The Waldron Grazing Co-operative and the Nature Conservancy of Canada are partnering to save the historic Bob Creek Ranch. This land can be seen from the Cowboy Trail, along Highway 22.
“As you near the Old Man River, there’s a grassy basin, and it’s part of a grazing co-op owned by a group of ranchers called the Waldron Grazing Co-operative,” said Larry Simpson, senior advisor to the Alberta region of the Nature Conservancy of Canada
In 1999, the Bob Creek Wildland Park was created thanks to British Petroleum, a company which donated 2,900 acres of their mineral interests to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to create the park. The park was about 70,000 acres.
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In 2013, the Nature Conservancy of Canada entered into an agreement with the Waldron Grazing Co-operative to preserve the 13,000-acre Waldron Ranch.
Simpson said the piece of land at that time was the largest conservation easement in Canadian history. The Waldron Grazing Co-operative, possibly the largest grazing co-op in North America, used some of the money paid to them by the Nature Conservancy of Canada to buy the King Ranch.
“The last piece is the Bob Creek Ranch,” said Simpson. The ranch connects with miles of riverfront on the Old Man River and is bordered on two sides by the Bob Creek Wildland Park. The ranch is more than 2,400 acres.
The first phase of the project is done, and the groups are moving on to the second phase.
Conserving it will create a continuous land block of over 100,000 acres of conserved and protected lands within the headwaters of the South Saskatchewan watershed.
“When you put them all together, it creates connectivity between the Rocky Mountains and a forest reserve called the Porcupine Hills Forest Reserve. It creates 20 miles of connectivity in between two big blocks of land that are frequented by all kinds of wildlife and all kinds of people,” said Simpson.
When the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Waldron Grazing Co-operative put a conservation easement on the land, it does not mean that the Nature Conservancy of Canada owns it.
“It means they (the Waldron Grazing Co-op) still own it, but they have agreed to register restrictions on the title of their land, that they won’t subdivide the land, they won’t cultivate it, but they will still own it,” said Simpson.
The land can still be used for grazing and sold if future owners do not subdivide it or break it up in any way.
The Bob Creek Ranch was purchased by the Waldron Grazing Co-operative about two and a half years ago.
“We are looking to preserve this land so it can’t be developed. It can stay in the state that we’ve acquired it in, and it will be forever undeveloped and uncultivated and grazing cattle,” said Kim Wachtler, a member of the board of directors of the Waldron Grazing Co-operative and a fourth-generation rancher at Burke Creek Ranch.
“It’s important for people to know that we’re using cattle to keep these landscapes intact,” said Wachtler.
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Negotiations to acquire the first piece of the Bob Creek Ranch began in 2021, and the land was acquired in 2022, said Wachtler. The Waldron Grazing Co-operative entered negotiations immediately with the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
“It took a while for them to get their funds together and go through terms to be worked out,” said Wachtler.
The conservation easement on the Bob Creek Ranch has been done in two phases. The first part of the conservation easement on the Bob Creek Ranch was finalized in May 2025. Wachtler said the second phase has acreages that are a bit different and there is more waterfront on the second piece.
The Waldron Grazing Co-operative was created in 1962 and took over a private ranch at that time. Since then, the co-operative has brought little pieces of land and attached them onto the ranch. There are currently 80 ranching families involved with the co-operative.
“As the shareholders, we find a lot more economies of scale. We can do things as a group that we couldn’t do as individual ranchers,” said Wachtler.
Both Simpson and Wachtler agree the Bob Creek Ranch is a unique area that can also be used for hiking, as well as grazing.
Wachtler said the area is very diverse and contains ecologically sensitive grasslands. Many species of risk pass through the land, including black bears, grizzly bears, moose and large herds of elk.
“There are different species at risk that they’re seeing out there right now. Some of these are things that you wouldn’t be so aware of, like leopard salamanders and different kinds of bats,” said Watchler. MULTISAR, an organization that collaborates with partners throughout Alberta to work towards conserving species at risk in the province, is currently doing a study on the land.
“They’re out there right now, assessing the range health and doing a wildlife species count and looking at the riparian areas,” she said.
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Simpson said the area has an interesting mix of wildlife that you would find on the Prairies as well as the Rocky Mountains.
“Part of the Bob Creek Ranch is part of the Bob Creek Wildland Park, and it’s the largest block of uneroded montane. It’s not mountain, it’s just in between,” said Simpson.
There are big ridges, with partial forest with lots of open spaces.
Simpson said the area was Napi’s playground. Napi is a trickster figure in Blackfoot culture.
The Nature Conservancy of Canda is seeking support to help fund the second phase of the conservation easement and complete the Bob Creek Ranch project. When the second section of the Bob Creek Ranch is preserved, three quarters of a section will be added to the conservation easement.
“That’s going to happen here, this fall,” said Simpson.
“And so we need to raise $100,000 for that as well.”
