Reading Time: 3 minutes Solar energy capture and healthy wetlands are key tools for many conservationists, including some farmers, but do they necessarily live together in harmony? A new report asks that question and makes one overarching recommendation: more research is needed to measure the impacts of solar developments on wetland health. The Impact of Solar Development on Wetlands: […] Read more
Report says more research needed into solar’s impact on wetlands
Stakeholder report says there’s little understanding of the relationship between green energy and wetland ecosystems
New program offers big dollars for providing eco-services on your land
New ‘resilient’ farm program offers up to $150,000 for items such as rotational grazing and restoring wetlands
Reading Time: 4 minutes Have you always wanted to try rotational grazing or protect riparian areas? Then say hello to a new government program called the Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP). There has never been a program quite like this one, said Giselle Ulrich, a grant program specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. “A lot of the best management […] Read more
Restoring marginal lands can be a long-term money-maker
New conservation program offers $125 per acre to seed unproductive annually cropped lands to forages
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta producers are finding a way to make their marginal lands pay, with a little help from Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). “Not all parts of a field are created equal,” said Darwin Chambers, head of DUC’s conservation programs in Alberta. “There can be certain areas of a field — often low-lying areas — that just […] Read more
New calculator estimates the dollar value of Prairie wetlands
The USask tool aims to show that wetlands are worth far more to society than usually thought
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new online tool developed at the University of Saskatchewan will help both policy-makers and producers estimate the value of wetlands across the Prairies. “When we push for wetland conservation, sometimes the language that our leaders and policy-makers understand best is the dollar value,” said researcher Eric Asare, who led the project for the USask […] Read more
Putting Mother Nature’s water filter to the test
It’s called phytoremediation and using native species as filters could be big for the feedlot sector
Reading Time: 3 minutes Walking through the wetlands at Olds College is an education unto itself: Native plants and trees line every path that loops around 20 constructed ponds where waterfowl swim and songbirds flit from cattail to cattail. But the wetlands are also home to something equally important — wetland research. “Managing resources like water is critical,” said […] Read more
EU farmers could get cash to curb emissions from belching livestock
Brussels | Reuters — Farmers should get European Union funding to reduce methane emissions from livestock or increase organic farmland, the European Commission said on Thursday, under plans to make agriculture greener. The EU is nearing the end of a two-year battle to overhaul its massive farming subsidies scheme, to attempt to align the agriculture […] Read more
Wetland conservation a ‘win-win’ in dry ranching country
Wetland conservation has changed a lot since TK Ranch began partnering with Ducks Unlimited in 1957
Reading Time: 4 minutes Making a living off the land in Special Areas No. 2 has never been an easy prospect. During the Dirty ’30s, farmers in this little pocket of southeast Alberta were among the hardest hit in the province. And in a dry year, the area isn’t much better off today. There’s very little topsoil, very little […] Read more
Grants preserve grasslands and wildlife habitats
Provincial funding funds conservation easements to protect 13,000 acres from development
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Land Trust Grant Program is giving more than $7 million to support 24 different projects that will conserve 13,000 acres of private land containing watersheds, grasslands and wildlife habitats. The grants will support projects by the Alberta Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Legacy Land Trust Society, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the […] Read more
Wetland protection a no-brainer for cattle producer
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pearl Gregor was on the phone the instant she read about ALUS Canada in her county newspaper. “When I heard about ALUS, it was automatic — I had to do it,” said the New Sarepta-area cattle farmer. “We’ve lost so much of the Alberta wetlands. As farmers, we need water, so we need ALUS.” ALUS […] Read more
One-stop shop for eco-services programs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Looking for an ecosystem services program that fits your operation? Alberta Beef Producers has created a seven-page fact sheet of several dozen programs. These include programs focused on conservation; wetland protection and management; and offsets. The fact sheet also breaks out several programs from Ducks Unlimited Canada, projects funded under Growing Forward 2, and Alternative […] Read more
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