Nature Conservancy teams up with ranchers to protect foothills land
Fundraising drive aims to net $10M for Bob Creek Ranch, other grasslands
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has started a new fundraising campaign to conserve a foothills ranch with “stunning” views.
The Bob Creek Ranch, a 1,027-hectare property bordering southern Alberta's Oldman River and Bob Creek Wildland Provincial Park, features fescue grasslands, montane ridges and riparian areas as well as the Bob and Coyote creeks.
Larry Simpson, conservation and strategic philanthropy adviser for the NCC, said the ranch has jaw-dropping scenery where people can imagine the world as it used to be.
“You can forget about the world there,” he said.
The property will be conserved through a conservation agreement between the NCC and the Waldron Grazing Co-operative, which owns the property. Under the agreement, the property will remain in a natural state forever, and co-operative members — the majority of the 78 shareholders operate a ranch — will still be able to use the land for cattle grazing. The ranchers supplement their own operation by bringing their cattle onto the Waldron Ranch for parts of the year, the NCC says.
“Not only is it a benefit to the shareholders who are gaining access to more grazing, it's a win for the entire population and community of Alberta and Canada to know that this land will stay just as it is today — a home to an abundance of wildlife, both animal and plant species, along with cattle to maintain the grasses it produces,” said Frank Welsch, board chair of the Waldron Grazing Co-operative, in a statement.
By partnering with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the co-operative is provided with funding for operations and improvements, and can also access funding for stewardship improvements, such as off-site watering systems, rotational grazing infrastructure and wildlife-friendly fences to help keep the land and wildlife populations healthy, the NCC says. The two groups have partnered together on southern Alberta projects twice before, conserving the Waldron Ranch in 2013 and the King Ranch two years later.
On the Bob Creek Ranch, the landscape is dominated by rough
fescue grasslands, which the NCC says provide “exceptional” yearround forage for wildlife and livestock but are one of the most threatened and least protected ecoregions in Canada. It's estimated that Canada loses 60,700 hectares per year of prairie grasslands to farmland and urban expansion, with about 20 per cent of the country's prairie grasslands remaining, said Simpson.
On the property, there are also species of conservation concern, including limber pine (endangered), grizzly bear (threatened), Columbia spotted frog (sensitive in Alberta) and golden eagle (sensitive in Alberta).
The Bob Creek Ranch forms a network of publicly protected and privately conserved lands in the region covering a contiguous block of over 43,000 hectares.
“This will help maintain crucial wildlife corridors, ensuring the continued safe movement of species, such as grizzly bear and elk,” said the NCC in a news release.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada says it's looking to raise $10 million for the Bob Creek Ranch and other grassland conservation projects in Alberta this year.
“It's an opportunity for both urban and rural people to come together and kind of help conserve the places they think represent what it is to be a proud Albertan,” said Simpson.