Reading Time: < 1 minute Birds Canada has produced a 69-page guide to help landowners learn more about financial incentive programs available to preserve, enhance, or restore grasslands and important prairie habitats. The guide outlines available programs, including ones available in Alberta. Some offer funding for projects while others offer assistance in protecting habitat and species that rely on grasslands. […] Read more
Grasslands Conservation Guide available
U.S. transport regulators reject ’emotional support animal’ status
Service dog status still protected; 'support' goats, turkeys, others up to airlines
Washington | Reuters — Only trained dogs qualify as service animals on U.S. airlines, as regulators rejected requests to extend legal protections to miniature horses, pigs, turkeys and other species, under final U.S. Transportation Department rules issued Wednesday. Airlines can still choose which other species to allow on board, but the rules issued on Wednesday […] Read more
New livestock transport rules include grace period for all sectors
Enforcement of new federal rules for livestock transport, due to take effect Feb. 20, will focus on handler education and awareness for the first two years — and across all affected livestock species, not just cattle. The now-amended Humane Transportation of Animals regulations are meant to focus on the time frames during which animals are […] Read more
Zoo takes steps to save beloved, but highly endangered, Prairie bird
Reading Time: 4 minutes Many rural landowners in their elder years may remember the odd and captivating sound made by greater sage grouse males as they courted females. But the once-common sound — variously described as a soft booming, burbling or popping — has been rarely heard for decades as the greater sage grouse population fell to fewer than […] Read more
North Dakota still on lookout for Palmer amaranth
CNS Canada –– Officials in North Dakota continue to hunt down suspicious plants in a bid to keep the aggressive weed Palmer amaranth from establishing there. Palmer amaranth, a pigweed species, made its first confirmed appearance in North Dakota last month, in a soybean field in McIntosh County, in the south-central area of the state. […] Read more
Christmas Bird Count set to begin
Annual citizen science project runs from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5
Reading Time: < 1 minute It is not uncommon for rough-legged hawks to stay north during the winter months, while most hawks migrate south. This fellow in the photo above may just end up being part of the annual Christmas Bird Count. Started in 1900, the count is North America’s longest-running citizen science project with volunteers collecting data in more […] Read more
U of S research reveals controversial insecticides are toxic to songbirds
Saskatoon – Research at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) has linked the use of insecticides to serious health issues in songbirds. “Studies on the risks of neonicotinoids have often focused on bees that have been experiencing population declines. However, it is not just bees that are being affected by these insecticides,” said Christy […] Read more
Fall migration brings threat of avian flu
Reading Time: < 1 minute Small flock producers are being warned to be on guard against avian influenza during the fall migration of ducks and geese, which can carry the contagious viral disease. Put a wire on top of pens to prevent direct contact, treat dugout water, and watch for signs of infection, said Dr. Colleen Christianson, a provincial veterinary […] Read more
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