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The Nature Conservancy of Canada has announced a new conservation site west of Claresholm. (Photo by Brent Calver)

New conservation site announced west of Claresholm

Aug 23, 2022 | 11:13 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A new conservation site has been announced by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). It’s nestled in the rolling Porcupine Hills area of southwestern Alberta.

The NCC says along with an adjacent pre-existing conservation site, the project will form a single protected block of almost 1,900 hectares. Its conservation will add close to 7,700 hectares of protected areas along the eastern edge of the Porcupine Hills, of which 87% was conserved in a partnership between the NCC, local ranchers and other landowners.

The new conservation site is west of Claresholm in the Municipal District of Willow Creek. It is a 643-hectare property that the NCC says “supports a rich diversity of ecosystems, from riparian habitats surrounding Trout Creek, to rolling fescue grasslands and montane forests, as well as at-risk bird species and imperilled limber pine.”

The NCC noted that grasslands are one of the most at-risk ecosystems on Earth. The new project is situated in the Foothills Fescue Natural Subregion, where grassland ecosystems are dominated by rough fescue, which is the provincial grass of Alberta. More than 80% of this project’s area features high-quality fescue grasslands. The NCC says protecting this ecosystem will maintain habitat for grassland wildlife, including Sprague’s pipit, a songbird that is listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), as well as nutritious winter forage for deer, elk and cattle.

Tom Lynch-Staunton, Regional Vice-President of the NCC said in a news release, “While these newly conserved lands are significant for the habitats and species they contain, NCC’s major achievement here is further strengthening the protection of nature in Alberta’s southern foothills in partnership with the ranching community.”

“By expanding this conservation area, we are laying another block toward reaching our goal of building large and robust networks of conserved and sustainable working landscapes,” Lynch-Staunton stated.

The newly announced site also features 96 hectares of provincially rare riverbank habitat surrounding Trout Creek, a fish-bearing watercourse that is part of the Oldman Watershed. The area is home to the bank swallow, which is a species threatened under SARA.

At its highest points, the site features montane forests with a population of limber pine, which is a species listed as endangered under the provincial Wildlife Act.

A conservation agreement between the property’s landowner and the NCC voluntarily restricts development and conversion rights on the land. The NCC says the legal agreement will ensure that the property continues operating as a working cattle ranch, “while maintaining the landscape in a natural, healthy and unfragmented state.”

Video of the protected land. (By Brent Calver)

Over the last two years, the NCC has helped in the protection of over 1-million hectares from coast to coast. The organization plans to double its impact in the next few years.

This latest project was made possible thanks to funding from the federal government, through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of Canada’s Nature Fund, as well as the Government of Alberta’s Land Trust Grant Program.

Additionally, a part of the project was noted to the NCC under the federal government’s Ecological Gifts Program, which is aimed at enhancing tax incentives for individuals or corporations who donate ecologically significant land.

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