split into two channels, with one branch heading west and the other east. It looked like they might have found a pass through the Selkirks, but a shortage of supplies once again forced them to retreat without exploring the western side of the divide. Rogers also realized that the survey crews were rapidly approaching the Bow River valley and he had still not explored the Kicking Horse Pass yet. One of the other things that most of the surveyors agreed upon was that the Bow River valley was the worst possible route to put a train. Not only did it force the line to traverse the Selkirks, but it also meant that they had to go through a horrible pass to the west of present-day Lake Louise, Alberta called the Kicking Horse. Despite these difficulties, this was the route finally chosen and that's a decision we've dissected for more than a century. The long and short of it was that this was the shortest route surveyed and the promoters hoped it would be the cheapest, but that turned out to be completely wrong. We also have to remember that this was a sovereign tool and this route was also the most southerly. They hoped that it would be far enough south to discourage American spur lines from moving into what was Canadian territory. At least in this case it proved true. With the rush towards the Kicking Horse Pass, Rogers party rerouted towards the Bow River valley. Now Rogers, was more of a pathfinder at this point and most of the proper surveyors, the men with the actual instruments necessary to lay out the line, were waiting at about the point visitors to the Rockies would enter the mountains as they drove west from Calgary. The Major came from the south and west and met up with them, and he sent that Damn Little Cuss to come up the Kicking Horse River from the west. He didn't think twice about sending Albert, a 21-year old greenhorn that had never before even been to the Rockies to attempt a task that had never before been accomplished by a non-native. Even the local natives avoided the dreary valley of the Kicking Horse because there was very little in the way of game to hunt - and therefore no real reason to hang about. Needless to say, Albert never showed. The Major paced like a caged animal. He said: "If anything happens to that Damn Little Cuss, I'll never show my face in St. Paul again." He sent out search parties in all directions with orders to fire a volley of shots in the air when they found him. One of those search parties descended the Kicking Horse Pass from the west and finally, they stumbled upon Albert Rogers…literally. Barely moving, and on the verge of starvation, his progress had slowed to a crawl. The only thing he had eaten in the previous 2 days was a porcupine that he had clubbed to death and picked clean right down to the quills. They picked up this pitiful sight, put him on a horse, made their way to the summit of the pass and fired a volley of shots in the air. Apparently the Major road in on his big white horse and as Wilson later recalled: "He plainly choked with emotion, then, as his face hardened again he took an extra-vicious tobacco juice shot at the nearest tree and almost snarled...'Well, you did get here did you, you damn little cuss?' There followed a second juice eruption and then, as he swung on his heel, the Major shot back over his shoulder; 'You're alright, are you, you damn little cuss?'" And with that Albert's face apparently exploded into a grin. He knew the old man better than anyone else and knew that he could never let his real emotions be seen. But the say the double-speed eruptions of tobacco juice from between his big sideburns said more about his emotional state than any words ever could have and nothing more was ever said about the matter. One of the men waiting for the Major was a young punk named Tom Wilson. Wilson was one of those characters that seemed to have the incredible knack of timing. He had the ability to be in the right places at the right time in history. He had begun his career as a Northwest Mounted Policeman and had joined the great march west of the mounties in 1875. He then resigned to join the first survey crews through the Rockies. He described Rogers as he arrived to meet the survey party: "His condition--dirty doesn't begin to describe it. His voluminous sideburns waved like flags in a breeze; his piercing eyes seemed to look and see through everything at once...Every few moments a stream of tobacco juice erupted from between the side-burns. I'll bet there were not many trees alongside the trail that had escaped that deadly tobacco juice aim." Rogers was a typical workaholic, and always had to accomplish more in a day then was practical. The season was getting late and so he pushed the survey crews to move faster. He then declared that he was going to ride out ahead to explore the route and asked for a volunteer. As Wilson again put it: "every man present had learned, in three days, to hate the Major with real hatred. He had no mercy on horses or men--he had none on himself. The labourers hated him for the way he drove them and the packers for that and the way he abused the horses--never gave their needs a thought." Wilson, in the end, agreed to accompany him. Eventually, they came to a river which was swollen and muddy with the spring runoff. Generally, during the summer season, river levels can rise dramatically during the daytime due to the increased pace of snowmelt during the sunny days. At night the water levels usually dropped as the cooler evening reduced the rate of melt. Tom suggested they wait for morning to cross and the old man laughed at him: "Afraid of it are you? Want the old man to show you how to ford it?" The Major spurred his horse into the river at which point the horse was pulled out from under him and he disappeared beneath the raging water. All Tom could do was grab a branch, stick it in the water where the old man had disappeared, go fishing and hope for the best. He was rewarded with a welcome tug and when the Major pulled himself onto the shoreline, all he could say was: "Blue Jesus! Light a fire and then get that damned horse. Blue Jesus, it's cold!" From that point on, when the river would be dirty and muddy with the spring runoff, the surveyors would joke that it was dirty because the old man must be having another bath. In fact to this day it's still known as Bath Creek on maps. Wilson left the survey early this year, swearing never to come back to these God forsaken hills. Rogers laughed at him saying: "You may think you're not coming back but you'll be here next year and I'll be looking for you," All that winter, Tom tried to fight something that just seemed to be tugging at him. Have you ever noticed how sometimes you choose life, and sometimes life chooses you. Before Tom knew what had happened, he found himself back in Fort Benton signing up for one more year on the survey. Tom was hired to pack supplies from present-day Canmore, to the summit of the Kicking Horse Pass. In August of that year, Tom was camped near to present-day village of Lake Louise. He had been hearing the sound of thunder under a clear blue sky. When he met some Stoney Natives he asked them what the sound was: On individual by the name of Gold-seeker told him that it was avalanches off of Snow Mountain high above the Lake of Little Fishes. The next day Tom had the native take him up to the lake and as he became the first non-native to lay eyes on what we now call Lake Louise, he wrote in his journal: "As God is my judge, I never in all my explorations saw such a matchless scene." Tom called the lake Emerald Lake because of its beautiful colour, but the railroad promptly changed the name to Lake Louise after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. This also gives you an idea of where Alberta takes its name as well. She was married to the Governor General of Canada. The very next day, Tom bumped into the Major for the very first time that year and the old man let out a guffaw: "Blue Jesus! I knew you'd be back. I knew you'd be back. You'll never leave these mountains again as long as you live. They've got you now." He was right. Tom was on hand for the hammering of the last spike. You can see his stetson and mustache peering above the crowd from the back in the most iconic photograph of the event. He then went on to start the first guiding operation in the Canadian Rockies and gave many of the areas other enduring guides their start. He lived into the 1930s and is buried in the little cemetery in the town of Banff. Also this summer, Rogers route through the Selkirks was confirmed, and for breaching the final barrier for the Canadian Pacific Railway, he received his bonus of $5,000. He never cashed the cheque. When the general manager of the railroad, William Cornelius Van Horne cornered him to find out why he hadn't cashed it, he blurted out: "What! Cash the cheque? I wouldn't take a hundred thousand dollars for it. It is framed and hangs in my brother's house in Waterville, Minnesota, where my nephews and nieces can see it. I'm not in this for the money." Rogers more than most, really embodied what drove these surveyors. It was not money, it was immortality, and he got that in the naming of Rogers Pass. Next week, I'll look at the challenges in confirming his route as well as the difficulties that the Kicking Horse Pass would present to the railroad.

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038 Farewell to Grizzly 148, Walter Moberly's Surveys, Solar Eclipses and Bird-eating Deer

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2017 28:14

Ode to Grizzly 148 This has been a heartbreaking week as bear 148, the beloved daughter of Banff's most famous bear 66, was translocated far away from her home territory of Banff and Canmore all the way north to Kakwa Provincial Park, located to the west of Grand Cache. It was a difficult decision for officials with Alberta Environment and Parks, but 148 was getting increasingly closer to people and in the end they felt that the risk of an escalation in behaviour left them with few options other than to move her out of the area. This is the second time she has been moved. Earlier in July she was captured and returned to an area west of the Town of Banff but she returned to Canmore to feed on buffaloberries. In past episodes, I've talked at length about the importance of buffaloberries to bears and how they will always be attracted to low elevation valleys in order to take advantage of these critical calories. One message that doesn't seem to be getting out is that the bears have little choice but to be in communities like Canmore and Banff at this time of year. Buffaloberries need sunlight to grow. Sunlight requires openings in the forest canopy, and this is provided by developers cutting down trees, urban parks, trails and roads…all things that are prevalent in townsites. Essentially, townsites create great conditions for buffaloberry to thrive, even more so than the undeveloped areas between Canmore and Banff where openings are created more sparingly by falling trees or old fires. When you put it all together, there will likely be more berries in Canmore than there will be in an undeveloped forest area. Powerline right of ways become habitat patches for a few months of the year. Every new trail we build allows sunlight to percolate down to the forest floor and creates good conditions for buffaloberries to grow. The story of buffaloberries is about much more than corridors. Wildlife movement corridors are about allowing animals connectivity with adjacent patches of good habitat. Animals will often use the corridors to simply traverse between places like Banff and Kananaskis, through Canmore. However at this time of year, corridors become habitat patches as the openings create buffaloberry buffets. Bears are attracted from many miles to take advantage of these critical foods. It's for this reason that the story of 148 is particularly poignant. She was the canary in the coal mine. If we couldn't create a situation where she could take advantage of the berry crop, then what is the hope for the other 7 or 8 bears currently feeding in the valley? Closures are an important strategy at this time of year, but a closure that is ignored is no closure. If people violating closures get injured by bears, it's always the bears that pay the ultimate price. We need to think beyond 148. Her chances of survival are very slim, but how many other bears do we need to lose in a similar fashion. If we don't create a workable solution then so much of our current battles for corridors will be for nothing. Alberta Parks simply doesn't have the resources to constantly patrol the many entrance and exit points on some of these closures - and neither does Parks Canada. I was impressed to hear about Canmore Bylaw Officers charging people trying to shortcut between the Peaks of Grassi and Quarry Lake over the weekend as well. Maybe it's time for a new approach. I know from my posts on the Bow Valley Community Connection Facebook page that we have a very engaged local population. Maybe we need to set up volunteer systems where people are trained in bear safety and ecology who simply wait at key entry points to try to encourage people to obey the closures. This could NOT be a vigilante force. It would a group of educators, helping people to understand the importance of the closures and how important it is that the bears are allowed to feed unimpeded during the brief berry season. This would help keep both people and bears safe. The volunteers could coordinate with the various enforcement agencies, but their role would simply be one of awareness. Recent studies on wildlife corridors showed astounding use by people and dogs, both on and off leash. The study showed that in the designated wildlife corridors around Canmore, people accounted for 94% of traffic. Of that, 56% of the incidents included people with dogs - and 60% of the dogs were off leash! We need to have a visible presence during closures and maybe a Friends of Wildlife patrol could work similarly to the Wildlife Guardians in the national park that patrol bear jams and try to educate visitors on safe ways to view wildlife responsibly. They also set up stations at popular viewpoints with the sole purpose of providing education and outreach. Our wildlife patrol could fulfil a similar role, educating and informing, while also adding additional sets of eyes to help enforcement officials when the need arises. Next up. Walter Moberly's western surveys The Canadian Pacific Railway Part 2 - Walter Moberly I can't tell the story of the building of the Railway without mentioning Walter Moberly. He was a pivotal personality in the history of British Columbia and a huge proponent of a transcontinental railway. Born in Oxfordshire, England in 1832, his family moved to Upper Canada when he was just 2 years old. As he grew into a man, he became a logger and worked several timber holdings in the Muskoka area before he headed west to British Columbia. He began to do some survey work for the community of New Westminster, and between 1961 and 64 he worked on a number of road building projects. He helped Edgar Dewdney build the Dewdney trail from Hope to the Okanagan. He also built a section of the road to the Caribou gold fields. This experience led him to be named the Assistant Surveyor General of British Columbia in 1865, and he was assigned to search for new travel routes through the mountains landscape of the province. It was this year that Moberly made his most important discovery - Eagle Pass which enabled him to travel through the Gold Range from Shuswap Lake in the Okanagan to join the Columbia River at Revelstoke. As Moberly told the story of the discovery, he shot an arrow at an eagle nest and watched the eagle as it flew up the valley. Since the birds were unlikely to fly up a valley blocked by mountains, he decided to follow them and discovered Eagle Pass. At this time, there was NO talk about a transcontinental railway, but Moberly always believed that it as an unavoidable eventuality. He claimed to have blazed a tree and carved "This is the Pass of the Overland Railway". Eventually, some 20 years later, the railroad would follow this portion of his imagined route. It didn't take Moberly long to hear about the agreement to build the railway in 1972 and so he set about to position himself as just the man to get the job done. By coincidence, as a child, he had gone to school with a girl named Susan Agnes Bernard. She was now the wife of Prime Minister John A Macdonald, and so he managed to talk his way into a dinner invitation with them at their home in Ottawa. Never a shy man, Moberly told Macdonald that he knew exactly where the train should go and that he was the man to do it. In fact he could begin construction within 6 weeks of his return to British Columbia. The boast came with a caveat: "I don't know how many millions you have, but it is going to cost you money to get through those canyons" Moberly had an ego bigger than the mountains and there was only one possible route - his route! He returned to B.C. as District Engineer in charge of the region between Shuswap Lake and the foothills of the Rockies. Moberly was as tough as nails and one of the best axemen in the country, but it would take more than muscles and axes to crack the mountain barrier. Between Shuswap Lake and the foothills sat the impenetrable Selkirk Mountains. Even the Columbia River couldn't penetrate these ramparts. It's forced to flow north for 200 hundred kilometres to go around the northern extent of the Selkirks before turning south towards the U.S. If the mightiest river on the Pacific couldn't crack the mountain rampart, than how could the railway? In fact, Moberly had this all figured out as well. He planned on going around the Selkirks by crossing an old fur trader route over Howse Pass. This would take it through Eagle Pass, around the Selkirks to the north and enter Alberta to the west of the current day Saskatchewan River Crossing and David Thompson Highway. Moberly spent the next 8 months exploring the territory of his proposed line. He also explored the Selkirks to see if there was any possible pass through. After being almost buried by an avalanche, he spent New Year's day of 1872 all alone in a trappers cabin. He wrote in his diary: "I think it...one of the most wretched and dreary places I ever saw...this was the most wretched New Year's Day I ever spent." but as for the Selkirks he continued "I found there was not any practicable pass through the Selkirk Range." He reported his finding to the Chief Surveyor Sandford Fleming. Now did I mention that he had an ego? The thought that Fleming would not agree with his routing never crossed his mind and so he decided to start the work of surveying the Howse Pass right away. After all, better to apologize than ask permission…right? Fleming did agree to a quick trial line through the pass, but Moberly planned for a detailed location survey. He instantly took Fleming's approval to mean that his route was confirmed. As he put it, he read the telegram: "which led me to infer that the line I had taken so many years to explore and discover, and which I was quite confident would be the best to adopt for the proposed transcontinental railroad, would be adopted" After hiring men, hiring pack trains and buying thousands of dollars on supplies, much of which had already been dispatched to places like Eagle Pass, he received a telegram from Fleming telling him that the Yellowhead Pass to the west of Jasper had been chosen instead of Howse Pass. The telegram arrived just 4 hours before his party headed into the wilderness. He was ordered to head north through the Athabasca Pass and to conduct a survey of the Yellowhead Pass, which is the route the Canadian National Railway takes today. Moberly was crushed and actually tried to buy his way out of his contracts, but alas, it was too late. Moberly met with Fleming in the Yellowhead and Fleming was extremely displeased with his excessive spending. Moberly thought Fleming unpatriotic for not using his route. Clearly these two men were not going to get along. Before long, Fleming sent a message taking control of the survey away from Moberly and giving it to someone else. Moberly simply ignored the message and continued working. As he put it: "the instructions conveyed in the letter were too childish to be followed" He would obey orders: "when I could see they were sensible but not otherwise...I went on the survey for business, not to be made a fool of" When Marcus Smith was officially placed in charge of the British Columbia surveys, Moberly left the service. Ironically, some 20 years later, the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway would be hammered in Eagle Pass, right where he predicted so many years ago. One of the great things about much of our western history is that the first-hand journals of many explorers have survived to help keep their stories alive. But we also have to keep in mind that many of these journals were written for their boss. They weren't going to enter: "I saw a grizzly bear and wet my pants". Instead they'll say: "I saw a grizzly and I dropped it from 200 yards with one shot from my Henry rifle". However occasionally we find a journal that was written for more personal reasons. Such is the case of Robert M. Rylatt. Rylatt was one of the surveyors that Moberly had dispatched to Howse Pass. He had a sickly wife and felt that the money from the survey work would help get her the level of care that she needed. His journal was written for his mother and he constantly states that if he ever thought it would be published, he would drop his pen immediately. Rylatt was in charge of the pack trains on the expedition. He signed up for a one year contract, but there was an option to extend it to 2 years - at the railroad's discretion. When he left home in July of 1871, little did he know that he would not return home until June of 1873. Once dispatched, there really was no way to quit. The wilderness was too remote for a lone individual to walk out without the support of the pack trains. Along with Rylatt, Engineer E.C. Gillette was in charge and the party also included 4 surveyors, sixteen axemen, 8 native and Mexican packers and a hunter. Every day Rylatt had to supervise the loading and unloading of 45 pack animals carrying almost 7 tonnes of supplies. About the pack animals Rylatt wrote: "How worried would be any member of the Humane society, could he see the treatment animals in a Pack Train receive, where the animals themselves are only a secondary consideration, the open sores on their backs, from hard and incessant packing, angry and running with humour, over which the Packer, too often, if not closely watched, without washing throws the heavy apparajos, or Pack Saddle, and as the sinch [sic] is tightened the poor beast groans, rears and plunges and not unfrequently sinks down under the pain, only to be whipped again into position." The work was backbreaking. The axemen led the way, hacking through endless numbers of both standing and prostrate trees. Only then would the pack trains continue on. When they met the junction of the Columbia and Blaeberry Rivers, the real work began to cut their way towards Howse Pass. It was about this time that Rylatt first began to feel lonely: "Your sense of being alone in the heart of a city, or even in a village, or within easy distance of fellow beings...gives you no claim to use the term 'alone'. You may have the feeling peculiar to being alone--that is all. Listen sometime when you think you are alone...Can you hear a footfall; a door slam in the distance; a carriage go by? Or the rumble of one...? Can you hear a dog bark? Hare you a cricket on the hearth or even the ticking of a clock...? They reached the pass on October 26, 1871 and the snows of winter quickly signaled that they would need to settle in and wait for spring. Once the snows landed, there would be no mail, pay or new supplies until the next spring. By New Year's Day, tempers were flaring and Rylatt found himself in a standoff with several of the crew that were trying to raid the supplies, and accused Rylatt of hiding the sugar that had ago run out. As they rushed the pantry, he took an axe and cut off three of the fingers of the ring leader. When they returned an hour later, all armed with axes, Rylatt held them off with his Henry rifle. As he wrote: "the roughs of the party are in open mutiny. Growling at their food, cursing me for being out of sugar, all this I care little for...but my pent up feelings have found vent today, and the leader of the roughs will carry my mark to his grave. I have passed through a somewhat exciting scene and don't care to have it repeated" As spring arrived, so did mail, but nothing for Rylatt who was distraught at not knowing if his wife was alive or dead. "We were informed that the white man who undertook to carry down the mail from Wild Horse Creek to Hope last fall, did not reach; and that this spring his body was found somewhere on the lonely route, the mailbag beside him" The mosquitoes were unrelenting as well: "I have smothered my face with mosquito muslin, smeared my hands with bacon grease, but bah! nothing keeps them off, and the heat only melts the grease and sends it beneath my clothing" On May 15, they received word that the Howse Pass route was to be abandoned and that they were to head north. Rylatt also received a long awaited letter when Moberly arrived in camp. In the letter, his bedridden wife begged for him to return but Moberly would not release him from his contract. By August of 1872, the mosquitoes were unrelenting and Rylatt was also beginning to suffer from the effects of scurvy. "My teeth have a feeling of looseness, and my gums are so sore, to touch them with my tongue gives me acute pain; am wondering if it is a touch of Scurvy; it is not very comforting to be sick in the mountains, but to be sick and all alone makes the chills creep down my back. These mountains are inhospitable enough for a man in full vigor." In September, he received three more letters, the last saying: "Oh! Bob, come home, I can't bear it". He was overcome with grief as there was no way he could make his way home to his beloved wife. By October, they were camped at the base of Mounts Hooker and Brown near to Athabasca Pass in present day Jasper National Park. It was here on Oct 19 that Rylatt received a message that simply stated: "Dear Rylatt--The papers state your wife has passed beyond the stream of time. Don't be too cut up, dear old fellow" Three days later, his dog Nip broke through the ice and Rylatt was unable to help as the dog vainly struggled to get out of his icy trap. As he disappeared beneath the ice, Rylatt dropped to his knees and screamed: "Oh God! Must everything be taken from me?" By April, Scurvy was taking its toll on Rylatt: "My mouth is in a dreadful state, the gums being black, the teeth loose, and when pressed against any substance they prick at the roots like needles. At times the gums swell, almost covering the teeth. To chew food is out of the question and so have to bolt it without mastication. My legs also becoming black below the knee...My breath is somewhat offensive and I am troubled with a dry cough. In fact I feel like an old man" With his poor health, he was finally allowed to leave the surveys and return home to an empty house. He left on May 13, 1873. Rylatt's ordeal showed us the things we don't often see in the journals of surveyors and explorers…the hardship, the horror, the loneliness and, in Rylatt's case, the heartbreak. Rylatt's journals are still available for purchase on Amazon.ca. I'll leave a link in the show notes for those that may like to buy a copy. Of all the books I've read on the survey, this one is my favourite because of its brutal honesty. Next week, we'll begin to look at the surveyor that ended up cracking the barrier of the Selkirk Mountains, Major A.B. Rogers. Next up - bird eating deer…say what? Bird-eating Deer While this is a story that comes out of states like South Dakota and Pennsylvania, it's just so unexpected that I thought it might be of interest to listeners of this podcast. It may also be happening right under our noses, but simply not been observed. So often we categorize our wildlife as either carnivore or herbivore depending on what they eat. Deer eat plants and Cougars eat deer. Some animals, like bears and humans get the special title of omnivore or eater of everything. Well it looks like those labels may have been too limiting as scientists have recently discovered that deer are a major predator of songbirds…yes you heard that right, white-tail deer eat birds, in particular ground nesting birds like eastern meadowlarks, sparrows, red-winged blackbirds and others. You can go onto Youtube and find some a number of videos of deer munching on a bird or two but researcher Les Murray placed cameras on 25 different nests in Valley Forge National Historic Park in Pennsylvania. Eight of the 25 nests was beset upon by predators and, as it turned out, the number-one predator was white-tailed deer. White-tails ate all 5 eggs from an eastern meadowlark nest, all but one egg from a field sparrow nest and four 5-day old nestlings from another field sparrow nest. Ok, so deer at a few eggs and nestlings - well they accounted for 38% of the recorded predation events as compared to 25% for fox, and 13% for both raccoons and weasels. Studies had shown that deer do occasionally eat an egg or nestling, but nobody expected that they were such an avid fan of birds. It may have something to do with sheer numbers of deer as opposed to the numbers of fox or raccoons. As songbird populations are shrinking in many areas, this is the first study to indicate that deer may actually play a role in the drop in population. States like Delaware have population densities of 45 deer/square km. That's potentially a lot of deer to hoover up eggs. The first time a bird was discovered in the gut of a deer was in 1970. It was later discovered that birds netted for population studies in Michigan were also being gobbled down by white-tails. Maybe it's time to redefine the word herbivore? Next up solar eclipse time Solar Eclipse coming next month On August 21, parts of North America will get the chance to experience a total solar eclipse. For many sky watchers, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Few people ever get to see a total solar eclipse simply because they are very rare. They take place when the moon lines up perfectly between the Earth and the sun and blocks out all of its light, casting the moons shadow on the Earth. For those of us in the mountain west, we won't get the full-meal-deal, but we should be able to see about an 85% coverage of the sun by the shadow of the moon. This eclipse is unique in that it will travel right across the U.S. from coast to coast - and that hasn't happened since 1918. Globally, partial solar eclipses happen between 2 and 5 times each year, but total eclipses only happen every 12-18 months. While we won't get to see the total eclipse, it will still be a special event. Want to see the TOTAL eclipse, well then it's time for a road show…'shotgun'. Head south to Oregon, Idaho or Montana. The total eclipse will last for just a few minutes and within a 110 kilometre wide band stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. You'll also need to be ready at between 10 am and 12:30 pm Mountain Daylights Savings Time. For those of us that can't do a road trip, it will begin at 10:18 am, hit its maximum at 11:31 am and be finished at 12:48 pm. If you want to learn about the timing where you are, I'll leave a link in the show notes at mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep038 to make sure you don't miss the show (https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2017-august-21) Now don't you be looking directly at it though as you can quickly damage your eyesight. You can buy special eclipse glasses for a few dollars or build a pinhole projector to help you watch it without risking vision damage. I'll have a link to this as well (https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/box-pinhole-projector.html) While we haven't had a many cloudy days this summer, should you just not have luck, you can watch it live on NASA's site by clicking the following link: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-live-stream And with that it's time to wrap this episode up. For links mentioned in this story simply visit www.mountainnaturepodcast.com/ep038 for show notes and links to additional stories.

amazon new year head friends earth england michigan oregon north america pennsylvania eating nasa pass mexican states south carolina animals bears montana studies columbia farewell idaho pacific rogers parks british columbia ottawa delaware south dakota wildlife deer ironically globally macdonald rockies fleming hare packer ode solar eclipse gillette peaks surveys sunlight railways cougars grizzly closures oh god humane eclipses caribou oxfordshire banff nip robert m columbia river okanagan powerline eagle pass grassi scurvy muskoka growling canmore new westminster parks canada revelstoke upper canada moberly jasper national park canadian pacific railway les murray canadian national railway kananaskis dewdney yellowhead alberta environment selkirk mountains quarry lake

027 Bison babies, conservation wins and new transportation options for the mountains

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2017 23:30

Story 1 - First Bison Born in Banff Well, today, I'm able to share several good news stories that makes all the work worth it. While we are constantly being bombarded with bad news, it's always exciting when the hard work of thousands of people has a tangible impact on decisions taking place in the places we love. So let's take a look at the great announcements filling the newswires this week. First on the list has to do with the cutest thing on earth – baby animals. Spring is the time of new life in the mountains. Over the next month we'll begin to see mule and white-tail deer fawns, elk calves, and those oh so cute black and grizzly bear cubs. So what makes this year so special? How about the first bison calf in 140 years to be born in Banff National Park? Now if that's not cool enough, not only is it the first bison in more than a century, but it was born on Earth Day, April 22, 2017. Story 2 - Icefields Trail Stalled Parks Canada has been planning a paved bike path running all the way from Jasper to the Columbia Icefields, and eventually all the way to Lake Louise and possibly Banff. This 86.4 million dollar trail has been hugely unpopular by conservationists, researchers, and as was revealed recently, Parks Canada's own scientists. Freedom of Information crusader, Ken Rubin peeled back the curtain of secrecy and has been revealing the long trail of public documents and emails that led up to the decision to build this trail. One of the most telling signs was the fact that Parks Canada actually posted a tender for engineering firms to begin the design of the actual trail. This is especially troubling since the trail is not even through the public consultation phase and has not been given any official go-ahead from the powers that be. Well it seems that the overwhelmingly negative response to this tender has finally caused Parks Canada to pay attention. This week, the tender was withdrawn. According to a story in the Fitzhugh Newspaper, Minister McKenna's press secretary, Marie-Pascale Des Rosiers said: "This was determined to be premature given that the agency is currently focused on the consultation process and the environmental assessment for the proposed project". Story 3 - Big Wins in Canmore's Wildlife Corridor Battle This has been a week of very good news in Canmore particularly in terms of the struggle to designate the last critical wildlife corridor on the south side of the Bow River valley. On April 26th, Alberta Environment and Parks announced that they will not be making a decision on the Three Sisters Mountain Village and Smith Creek Wildlife Corridors for at least another four to eight weeks. The very next day, Three Sisters withdrew from consideration, its area structure plan for its Smith Creek Development until the provincial government renders it's decision on the corridors. They did move forward with their submission for first reading of the Stewart Creek Village Centre area structure plan. But in a third blow to the developer, on May 2nd Canmore Town Council unanimously rejected Three Sisters asp for its village Centre development. Story 4 - Anglers Beware If you're one of the many anglers that love to cast a fly in the Bow River to test your luck against the prevalent trout population, you'll want to pay attention to this story. Beginning on April 1, the entire stretch of the Bow River from its headwaters at Bow Lake in Banff National Park to the Bassano Reservoir is now catch and release only. And speaking of Whirling Disease, it has now been confirmed in the entire Oldman River watershed as well. The disease now affects rivers throughout the western boundary of Alberta from Bow Lake south to the Montana Border and Waterton Lakes National Park. Despite this recent report, the Oldman River system will not see any changes to fish regulations at this time. Story 5 - Updates on Transportation and Parking for Banff In the past, it has been difficult to get to and from the mountains without a vehicle. There are a number of airport shuttle companies and a few regularly scheduled buses, but not really a proper transit system connecting Calgary with Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise. This summer, it looks like a number of players are combining to help solve this problem. One of the first stories was a new transit service between Calgary, Cochrane, Canmore and Banff. The service will run on weekends and holidays, beginning in mid-June and ending on Labour Day. The buses will be run by the Calgary Regional Partnership and will also allow valley residents to use the buses to travel to Calgary for the day. The cost of the buses will be $10 each way per person. The program would dedicate 3 buses to do approximately 13 round trips per day. The first bus will arrive in Banff around 8:30 am and the last one would leave Banff approximately 10:30 pm. The buses will pick-up and drop-off at the Crowfoot LRT Station in Calgary. A few morning and evening trips will pick-up and drop-off in Okotoks, Somerset-Bridlewood in South Calgary. There will also be additional bus service this summer between Banff and Lake Louise, as well as the Lake Minnewanka Loop. Both of these buses are also intended to encourage people to park their cars and reduce some of the strain on the busy road systems. On sunny summer days, the highway interchange at Lake Louise is completely closed as the roads become overwhelmed by the number of cars that want to visit. And finally some great news for traffic in and around Banff Townsite. On April 25th, Karen Sorensen, Mayor of Banff announce a new transportation hub and 900 stall parking area to be developed adjacent to the Banff train station.

babies freedom spring story mayors options parks mountains transportation calgary conservation earth day parking big wins bison cochrane banff labour day three sisters canmore lake louise parks canada banff national park okotoks bow river ken rubin alberta environment waterton lakes national park columbia icefields

024 Bow Valley Wildlife Corridors vs Developers

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2017 26:58

This episode takes an in-depth look at the developments currently threatening to close off the last wildlife corridors moving through the Bow River Valley at Canmore. These developments include the Three Sisters and Smith Creek Developments, as well as the proposed development and gondola at Silvertip. http://traffic.libsyn.com/mountainnature/Ep024_Mountain_Nature_and_Culture_Podcast.mp3 Story 1 - Development Chokes off Wildlife Corridors Well, it's here - the moment that most Canmore locals have been dreading for decades - the day where we finally have to decide whether we want the Bow River Valley to have functional wildlife corridors or not. I first moved into Canmore in 1987 when there were only around 3,500 people that called this former coal mining town home. In 1988, Canmore hosted the Cross-country ski and Biathlon events for the Calgary Winter Olympic Games and suddenly, a billion people were introduced to this pristine mountain town. Since that time, the growth has been increasing exponentially. In 2016, the Canmore's official population was just shy of 14,000. Today, the town and province are faced with the task of deciding the future of three megadevelopments within the townsite. When these developments are completed, the population will swell to 34,000 in just a few years. Even more importantly though, these developments threaten to choke off the last few viable wildlife movement corridors in the Bow River Valley. This valley is significant on a continental level as part of the web of connecting corridors allowing wildlife to move through the entire Yellowstone to Yukon corridor. Towns like Canmore have the potential to pinch off these corridors, forcing wildlife onto steeper and steeper terrain and reducing the opportunities to safely move through the area. With developments currently planned for BOTH sides of the valley at the moment, protecting corridors becomes even more essential. Wildlife corridors only work if the animals using them feel safe and confident while they are traversing them. The longer the corridor, the wider it needs to be. Current guidelines specify a corridor of at least 450 m (1,500 feet) wide on a slope that does not exceed 25 degrees. Steep slopes make it more difficult for animals to travel and reduces the effectiveness of any corridor. However, hard and fast rules don't work in reality. Think about walking out of a shopping centre at midnight and having to walk to your car. If your car is in the middle of a well-lit parking lot with no obstacles blocking your view, you'll likely feel very confident. However, if your car is at the end of a long narrow alley obstructed by dumpsters, than you will likely have a very different feeling when it comes to walking towards your car. Wildlife corridors connect patches of habitat. The longer the corridor, the wider it needs to be. The corridor in Canmore is some 8km long. Previous studies recommended that a corridor that long should be at least 800 m wide. We also have to remember that we don't live on an island. Corridors are not just a pathway for animals to move, but routes through which vital genetic diversity also moves. When we talk about wildlife, connectivity is critical and animal movement simply doesn't happen if the corridor is too narrow, too busy or too steep. If we look at the history of grizzly bears over the past 150 years, they originally ranged from Mexico to the Yukon and Alaska, and eastward across much of Canada and the Northwest Territories. As more and more people settled the landscape, corridors got pinched off and disconnected populations became islands. In every case, those island populations eventually disappeared with one exception - Yellowstone. Today the map of grizzly bear populations also has a narrow peninsula and it runs right through the Bow River Valley. By not protecting the free movement of animals like grizzly bears, we risk helping to close another pinch point which could see many of the southern populations of grizzlies struggle to remain viable. This corridor is the very last to be negotiated through the Bow Valley. To the east and west, wildlife corridors are already protected within a variety of national and provincial parks. Much of the western portions of the valley already have established corridors. What remains to be defined are the eastern portions of the corridor through the Three Sisters and Smith Creek developments. Let's look at the challenges that wildlife must already negotiate as they approach this valley from the west. If you're grizzly 148 following the lower slopes of Mount Rundle and looking to head towards the Wind Valley or Skogan Pass, your first obstacle will be the labyrinth of trails that make up Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park. Depending on how busy the trails are, you may find yourself pushed up the slopes of Mount Rundle to bypass mountain bikers rapidly wending the twists and turns of the trail system. Riding these trails requires vigilance as bears also take advantage of these movement corridors. Mountain bikes move fast and quiet and there is always the risk of a close encounter. Once 148 bypasses the Nordic Centre, she hits her next roadblock - the Rundle Forebay. This linear canal completely blocks all movement east-west through the valley. 148's only option is to head towards Spray Lakes and eventually the wildlife bridge at the head of the valley. Originally, as part of the G8 legacy, the wildlife crossing was supposed to be much lower on the forebay but, as is often the case, the cost of bridging this wider section was considered too great. Instead, the current bridge sits less than a few metres from the bridge designed for hikers and mountain bikers. Once clear of the forebay, she passes Quarry Lake and the dog park with its huge numbers of off-leash dogs - many of which illegally venture beyond the boundaries of the off-leash area. Next up is the Peaks of Grassi subdivision. As a former resident of the Peaks, bears like 148 are constantly having to negotiate the many homes in this development. Finally, after passing that final house, 148 will enter the currently approved corridor. This should have been her final challenge on her journey towards Skogan Pass and the Wind Valley. Unfortunately, as we mentioned on episode 22, the wildlife corridor is crowded with extensive human use and high numbers of illegally off-leash dogs. Any agreements on corridors has to include increased enforcement of human use within designated corridors. These areas are already off-limits to human use but a lack of enforcement has led to more people than animals using the corridors - and unfortunately, many of those people have off leash dogs. There is also little in the way of signage to warn people that they are entering areas that are closed for wildlife usage. Any program to protect these corridors must start with extensive signage making it impossible to 'accidentally' find yourself in a closed area. Banff National Park has followed this route and it is very difficult to wander into a closed area without seeing a very clear sign indicating that entry is forbidden. Now back to bear 148…After running the gauntlet of people and dogs, she approaches the east end of the valley and her final hurdle. Bringing us to the current debate in terms of Three Sisters and Smith Creek. This is where she'll either be forced upslope to avoid even more development…or not. This is where she, along with wolves, cougars, wolverine, lynx, and bobcats will either make it through the valley…or not. Every obstacle to movement increases the likelihood of animals deciding that it is simply not worth the endless challenges to pass through. This is the point that we'll have closed the last corridor off and rendered the last 20 years of negotiations towards keeping the area viable moot. So let's take a closer look at the current proposals. The most pressing issue in terms of timeliness is the pending approval of Quantum Place Development's Stewart and Smith Creek proposals. There's only a very short time to make your voice heard on this issue. As I record this on April 10, 2016, there are less than 10 days to let your provincial and local politicians know that you stand for wildlife and that development must not come at the expense of working corridors. If you want to get a really great look at how development and wildlife corridors intersect, check out a video that I've linked to in the show notes. It's dated from 2013 and is hosted on the Yellowstone to Yukon website. It's narrated by Karsten Heuer who's one of the best-known conservationists in the valley. Most recently, he was in charge of the bison re-introduction program in Banff National Park. You can view the video below: https://vimeo.com/61105253 Because wildlife corridors have been a contentious issue in this valley for decades, there is a wealth of scientific research detailing the historic use of the valley by wildlife. Three Sisters would like you to think that wildlife use in the proposed corridor would be unaffected by their development and that their corridor would be equally effective to other proposals. By looking at the historic use of the valley by grizzly bears and wolves, it is clear that the preference of these animals is for flat, low elevation habitat. By overlaying grizzly and wolf movements from the 1990s and early 2000s on an aerial image of the valley, it's instantly evident that prior to development, wildlife definitely preferred areas that have since been made unavailable due to increased housing development. Historic studies show a great deal of use the currently unfinished golf course. While it was not built at the time, it shows a bias towards low elevation, flat portions of the valley. Currently, it is listed as a conservation easement, but truly should be part of the wildlife corridor. The proposed Smith Creek corridor shows almost no historic use by wolves or bears. In fact, all of the historic use was in areas that are now scheduled to be developed as part of the Smith Creek site 7 development. What does that mean for wildlife using the proposed corridor? Up you go. This Smith Creek corridor has lots of steep terrains that simply doesn't work as a corridor. In a 2010 report on wildlife movement through the valley, it was found that cougars spend 95% of their time on slopes less than 30°, wolves on slopes less than 21.3°, lynx 23.4° and deer 3.7°. It's obvious that animals look for slopes that don't exceed an average incline of 25°. If you look at an aerial photograph of the proposed corridor, and then overlay slopes in excess of 25°, then most of the corridor to the east of Smith Creek becomes completely unusable. It's simply too steep to be considered viable. There is also a fair amount of steep terrain impinging on the unfinished golf course which forces animals downslope towards the developed areas of the valley. If we agree that a corridor that is over 8 km long should be at least 800m wide, this would take the Smith Creek corridor almost right down to the Trans Canada Highway. When the Stewart and Smith Creek developments are completed, it will almost double the population of Canmore, adding another 10,000 residents to the census. Ironically, the same company that is currently assisting Quantum Place Developments to push through this development is also the same company that reported in 2002 that: "the original along-valley corridor design was based on a uniform width of 450m and was placed on slopes above the proposed development with little regard for potential pinch points". They also went on to say "The design is NOT recommended given our increased knowledge of wildlife movements and proper corridor design" In this same report, they came up with a compromise. Instead of an 800m corridor, they would settle on 635 meters plus a buffer of the unfinished golf course fairways. Ironically, this is very similar to the proposal that organizations like the Yellowstone to Yukon would like to see happen. Yellowstone to Yukon has proposed a true 450m corridor that would ensure that the corridor remains below 25°. Experts agree that it should be as wide as 850 to 1000m for a corridor of this length. The 450m corridor currently proposed by Three Sisters does not come close to a workable solution. Corridors also need to follow a fairly straight line because that's how animals travel. They may take detours and zig zag as they move, but having a straight corridor has been shown to be more effective. As it is, most of the proposed development already lies within the landscapes that wildlife prefers to be. Y2Y's proposed line would move the upper boundary of the corridor downslope to make sure there was a 450m corridor that remains in good terrain. When it comes to the south corridor, this is our last chance. There won't be any future opportunities to undo the decisions made in the valley today. Decisions we make here also affect wildlife populations both to the south and north - especially if we cut off the ability of key species to move freely. So what can you do? Visit the show notes for this episode for a list of ways you can directly engage with decision-makers before it is too late. I'll have links, email addresses and ways that you can make your voice heard at this critical time. Three sites that are very helpful include: http://www.bowvalleyengage.com www.canmorecommons.com as well as a petition on change.org. Change.org Corridor Petition Most importantly, write a letter to: Roger Ramcharita, Executive Director, Environment and Parks South Saskatchewan Region. He is the final arbiter of the corridor design through the Three Sisters Development. His email address is: AEP.wildlifecorridor@gov.ab.ca cc: Cam Westhead, MLA, Banff - Cochrane: banff.cochrane@assembly.ab.ca cc: Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks: AEP.minister@gov.ab.ca In your letter, be firm in your desire to see a corridor no less than 450m wide on slopes less than 25 degrees. This is NOT to be determined by the developer but by an independent assessment. While an 800-metre width would be better, there should be no area less than 450m and the current proposals allow too much steep terrain to be considered an effective corridor, especially in the area of the undeveloped golf course and the Smith Creek Corridor. This valley is significant on a continental scale as a key connecting corridor for the entire Yellowstone to Yukon ecosystem. We cannot afford to lose any threads in this interconnected corridor. Finally, ask for a full cumulative impact assessment that will take into consideration ALL of the proposed developments in the valley including Stewart and Smith Creek, Silvertip and Dead Man's Flats. Don't forget to share this with your social network. Urge your friends to reach out to the decision makers right away. The clock is ticking out. Next up…gondolas and gambling Story 2 – Silvertip Finally, let's look at the proposed development at Silvertip on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway. This single development would add 3,000 residential units to the community along with a 300,000 square foot conference centre, 1,300 additional hotel rooms, a casino and a gondola ascending to the old teahouse site on Mount Lady Macdonald. The development would also squeeze off one of the two principal wildlife corridors in the Bow Valley. This valley is already the most highly developed landscape where grizzlies are still able to survive. By adding a gondola that traverses the wildlife corridor within Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, we risk adding thousands of more visitors to this critical movement corridor. The developer would like you to believe that since the gondola will quietly ascend from high above the animals that it will have little impact. However, by looking at Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff National park, you can get a much clearer picture of what will likely take place here. Once the gondola is built, the number of trail users walking the trail is going to increase to numbers vastly larger than today. With a trail that takes you up to a gondola, you can easily descend down at the end of the hike. Sulphur Mountain Trail in Banff is a steady stream of ill-equipped walkers wearing flip-flops and trainers. Most of them don't have any water, a backpack with extra clothing or even bear spray. Do we really want to attract this brand of hiker to wander into an active wildlife corridor without the necessary safety equipment or the knowledge of how to stay safe in bear country? Vancouver's Grouse Grind is a classic example where ill-equipped hikers head onto a challenging trail resulting in rescues, searches and in some cases deaths. The biggest component of this development is its 300,000 square foot conference centre. To put this into a simple context, it's the equivalent size of combining both the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary AND the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton! Do we really need a facility of this size in Canmore? A few weeks ago, the developer, Guy Turcotte hosted a public open house to help locals better understand the development. During his presentation, he touted historic studies indicating that the wildlife corridors showed 'little' impact from the Silvertip development. To support his position, he quoted a study by biologist Paul Pacquette published more than 15 years ago. What he doesn't realize is that Paul Paquette, just this past summer, described the Bow Valley somewhat differently. In his words: “It’s a wildlife ghetto. People need to understand, the Bow Valley has two townsites that are growing, two highways, a corridor for high transmission power lines, dams, golf courses, ski hills … They’ve got all that in the valley, so you can imagine the responses for the wolves and wildlife – it’s a ghetto for them and they’re trying to survive in there.” This is not the voice of a biologist supporting development, or the developers approach to wildlife corridors. If you're going to invoke the word of a respected scientist, you might want to find out his current opinion. Turcotte also repeatedly stressed a few critical aspects of the development: First, he needs the casino and the gondola to provide a steady flow of cash to satisfy billion dollar investors. He also insisted that the entire development has to be built in a single stage in order to put an entire Whistler-style development on the market with little delay, again so he can maximize returns to investors. There are still some major flaws in his current plans. First, wildland parks prohibit developing facilities such as gondolas. He is hoping to take advantage of a small leasehold excluded from the park boundaries. This is the site of a long-abandoned helicopter teahouse, however the scale of his development would dramatically exceed its outer dimensions. He also needs permits for all of the towers and other structures within the park that would be necessary to support a gondola, and these would also violate the rules of a wildland park. We also need to take a province-wide look at this. Making an exception is this park creates a precedent that puts all the other 33 Wildland Provincial Parks at risk. Another casino in Alberta today is nothing exciting - it's just another casino. The province is crawling with them. He'll be competing with 24 other casinos in the province. It's a bit of fluff to tickle the wallets of investors From a conservation standpoint, the fact that the whole enchilada has to be developed in one step could just be his Achilles heel. If opponents to this development can delay any single aspect, then they can help derail the entire development. At the presentation, the room was full of people and not one of them seemed to be supporting the project. When you get a moment, take a drive up the Silvertip road. It's a narrow winding road not nearly built to handle the amount of traffic that would result from this scale of Rocky Mountain terraforming. I will definitely be putting pressure on Alberta Environment and Parks. If we can stop the gondola, we can help to stem the flow of cash and hopefully make a development like this far less attractive to investors. At the very least, it will dramatically reduce the human use in the existing corridor if there is not the siren song of a gondola calling tourists up the steep slopes of Mount Lady Macdonald. I hope that I never see the day that Silvertip has to rebrand itself after playing a role in forcing grizzly bears to abandon the valley. As a community, we need to join together to make sure that the valley we choose is one which we want our grandchildren to be proud to call home. It's time to draw a line and say enough is enough.

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003 Becoming a Digital-First Communications Team: Jennifer Mitok

IABC Edmonton Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2016 13:49

IABC Edmonton Past President, Marvin Polis, interviews presenters at the Digital Strategy Conference, hosted by IABC Edmonton, CPRS Edmonton and nForm. Jennifer Mitok was one of the presenters for the session, Becoming a Digital-First Communications Team. The panel of senior practitioners talked about the challenges, pitfalls and rewards of leading their organizations into the digital age. Jennifer Mitok is an Assistant Director of Communications with Alberta Environment and Parks where she oversees a team of digital content, technology and social media specialists. Jennifer’s professional background includes experience in web and mobile app development, communications and social media strategy and most recently developing experience in online engagement. Environment and Parks has recently invested in an online engagement platform for citizen engagement, which will allow government to further engage with citizens and stakeholders on Alberta’s numerous environmental issues. Her previous work experience includes Alberta Culture and Tourism, the Alberta Public Affairs Bureau, NAIT and private sector. Jennifer holds a BA in Political Science and Economics and an MA in Communications and Technology from the University of Alberta.

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Encore: Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry

Go Green Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2016 56:50

Andrew Nikiforuk's new book, Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry, is the shocking story of an oil and gas industry insider's determined stand to hold government and industry legally accountable for the tremendous damage caused by fracking. When Jessica Ernst's well water turned into a flammable broth that even her dogs refused to drink, the biologist and long-time oil patch consultant discovered that energy giant Encana had secretly fracked hundreds of gas wells around her home, piercing her community's drinking water aquifer. Since then, her ongoing lawsuit against Encana, Alberta Environment, and the Energy Resources Conservation Board has made her a folk hero in many places worldwide where fracking is underway or is being contemplated. Slick Water raises dramatic questions about the role of Big Oil in government, society's obsession with rapidly depleting supplies of unconventional oil and gas, and the future of civil society.

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"Slick Water" author Andrew Nikiforuk's saga of Fracking and Citizen Courage

Earthworms

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2015 32:46

Canadian biologist Jessica Ernst worked in the oil and gas industry. When her well water became a flammable stew, she embarked on a fact-finding and legal campaign, now into a second decade, that's about to go to the Supreme Court. Her opponents: corporate fossil fuel giant Encana, the agency Alberta Environment, and the Energy Resources Conservation Board. At issue: just oversight of public resources (water!) and the accountability of both government and industry. Earthworms podcast guest Andrew Nikiforuk tells this complex story in his new book Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry (2015, Greystone Books, published in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation). Nikiforuk, a Canadian journalist, is a recipient of the prestigious Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award. He weaves a compelling report of Jessica Ernst's research and extraordinary citizen activism with the science of fracking and its wake of human and environmental repercussions. The book is a page-turner. This conversation is an intelligent, compelling must-hear. Music: Public Enemy Number One, recorded at KDHX by the Godfathers.

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Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry

Go Green Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2015 56:50

Andrew Nikiforuk's new book, Slick Water: Fracking and One Insider's Stand Against the World's Most Powerful Industry, is the shocking story of an oil and gas industry insider's determined stand to hold government and industry legally accountable for the tremendous damage caused by fracking. When Jessica Ernst's well water turned into a flammable broth that even her dogs refused to drink, the biologist and long-time oil patch consultant discovered that energy giant Encana had secretly fracked hundreds of gas wells around her home, piercing her community's drinking water aquifer. Since then, her ongoing lawsuit against Encana, Alberta Environment, and the Energy Resources Conservation Board has made her a folk hero in many places worldwide where fracking is underway or is being contemplated. Slick Water raises dramatic questions about the role of Big Oil in government, society's obsession with rapidly depleting supplies of unconventional oil and gas, and the future of civil society.

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Characterization of the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor Waterscape

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2010 6:32

Alberta Geological Survey and Alberta Environment partnered to map the nonsaline groundwater resources of Alberta, starting in the Edmonton-Calgary corridor. This podcast is on the progress of the project.

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Characterization of the Edmonton-Calgary Corridor Waterscape

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2010 6:32

Alberta Geological Survey and Alberta Environment partnered to map the nonsaline groundwater resources of Alberta, starting in the Edmonton-Calgary corridor. This podcast is on the progress of the project.

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Oil Sands and Environmental Management (Part 2 Q&A)

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2009 25:41

Our newspapers are full of stories that the development of the oil sands is forging ahead without regard to the environmental impact on the immediate area or the consequences to the world as a whole. What rules and regulations are in place to protect the environment and are they adequate? Alberta Environment is charged with environmental oversight in our province and Shannon Flint will discuss its ongoing role in oil sands development and production. Actions taken to limit adverse effects on land, water, air and biodiversity will be discussed in the context of the totality of those assets in the region. Environmental protection regulations and practices that have been established over the years will be identified. The evolving use of the resource through the coming decades to include continuing restoration of affected land areas to an ecologically productive state is an important goal. Speaker: Shannon Flint Shannon Flint is Executive Director of Strategic Policy and Innovation with the Oil Sands Environmental Management Division of Alberta Environment. Prior to joining the Division, Shannon played a key role in bringing forward the Province''s Climate Change and Emissions Management Act and associated regulations. She has held previous positions in government looking at trade policy, royalty policy and revenue forecasting. She has also worked in the research area heading up the Carbon and Energy Management unit at the Alberta Research Council. She holds a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge.

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Balancing the Demands on Our Scarce Water Resources (Part 2 Q&A)

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2008 23:28

Alberta continues to experience rapid economic growth, particularly in the southern part of the province. The demands of that growth on the available water supply are becoming exceedingly difficult to manage. Public demands for new housing sub-divisions, commercial, agricultural and industrial development all require water. These competing demands have become even more prevalent now that most river basins in Southern Alberta are closed to the additional use of water. Yet, economic growth is dependant upon available water supplies, so balancing the demands on this resource is essential. Kathleen Murphy will discuss how we balance the demand with the available water supplies. She will discuss the tools in legislation for the movement of water within basins, including the water allocation transfer process and the South Saskatchewan River Basin Management Plan. Speaker: Kathleen Murphy P. Eng. Kathleen Murphy is the Water Approvals Team Leader for Alberta Environment in Lethbridge, Alberta. As a Professional Engineer with Alberta Environment for 25 years she leads the team that is responsible for the management of all water licenses and approvals under the Water Act in the Oldman, Milk and South Saskatchewan River Basins. Her team also manages the approvals for municipal drinking water and waste water systems for Southern Alberta under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. Moderator: Alderman Barbara Lacey M.D. DATE: Thursday, May 29, 2008 TIME: Noon – 1:30 p.m. LOCATION: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) COST: $10.00 (includes lunch)

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New Groundwater Mapping and Inventory Program Launched at AGS

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2007 4:33

A new groundwater mapping program has been launched at AGS. In partnership with Alberta Environment, this program will fill the need for modern mapping and groundwater inventory information in Alberta.

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New Groundwater Mapping and Inventory Program Launched at AGS