Reading Time: 3 minutes The movement to pay farmers for being good stewards of the land is gathering steam, with 10 counties in Alberta now having a local ALUS program. ALUS — short for Alternative Land Use Services and pronounced ‘Alice’ — is expanding across Canada and recently became a national, registered not-for-profit. “This kind of growth and recognition […] Read more
Program that rewards stewards of the land is taking off in Alberta
More than 100 Alberta farmers have signed up for ALUS, and that number is expected to grow rapidly
Capturing value from riparian areas
The first step is to have a plan before you start fencing, says riparian management expert
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ask just about any Alberta farmer about the worst drought in recent memory and there’s a good chance they will say 2002 — a year that saw water supplies devastated throughout the province. For Sean McGrath, some foresight around land management that year prevented what could have been a disaster. Fencing off a dugout and […] Read more
California rules led to near 25 per cent cut in water use
Sacramento | Reuters –– Residents and businesses in drought-stricken California cut back water use by nearly 25 per cent from June 2015 through the end of February 2016 — enough to supply nearly six million people for a year, officials said Monday. The state’s first ever mandatory cutbacks in water use were imposed by Democratic […] Read more
What to do when the bats come home to roost
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bats in your belfry? Or rather, your barn or attic? “If you know that you have bats in your house, chances are it’s because there is not a good habitat for them somewhere else,” says conservation technician Lisa Card. “Most species would rather not be there, but their habitat has been altered and for whatever […] Read more
Making it better when it is wetter — and when it’s dry, too
Ducks Unlimited has two wetlands restoration programs drawing on $31 million in provincial funding
Reading Time: 3 minutes Whether floods in 2013 or drought this year, extreme weather has taken its toll on producers throughout Alberta in recent years. The good news is Mother Nature can help with that. And the provincial government is also chipping in, with $31 million in funding over three years to encourage farmers and other rural landowners to […] Read more
Rancher’s generous donation is a gift for all Albertans
Reading Time: 2 minutes Gottlob Schmidt had a dream of preserving the land that he has spent so much time on. And the realization of that dream will benefit all Albertans with the creation of the province’s 76th provincial park. “It has always been my wish that someday I could leave this land to someone else,” said the 90-year-old […] Read more
Ducks Unlimited Canada opens Strathmore office
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ducks Unlimited Canada has opened a new office in Strathmore. It will house an expanded number of wetland restoration and conservation staff and will complement DUC’s current network of personnel who already work in southern and central Alberta with landowners, communities and municipal governments within the counties of Acadia, Cypress, Wheatland, Foothills, Newell, Paintearth, Taber, […] Read more
What’s it worth? New project aims to nail down the value of wetlands
Innovative new project features a reverse auction in which producers ‘bid’ on the compensation they’d want for giving up acres
Reading Time: 4 minutes Wetlands often present a difficult choice for producers — keep them for their environmental value or drain them for the sake of the bottom line. Until recently, converting wetlands to croppable land was commonplace, and even encouraged by government projects that paid farmers to drain them. Wetlands advocates know it will take compensation to reverse […] Read more
Alberta wetlands receive funding for conservation projects
More than 1,300 acres will be conserved or restored thanks to $11.6 million grant
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ducks Unlimited Canada will receive more than $11.6 million in grant funds for wetland conservation and restoration work to help reduce the impact of flooding and drought in Alberta. The funding comes from the Alberta government’s Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program. Wetlands have the ability to store water and slow the release of water into […] Read more
New working group gears up to get answers about habitat conservation
Maintaining habitat is also important for pollinators and parasitoids that prey on crop pests
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you cut down your shelterbelt or take out a windrow, you might not think about the effect it has on the beneficial species living on your farmland. A new working group, unofficially known as the Habitat Working Group, is gearing up to inform producers about the changes they can make to conserve habitat for […] Read more
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