Reading Time: 3 minutes The Municipal District of Taber in southern Alberta remains at a political crossroads, weighing the interests of generating revenue for public services with conserving native grasslands.
Conservation groups enter grazing lease debate
Five Alberta groups ask for halt of proposed project to convert native grasslands to irrigation
Alberta invests $1.3 million in rangeland research
Alberta’s Rangeland Sustainability Program helps research organizations do their own research to improve grasslands
Reading Time: 5 minutes Alberta’s government is investing $1.3 million to strengthen the health,biodiversity and resilience of the province’s rangelands through the Rangeland Sustainability Program.
Saving southern Alberta’s Bob Creek Ranch
Bob Creek Ranch around the Cowboy Trail in process of being conserved by the Waldron Grazing Co-op and the Nature Conservancy of Canada
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Waldron Grazing Co-op and the Nature Conservancy of Canada are working towards the conservation of the Bob Creek Ranch around the Cowboy Trail in southern Alberta.
Alberta announces $10 million to land conservation programs
The provincial government recently announced two conservation programs: the Private Land Conservation Program andEcosystems Grant Program
Reading Time: < 1 minute The provincial government recently announced two conservation programs: the Private Land Conservation Program and Ecosystems Grant Program.
Largest fescue ranch on Earth preserved
Record-setting conservation easement protects McIntyre Ranch in perpetuity
Reading Time: 3 minutes After years of planning and fundraising, the Nature Conservancy of Canada has completed a successful campaign to conserve the McIntyre Ranch. Located near the Milk River Ridge 40 miles south of Lethbridge, the 22,500-hectare ranch is the largest conservation easement in Alberta. “It’s the largest piece of fescue grasslands remaining on the planet. It’s a […] Read more
Alberta ranch to be largest Canadian conservation project ever
Going big: McIntyre Ranch south of Lethbridge is one of the biggest tracts of privately owned grassland in North America
Reading Time: 4 minutes A historic southern Alberta ranch is set to become the largest-ever conservation project in Canada. The McIntyre Ranch, south of Lethbridge, is a 54,000-acre (22,000-hectare) ranch started in 1894 and is one of the largest private landholdings in Canada. It’s owned by the Thrall family, who are partnering up with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and […] Read more
Yarrow Project extends grassland preservation
Area will rely on cattle to replace the ecosystem services of bison, Nature Conservancy of Canada says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta has a new area of preserved natural grassland right outside Waterton Lakes National Park. Dubbed the Yarrow project, it comprises 150,000 acres. “It really is one of the most unique and incredible properties I’ve ever personally been to,” said Jeremy Hogan, director of prairie grassland with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. He said the […] Read more
Threatened rangelands will be in the global spotlight in 2026
The UN’s international year will highlight both the threat and ways to preserve this critical habitat
Reading Time: 3 minutes Peas, lentils and beans got a big boost in their public profile thanks to the UN’s International Year of Pulses in 2016 and soon rangelands will get their turn in the spotlight. While “it’s tough to get people excited” about an event that’s still three years away, the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists […] Read more
Sparing grassland from the plow — and from housing developments
A landowner-led group has more than 60 conservation easements covering about 40,000 acres of prime native grassland, foothills and riparian areas
Reading Time: 4 minutes A southern Alberta organization is having success with conservation agreements to keep the environment and cattle ranching intact. “The easement is very pro-grazing and ranching,” said Justin Thompson, executive director of the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society (SALTS). “There’s not a lot of restrictions around the actual operation. What we want to avoid is those […] Read more
Foothills ranchers share rules for water resiliency
Keep it simple: Riparian areas play an outsized role in vital watersheds, and caring for them isn’t complicated
Reading Time: 5 minutes The Eastern Slopes are what many people picture when they think of Alberta — a sweeping landscape of grass and rolling hills giving way to forests and ridges framed by the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. But all that beauty masks serious issues, including the considerable strain on riparian areas. Key to the effort to […] Read more
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