Showing posts with label Headwaters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Headwaters. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 July 2015

Patience, cutthroat! The grasshopper is on it's way...!

(Editor's Note: Thanks to Davd McIntyre for this guest posting. It's about how a couple of unnamed streams are actually the centre of a universe an a thriving elk herd nursery. You will have to imagine the future additions that David describes to the photo below.)


The pictured view looks east from our doorstep into the Rock Creek valley. The creek flows—left to right—into the foreground. Two—and only two—significant year-round streams (unnamed) flow westward to feed the creek from within the pictured limber pine-studded landscape. 

 AltaLink's proposed transmission line (a twinned, 500 kV line), if built, would cross—left to right—the pictured view, and cross each of the described Rock Creek tributaries.

Monica and I, hiking east of our home on Sunday, July 26th, encountered an elk herd as we walked along the southernmost of these two year-round streams. The stream, flowing west, is a significant tributary of Rock Creek, and it exits the hillside a few hundred meters north of the SE corner of S1, T8, R3, W5th. The described location is roughly 1 km southeast of the point where a helicopter, in May of this year—as I reported at that time—and flying as low as an estimated 1 meter above ground level, flew over two grizzlies and scattered a herd of elk. (Of note, both the described locations are on AltaLink's proposed twin-500 kV line traversing the Rock Creek valley.)

The noteworthy aspect of our July 26th (2015) sighting of the elk herd is that the herd, comprised of 40 animals, and moving east, perhaps in response to a threat I couldn't see, or discern, involved 20 adult cows, a single bull elk and, most significantly, contained 19 newborn (June of 2015) calves, i.e., an almost astounding number of calves-to-cows ratio, perhaps especially so given the previously reported grizzly bear consumption of newborn elk calves on the same landscape. 

There are two additional factors, each noteworthy, that relate to landscape and ecological value within the eastern realm of the Rock Creek watershed that may not yet be formally recorded and thus on the "radar" in terms of AltaLink's proposed transmission line.

These factors:

1.The two unnamed streams defined in the accompanying photo caption are the only Rock Creek tributary streams entering the creek from the east. The southernmost of these two streams, a linear waterway, flows directly into Rock Creek. The northernmost stream, after entering the valley bottom in the extreme left portion of the pictured view, feeds a wetland bordering Rock Creek. This wetland, estimated to be on the order of 30 hectares in size, ultimately drains into Rock Creek. Both of the noted streams, and the described wetland, are critical to Rock Creek's flow, and critical to the success of any efforts to include the lower creek as part of the westslope cutthroat trout recovery program.

2. The same two tributary streams define the majority of my observed (via tracks and sightings) east-to-west and west-to-east grizzly movement across the Rock Creek valley and east of the North Burmis Rd. In other words, most grizzlies moving between the Livingstone Range and the Connelly Creek valley via the Rock Creek valley, use these two spring-fed drainages to enter and/or exit the Connelly Creek valley (to the east). Also, most of the grizzly bear sightings and reports that I've provided to you have their origin within the pictured landscape.

A footnote to the July 26th observation of cow and newborn elk calves: While hiking, and after observing the elk, I caught a single grasshopper. Later, as I crossed the footbridge at my doorstep (within the shaded portion of the accompanying picture), I fished the trapped 'hopper from my breast pocket and tossed it into the water. An instant later, in a swirl of water, the grasshopper was gone. One cutthroat beat several others to the prize.  

I love, and live for, the world at my doorstep. Cutthroats, elk and grizzly bears are part of the land's living magic. They give me hope.


David McIntyre
Crowsnest Pass, AB  



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Monday, 20 July 2015

The Oldman's last gasp

(Editor's Note: This is a rather long preamble to David McIntyre's piece, but it begs the question many people have been asking. In fact, the OWC has been in the news a lot lately, being interviewed about water quantity. Anybody can see that the river is really, really low. We'd usually see these levels in a month from now. As I said to the press, no cause for panic. 

We had a really low snowpack this year- in fact, we were waiting ages for a "snow event"so that we could scoot out and get some winter footage for our Film Project, #oldmangoestohollywood. When it did snow, we rushed out there, only to have most of it just blow around. Anyway, add very little rain to the equation, and you don't have the "storehouses" full. That's what a watershed IS, after all - a giant storehouse for our water. Snowpack and rain (and a tiny bit of glacier melt) filter through the land, where it percolates and purifies and gathers in marshes and wetlands and bursts into little streams and on she goes til eventually she reaches the Hudson's Bay. Well, actually, I should say HE since we ARE talking about the Oldman! 

As you may have read elsewhere, our Film Project got rained out on 6/7 different shoots - all in the headwaters - so that's why the meadows there are lush and ranchers are eyeing that part of the watershed as a place for grazing. Elsewhere it's just dry. Dry as a bone. The flyover we did recently from Lethbridge upstream to The Gap showed full irrigation canals and reservoirs, but a mighty low river. 

The upshot? You can turn on your tap and expect clean, clear water as usual. Should we be watering our lawns to lush, verdant, rival-the-English succulence? No. Should we be thinking about where our water comes from, where it goes, and what happens in between? Absolutely. These are questions that will not diminish with time. Our discussions around water will become more and more central to questions about economy, infrastructure, agriculture, water licenses, municipal allotments, and the value of other species - plant, animal or insect - who also call the watershed their home. Our plain carelessness is threatening the very existence of some species.

Is it just "Mother Nature" playing tricks on "The Oldman"? Absolutely not. The uses of water are as diverse as the people and industries who rely on it. It is the ABUSES we need to curtail. Let's start in the headwaters. Give the Oldman a voice and help keep recreational vehicles out of water bodies. Camp away from streams, and take your garbage with you. Clean up your dog poo (yes, I said it!). Stop buying bottled water. And please remember that you are a guest in the nursery of our water - and many animal babies. 

Now back to David. He was about to tell us what he saw when he went out for a kayak trip recently.  Enjoy!)
The Oldman's last gasp
by David McIntyre

Times are tough, the land's drying up. Rivers have turned to stone. Well, almost.

Monica (my wife) and I rafted/kayaked the Oldman River recently. Our goal was to grab a little whitewater action before the river dropped to unnavigable levels. As the plan unfolded, we asked Monica's sister (Bissy) and her husband (Bill) to join us. They accepted, then reported that Bissy couldn't kayak due to a knee problem. 

Fielding this news, I decided to take our big "cat" (cataraft)—it's affectionately known as Fat Cat—so Bissy, without lifting a finger, could ride down the river in queenly style and, looking regal, and from her floating throne, offer, as she might deem appropriate, fitting, queenly waves to deer and other animals appearing at river's edge.

Fat Cat appears here, loaded to the gills, in preparation for a trip through Montana's celebrated Smith River Canyon. My wife's inflatable kayak, floating at the raft's side, provides a buoyant, bobbing element of rubber-ducky scale. The big raft's cargo includes firewood,100 liters of water, a monster (165 quart) cooler, a similarly sized dry box, an Outfitter Wing (offering foul-weather protection), a tent, a stainless steel kitchen table, large sleeping pads, a propane tank, a water-filled solar shower, two backpacks, camera gear and more … all strapped down and thus held together in the event of an unexpected flip.

I'd checked the Oldman River's water level before we'd made plans, and felt sure there was adequate flow, but when we rendezvoused at our takeout point, I, wide-eyed, did a triple-take. There, almost under our noses, a nasty upstream rapid we'd have to negotiate showed its formidable teeth. Where, I wondered, was the river's reported water?

The bigger problem: It was crystal clear that the raft, unless airborne, wouldn't negotiate the rapid's toothy array of exposed bedrock.

I put that little bombshell behind me as we drove upstream to our planned launch site. 

Two hours later, after unloading the raft's heavy rowing frame, inflating its big, green-banana pontoons and assembling gear, we looked at the river. It was disturbingly low.

I bit my lip and launched, trying, unsuccessfully, to ignore the appalling lack of water, and its corollary, the river's shallow, bony bed.

Monica and Bill, in kayaks, were able to dance though the day's unending arrays of boulders and ledges. I wasn't. The result, not always pretty, was somewhat like trying to race a semi over an obstacle course designed for dirt bikes.

Rafters know—and they know it well—that it's impossible to control a raft if you can't get your oars into the water. They also know that you're cruisin' for a bruisin'—destined for double-trouble—if you, caught in the river's flow, don't have room to dart, dance, or make a quick exit.

Trip summary: I likely exceeded anyone's expectations, but was dog-tired before we'd stopped for lunch, double-dog-exhausted when we approached the jaws of the toothy rapid above takeout. There, when unavoidable rocks reached out and grabbed the raft, Bill ducked under my right oar and pounded through a narrow slot of whitewater. Monica, right behind him, did much the same, but almost flipped when her kayak climbed—then spun and fell from—a big pillow of water. 

Bissy and I, on the raft, were caught in jaws of bedrock. We sat. Water raced past us, surging through the rapid's rocky teeth.

I looked into the foam and, not knowing what to do, pointed at a sofa-sized boulder. "How about that?" I yelled, showing the perched queen a big boulder comprised of 60-million-year-old cemented oyster shells, and trying, unsuccessfully, to divert our minds from the critical problem at hand.

The real work soon began, a labored dance of sorts in which Queen Bissy and I, in water up to our waists, tried to lever, lift and otherwise move Fat Cat from one obstacle to the next without being swept away, or dragged under the raft. 

As we struggled, people at a downstream campground appeared. They, focused on our plight, became unwanted spectators. 

Thankfully, the free show—it was relatively short due to some strategically located pry points—ended with Bissy and me on the raft, … and perhaps even more surprisingly, with me able to rise from the riverbed and leap into my designated seat, in some control of the oars. 

The queen, christened, climbed back onto her floating throne.

Two hours later, the requisite takedowns and shuttles complete, we arrived at Monica's parents' ranch house, just in time for dinner.

The next morning: I, up early, woke with a stiff neck. My arms felt like spaghetti. When Monica, after sleeping in, appeared at the breakfast table, I, still exhausted from the previous day's effort, told her, "We're not going rafting today." 

"That's fine," she announced. "We're going to climb a mountain."

Epilogue: I discovered, the morning after our river trip, that the river, 
during the three days that followed my online reading of flow levels, 
had dropped significantly before our launch.



David McIntyre
Crowsnest Pass, AB  



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Monday, 13 July 2015

You will be shocked when you read this

(Editor's note: Thanks to Guest Blogger Kevin Turner for reaching out and explaining the implications of what's being asked here. IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. They are asking for a large number of surveys to be returned. It's just your personal opinion and takes 2 seconds. Please do the survey ... AND PLEASE SHARE. 
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I can't imagine an Alberta without fish - can you? Please take a moment out of your day and just click on the link. I filled out the survey and it was very quick. Please do it RIGHT NOW - the deadline is July 15th - we haven't much time. The link is at the BOTTOM of this article. Thank you!).

All photos are from the Oldman Watershed Council's photo library -
 you can access beautiful photos for free at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130716966@N07/albums


Bull Trout (Albeta's iconic species) and Westslope Cutthroat Trout can use all the help they can get if they are to persist in the Oldman watershed. Given current logging practices, 2013's flood, OHV intensity, overwhelming linear disturbances, habitat fragmentation, poaching, rising stream temperatures, it's impressive they have held on long enough for us to still have the chance to save them. 


The story can be found here: http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/most-southern-alberta-trout-streams-threatened-despite-recovery-plan-says-survey?fb_action_ids=1468817150083074&fb_action_types=og.comments&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B911679105560275%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.comments%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

 These Bull Trout populations, located in the South-East corner of their range, are in significantly greater danger than northern populations and are currently the focus of a survey being collected by the species at risk folks at DFO. 

 The deadline for comments is Wednesday July 15 

 The survey can be found here:  http://www.isdm.gc.ca/survey-enquete/eng/916a957f

 Thank you for giving the Oldman a voice!
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Sunday, 7 June 2015

If I had only bet on the lottery instead ...

I wanted to give you an update on our Film Project,  since the last newsflash about it was in late April after we had been to the water and wastewater treatment plants in Lethbridge. That was a hugely popular posting - I guess there's a fascination with what goes down the drain. I have just a couple of photos for you here - there have been many more posted on Twitter under #oldmangoestohollywood so do check in there if you are a Twit ... ah... I mean Tweep ... ah Twitterer.

Probably the saddest thing I have to report (and it truly is enough to make me weep - except there is already far too much water involved in this story) - is that we have been RAINED OUT on 5 consecutive film dates. What are the chances?! The odds of rain on every single shoot are slimmer than the chances of winning the lottery! I should be a zillionaire!

So let's start by telling you all about the photos I would like to be showing you here. Well, first  there would have been ones of a flyover of Waterton ... and then a flyover of Dutch Creek with Board Member and Trout Unlimited expert Richard Burke doing narration next to the cockpit. Ever hopeful, we got up at 5:00 am , packed our lunches and drove out to Cayley and pulled in the latest weather reports every 5 minutes, hoping it would clear. It did not. Either day.

Next, I would like to tell you about Taber. That DID actually happen and a few people (not the ones in the photo below) got quite sunburnt, facing into the camera all day long. We were guided by Chris Gallagher from Taber Irrigation District, sponsors of the Film Project. (It's not too late! You can still be involved and become a sponsor, too! We are looking for organizations who make the watershed a better place to live, work and play to feature in our Film Project...)  

We had a great day - starting off with Naturalist Lloyd Bennett out by the Sand Dunes 25 km east of Taber. Actually, the crew was out at the crack of dawn getting "beauty shots" as the sun rose. We met Lloyd and talked about biodiversity, endangered/at-risk species, invasive species, sagebrush, and more. I was incredibly moved by Lloyd's deep passion for the land and all its creatures. Thanks to Lloyd for taking time out of his busy day for us!

Chris took us out to meet Mike Wind, north of the dunes. His place has got the most stunning view of the Oldman. That, a slice of homemade cake and a steaming cup of coffee and we were set to plan the rest of the shoot. Mike's got some pretty fancy variable-rate irrigation technology and some beautiful-looking potato hills. I swear I am now in reverance every time I eat a potato chip after hearing him talk about all the work that goes into it. But we didn't just hear about it, we went to his production area to see the world's hugest storage of potatoes!!!

That's where this next photo comes in: Mike and his crew good-naturedly signed the media release forms so that we could film them in the plant.

Out at Mike Wind's place near Taber. It takes good water and smart watershed management to make good potatoes!
We next caught shots of intensive livestock operations - hogs, chickens and cattle - all from one viewpoint in a 360 degree view around the landscape. Watershed health means managing industry and prosperity alongside water quality issues.

We got some great shots of the canals and the 'Gabion' wall near north Fincastle (it's Italian for "basket" and it's a natural way of getting gunk out of the water). From there, on to see Kyle Gouw and some gorgeous looking onions and his on-farm reservoir. We were also joined at the end of the day by Mayor De Vlieger - thanks to everyone who participated as our "cast" this day and props to Chris for an entire day of his time for this project.

The other locations this month? Well, our MAJOR SHOOT of course was going to be up at the Oldman falls in the headwaters. Totally rained out and I mean POURING both days. The best I got was this little picture on my phone of a beautiful little creek when it had calmed down to a drizzle the end of the second day. Thanks to David McIntyre (star guest blogger) and Kevin Turner ("Mr. Turbidity") for their time in doing inside interviews with us. Both of these men donate much time and energy as eyes and ears for the watershed.


This little creek was bubbling and clear but all the others we saw these two days were straight brown sludge and the area up at Allison Creek has been ravaged by OHV use - and illegal felling of centuries' old trees.
Another day, another rained-out shoot, this time out at Piikani Reserve. I was truly honoured to have Evelyn Crowshoe, "Mother of the Oldman River", with us this day. She's here in the photo below with Randall Wolftail, who is on the OWC Board. It quasi-cleared up briefly, so we went to look out at the hard work that is being done to secure the pumps and equipment from the river - it has vastly changed its course. One of the saddest things I heard this day was that, not so long ago (both Evelyn and Randall remember this), the water was swimmable and the bushes were laden with berries. Over 100 people lived down near the water. The dam changed the nature of the river: it is too cold to swim in and moves far too fast to be safe. Evelyn said: "No one comes down here anymore".

Heartfelt thanks to Evelyn, Randall, the Piikani CEO Byron Jackson and Shirley Crow Shoe for their time and willingness to speak with us on this rainy day. You are going to be enthralled by the Napi stories they shared with us!

Evelyn Crowshoe is about to bless the river with a gift of tobacco once the cameras get out of her face and give her some solitude!
On the way down to Castle Ski Resort
Some other shots ... I went down to Castle Ski Resort for the AGM of the Alberta Southwest Regional Economic Development AGM to present the new Oldman emblem and talk about the Film Project ... no rain, but some really outstanding rolling clouds!

Our next shoot is June 16th down near Waterton - PLEASE pray for glorious sunshine and epic panoramas!!! I'll keep you posted...


The sun's just set on our beautiful watershed. Absolutely breathtaking.
For more information about the Film Project and how you, your organization or your classroom can get involved, please call Anna at: 587 224 3793. Or what the heck .... come to the AGM on June 23rd, eat some 10th anniversary cake and hear all about it! 
I even have a sneak preview clip I'm going to show there!!!

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Monday, 25 May 2015

The killing of an ancient limber pine

(Editor's Note: Perhaps you have been driving through the Crowsnest Pass and have seen the "Burmis Tree". It was an ancient Limber Pine - an iconic speciesof the Oldman headwaters - and, a species at risk. Thanks to guest blogger David McIntyre for this posting. David will be our guide for filming in the headwaters this week! Very exciting! Thank you, David :-) We will get some great footage of these ancient trees, beautiful landscapes ... and more! I look forward to posting all about it!)

The Burmis tree in the Crowsnest Pass
Below are two pictures of one (of two) ancient limber pines cut down recently near Lundbreck Falls. Both trees, living when they were cut down, were likely in excess of 600 years of age.

There's a loonie for scale in each of the pictures. It appears, on edge, a tad to left of center in the picture of the tree's stump, and—in the second image—at the base of the upward-pointing severed branch that projects from the tree's trunk.

Also, there's this: The power lines in this area have been colonized by noxious and other weeds, including blueweed and knapweed. In some places the density of this weed colonization is absolutely stunning - their growth and spread across the landscape is vast.

A centuries-old limber pine near Lundbreck Falls, as seen (2015) shortly after it was cut down.
This ancient tree, still healthy and growing at the time it was felled, was a seedling back when Henry the V landed on the banks of the Seine in Paris. In comparison, it would have been relatively peaceful here in Alberta!
What a lot this tree had seen!

There was no need for those trees to have been cut. Fortis had spared them for the life of the line … until someone, within the past two years, decided to bring them down.

Sadly, there are low cone counts for the 2015 limber pine crop - already a species at risk.

What you see in the image of the clusters of maturing limber pine cones—mirrors, roughly speaking, the entire limber pine-dominated landscape extending from the lower Castle River, northward to The Gap (where the Oldman River exits the Livingstone Range), and eastward to Highway 22. They have white pine blister rust. It ain't pretty.

For the record, there's also this: Countless limber pines were cut down in the '80s within the footprint of the Oldman Reservoir, and many thousands more were eradicated, at colossal expense, during the same period of time when ESRD, to protect favored lodgepoles from mountain pine beetle infestation, dispatched helicopters with crews that cut and burned offending limber pines—many of these trees were hundreds of years old. Some likely flirted with, or perhaps exceeded,1000. The stumps of these cut-and-burned limber pines still punctuate ridges throughout the upper Crowsnest, Castle and Oldman rivers.
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Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Bravo! A most welcome development from AERSD

(Editor's Note: Guest Blogger Elspeth Nickle has kudos and a question for the provincial government.)
Dear Sir:
I have not been in contact for some time. Lately, I have been very busy with an illness in the family.
Nonetheless, I felt I should get in touch when my husband brought these two articles to my attention.


In the first, I am hugely pleased by the direction AERSD is taking this summer to control random camping and ATV activity in the Crowsnest/Castle area.  It will be always be a challenge to find the right balance between allowing public access to Alberta's fabulous and valuable wilderness and the need to protect this fragile wilderness from undue harm.  This is a good first step in the right direction!

The second does not pertain to the Crowsnest/Castle area but I think is a very good indication of the direction law enforcement is taking. It is hugely heartening to see that at least one member of the RCMP feels he can go on record saying he "would like to set up a special task force to address the growing problem on Alberta's public lands. . .It would be nice to have a group of us spearheading environmental protection with the RCMP. It's really, really important."  I couldn't agree more!
Anywhere in the Eastern Slopes ... anytime ...
 On another note, I am very interested in the results of the study conducted this past winter on water conservation/production issues in the Star Creek area. Where can I find the conclusions from this research project?  Even if there are only preliminary results available at this point, I would greatly appreciate any information you can make available to me.  I am hoping that you will not tell me that there are no "publishable" results as yet and that more study is required.  I am sure you agree that the researchers must also operate under a very stringent mandate which does not allow them to research and experiment forever — and without proper oversight in regard to protecting the watershed.
Photo courtesy crowsnestconservation.ca
 I look forward to hearing from you when you have a chance to get back to me.  In the meantime, bravo on the recent direction taken by AERSD to monitor and protect Alberta's watershed from excessive random camping and ATV activity!
Sincerely,

Elspeth Nickle


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Friday, 15 May 2015

Beauty and The Beasts - May long a year ago ...

(Editor's note: I was wondering how much had changed in a year. In time for May long weekend, the following article by Adam Driedzic from the Environmental Law Centre was published exactly a year ago. Have things changed? Please - You tell me! Responses and new guest blogs most welcome. Also, send the Oldman your BEAUTY & THE BEASTS shots from May long 2015: What was wonderful?! - What was not?!)

May 17, 2013

"There's no God-given right to mud-boggers"
 (Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, Nanton News, May 13, 2013)

May long weekend is here:  begin the bush parties, litter, trucks in the river. . .  I wish I could find last year's Sustainable Resource Development blog post about the perennial rotting couches. There will be liquor bans, fire bans, trail closures and check stops. 

Responsible recreationalists will understand.

Next time you head out, stop by the MD Ranchland Hall at Chain Lakes and check out "The New War Zone," a classic  newspaper feature about the efforts of rural municipalities to address destructive recreation.

The war's not over. In 2012 near every municipality on the Eastern Slopes met collectively with three ministers – Justice and Solicitor General, Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resources Development, and Tourism Parks and Recreation – to request action on public use of public land.

Enforcement is always a feature in recommendations to reform motorized recreation policy.  Examples include:

·         The Recreational Stakeholder Workshop (2005) convened by OHV user groups and environmental groups;
·         Watershed Protection on Public Lands, Agricultural Service Board Resolution #12, 2003;
·         The Voluntary Planning Off Highway Vehicle Task Force Report for Nova Scotia (Eastern Provinces may be ahead. They've had public land for longer);
·         Review of Access Management Strategies and Tools, Foothills Landscape Managers Forum, (2009).

This isn't just about OHV use.  Unruly "random camping" has come up in question period, and the response asks us to expect more boots on the ground this summer. Thus, when the Solicitor General traveled to Chain Lakes for an announcement on May 13th, the real question was whether this was just the annual summer kick-off spiel or something more?  We will see a new enforcement strategy for the Eastern Slopes, or is this simply seasonal issue awareness?

Try to look past the debate over access to public land under the pending South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (for the polarized version listen to Recreation or Conservation on CBC Radio "the 180″ with Jim Brown).  In reality, multiple ministries are trying to deal with the impacts of destructive recreation.

In 2011, the Public Lands Administration Regulation (PLAR) created new tools to address public use of vacant land.  PLAR showed excellent efforts by Sustainable Resource Development to fit the issue under an outdated Public Lands Act that barely considers recreational use. There has been little implementation, perhaps due partly to the next change.

In 2012, officers responsible for Fish and Wildlife, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement and Parks Conservation were consolidated under the Solicitor General. This makes sense if one considers that all 'peace officers' have a similar enforcement functions. The ministry's goal of consolidating enforcement services to "ensure effective specialized enforcement" could be helpful. Creating a specialized OHV enforcement force was a top recommendation from the Nova Scotia report (above).

The officer transfer creates new challenges.  All 'peace officers' have powers to enforce regulatory offenses but not all officers have all powers under every statute. Then there are other policing priorities.  If your job was to promote a safe Alberta, where would you put law enforcement resources?  Perhaps on Highway 63 to Fort Mac?  One can see why backroad rowdies don't top the list.

The Information Bulletin really doesn't promise more than the annual weekend blitz.  It does, however, give much attention to the health of public land. And it isn't alone. The Solicitor General is blogging about the outdoors. Nanton News quotes our political head of public security speaking the language more commonly used by land managers - asking users to "respect the land," to not abuse public resources and to leave it for the future. He acknowledges resistance to a "police state" but suggests that legislation dealing with OHV issues will be reviewed.

Now note the quotes from municipal councillors on further solutions: like a real trail system.  Moving recreation up the land use planning agenda could make enforcement a whole lot easier.

Enjoy the long weekend.


You can strengthen environmental decision-making in Alberta. Please give generously.

Adam Driedzic, Environmental Law Centre
Environmental Law Centre
    
1-800-661-4238
www.elc.ab.ca





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Thursday, 30 April 2015

OWC April 2015 E-Newsletter

To view April's E-newsletter, click here
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Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Earth Day - Does It Really Matter?

(Editor's Note: You may call me cynical, but I did ask myself today whether naming this one day "Earth Day" actually made a difference. Here is a blog piece by OWC's Planning Manager, Connie Simmons, attempting to answer that question.)
          The Oldman Watershed Council marks Earth Day with a spotlight on the                                                                         Headwaters Action Team! 

In preparation for this Blog post, I visited Earth Day’s website, http://earthday2015.ca/ and thought a lot about how the OWC and our key partnerships with stakeholders and volunteers supports Earth Day Canada’s mission to foster and celebrate environmental respect, action and behaviour change that lessens our impact on the earth.  I looked at the questions they asked:

“What can I do to help the environment?”
“How can my individual actions make a bigger difference?”
“Can the impact of one person really help the planet?”

It didn’t take me long to figure out what to say – without the power of key partnerships and committed people and groups working together for common goals and outcomes for watershed health – the OWC would be just another planning organization with piles of plans on a shelf gathering dust.

Committed action by individuals, stakeholders and government is what makes the difference – and this action makes Earth Day (and everyday) a reason for acknowledgement and thanks to the people who are doing this important work.



The OWC’s Headwaters Action Team (HAT) is focused on getting things done for headwaters health.   The HAT was formed in 2014 to begin the process of implementing 5 priority actions of the Headwaters Action Plan, and to see how far we can go in the first two years of collaborative work (for more on this:  http://oldmanbasin.org/teams-and-projects/integrated-watershed-management-plan-team/).

The HAT is a great group of people, with different perspectives, interests and values. Some of our conversations are bluntly honest, and some of the interests around the table are at times cross-threaded. Nonetheless, as a foundation for collaborative work, we agree that the health of the headwaters needs improvement, that there are important initiatives that can address the priority concerns - and through this work, we raise support for improved watershed management, and achieve better outcomes for headwaters health.


OWC Headwaters Action Team - April 9, 2015  
left to right:  Jason Blackburn (Alberta Conservation Association); Lorne Fitch (Cows and Fish); Mike Wagner (Environment and Sustainable Resource Development – Forest Hydrology); Connie Simmons (OWC); Wade Aebli (Spray Lakes Sawmills); Rosemary Jones (Environment and Sustainable Development-Parks); David Green (Southern Alberta Sustainable Communities Initiative); Terry Yagos (MD Pincher Creek); Tony Bruder (Drywood-Yarrow Conservation Partnership); Bill Kovach (MD Crowsnest Pass); Jim Lynch Staunton (North Fork Grazing Association); Richard Burke (Trout Unlimited – Lethbridge).  Missing:  Darryl Ferguson (Crowsnest Pass Quad Squad); Carolyn Aspeslet (Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition). 

The Headwaters Action Team works in both an advisory and implementation capacity, within the mandates and resources available from their respective organizations.  So when I look at the questions posed for Earth Day, ‘…what can I do, and how can my individual actions make a difference?’ -   I see in the HAT the commitment and willingness to act stemming from connection and appreciation for the beauty, the critical ecological function as key water tower, and resources that support people and communities – all of these values, and more, are inherent to the Oldman headwaters.    

To really hear what is important to the team members,  it is best to hear from them on why they are putting their time and energy into action for headwaters health: 

I have lived near to the Oldman River most of my life and have spent many hours fishing, and playing in it, but most of all walking along it enjoying the hugely diverse wildlife and plant life enabled and nourished by it. The headwaters is the source and the Oldman River is the lifeblood of Southern Alberta.                                                     Ted Smith – Rancher, Livingston Landowners Group, HAT member

The Oldman River headwaters encompasses the largest remaining core areas of pure strain Westslope Cutthroat Trout within the historic range of Alberta, and is critical to the long term sustainability of the species in the province.  Watersheds within the headwaters not only contribute to the overall persistence of this species, but also represent some of the best quality, and most popular native (and introduced) trout fisheries in the province, a service highly valued by a major stakeholder group of ACA, Alberta’s anglers.
Jason Blackburn – Alberta Conservation Association – HAT member

Headwaters are the epicenter for source water, native fish and wildlife (several of which are ‘threatened’) and a sense of space for recreation, watershed integrity and biodiversity maintenance. The headwaters are where the Oldman watershed begins and how well we manage this critical area dictates whether we meet the goals of downstream residents.
Lorne Fitch, Cows and Fish – HAT member

I live in the Oldman headwaters.  Every day I see the snowpack on the mountains, hear the melt-water music of Gladstone Creek as it joins Mill Creek, which flows into the Castle River, and then joins the Oldman River system at the Oldman Reservoir. I think of all who live upstream and downstream and depend on this water – the towns and cities, the forests, the fish, birds and wildlife, and the farmers, ranchers and businesses that help support the economy of Alberta.  Over 90% of the water of the Oldman River comes from the headwaters.   For this reason, and because this place is my home, I am committed to working for headwaters beauty, function, spiritual values and source of life and sustenance.   
                                                         Connie Simmons, Oldman Watershed Council – HAT coordinator

On Earth Day 2015 – we celebrate and thank the commitment of people and organizations who are  working  together for watershed health.
Thank you, Headwaters Action Team!!!


Blog post by: Connie Simmons,
OWC - Headwaters Stewardship Coordinator
connie@oldmanbasin.org




  

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Friday, 17 April 2015

Blooming glacier lilies on the eastern flanks of the Livingstone Range

(Editor's Note: We always enjoy hearing from David McIntyre, our dedicated guest blogger. He is an accomplished naturalist and lives up in the headwaters. His sightings and photos of flora and fauna are delightful. This is to send you off into the weekend inspired to discover your own natural treasures in our beautiful watershed.)

I'm copying Jim Prentice's office as he was just here on the Livingstone Range landscape, and has fond memories of it that predate his political career. I'm thinking that Mr. Prentice, should he see this message, might like a protect-the-Livingstone-Range wildflower to brighten his campaign lapel.

Herds of deer and elk are visible in the Rock Creek valley again this morning, but they didn't beat me to what I captured yesterday afternoon. Out there amid high winds and snow squalls, I, beaten and battered, but not quite knocked down, finally "bagged," before the deer, elk or grizzlies beat me to it, a blooming glacier lily.

The attached image, a simple iPhone capture, shows the first blooming lily I've been able to stuff inside a camera. As you'll recall, I shot one that was opening almost a week ago, only to return the following day to find that it, and dozens more, had been eaten.

The pictured flower comes from the same GPS point previously provided. Yesterday, when I took the picture, hundreds of blooming spring beauties surrounded a handful of opening glacier lilies.

Please let me know if I've provided Alberta with its first glacier lily of the season.

Elsewhere on the land, boreal chorus frogs are singing … and spring, between snow squalls, is in the air. The land's turning green.

Other bloomers of late that I haven't previously reported: moss phlox, kittentail, yellowbell, early cinquefoil and white Draba.

The best to you,

David




David McIntyre
Crowsnest Pass, AB  T0K 0C0  



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Tuesday, 7 April 2015

How far can you see? Is a viewscape valuable?

(Editor's Note: Have you been up northwest of Pincher Creek  in the Livingstone Range? 
There are still remarkable views to be savoured that give you the feeling you are the first person on Earth at the time of creation.)


The pictured view looks northwest toward the eastern slopes of Alberta's Livingstone Range. 

Yesterday afternoon, without really knowing where I was headed, I arrived at an ancient limber pine that, growing from a thrust-faulted alter of sandstone, lies within a spectacular natural sandstone amphitheater. 

My wife and I refer to the location as a vision quest site, but it isn't a prehistoric site as far as we know, or can tell, although it affords views of such sites, and of a Serengeti-like landscape—it's drop-dead gorgeous—that's rich in archaeological and paleontological treasures.

Yesterday's footloose escape took me past blooming wildflowers, flocks of migrating birds, parades of mule deer and flocks of displaying wild turkeys. Overhead, an adult golden eagle soared over a cliffside nesting site. 

Deer and elk sign covered the rough fescue grasslands, where the season's first emerging Columbian ground squirrels could be seen, and where the skeletal remains of a black bear left me to wonder what had caused the animal's death.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, … but in another sense, I was looking at them, and the reason for sleepless nights. I was looking at the Crown of the Continent landscape where AltaLink proposes to erect a view-degrading, ecologically-destroying array of overhead transmission lines.

This morning, from my home overlooking Rock Creek on the eastern flanks of the Livingstone Range, I'm viewing, as I write this message, two moose and herds of mule and white-tailed deer. And I can glance up, above my computer screen, to see a large elk herd that, moving slowly, is grazing its way northward. 

Within this same view, if AltaLink's $750-million wish comes true, I'll soon look out at—and under and through—approximately 3 km of lattice towers and screaming-in-the-wind transmission lines … all paid for by cash-strapped Albertans.


David McIntyre
Crowsnest Pass, AB  



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Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Native fish – our very own aquatic ‘canaries in a coal mine’

(Editor's Note: Why is your clean, clear, drinking water threatened? And how does it depend on fish? OWC's Planning Manager, Connie Simmons, explains exactly what's "fishy" in the headwaters. Your comments are, as always, most welcome.) 

The Headwaters Action Plan (HAP) is a key outcome of the Oldman Integrated Watershed Management Plan, and was developed with the input of key stakeholders and the public throughout 2013-14. The HAP developed targets, actions and recommendations for three indicators of headwaters health to focus efforts to effectively protect and maintain source waters and headwaters values.   
One of these three indicators provided direction for action related to fish - and not just any fish, but a focus on two native species that are now listed as ‘threatened’ by the Government of Alberta:  westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout.   
With the ‘threatened’ listing, come Recovery Plans and a legislated requirement to safeguard the species from further population decreases, and to protect and restore critical habitats to support and ensure their continued persistence and recovery.  Westslope Cutthroat Trout have an approved Recovery Plan, and a Recovery Plan for bull trout is currently being developed.   (See: http://esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildliditfe/species-at-risk/   )
 Why focus on fish? 
Native fish need healthy source waters and headwaters to thrive,  and source water and headwaters integrity directly link to sustainability of healthy streams and rivers that provide us with high water quality and sufficient water quantity – a critical foundation for sustainable human communities and economic stability. 
The looming crisis with these two native trout species tells us that all is not well in the Oldman headwaters, or Alberta. 
Development and recreation pressures, habitat degradation, fragmentation and loss, invasive species incursion (i.e. competitive or hybridizing species such as rainbow trout), climate change, and angling pressure have created a perfect storm of issues that threaten the continued existence of these key native fish species in Alberta.   
This is our wake-up call – these native trout are truly our aquatic ‘canaries in a coal mine’ – telling us that all is not well, and that we need to pay attention, prioritize what to do, and then act with responsibility and solid scientific direction to ensure the continued persistence and flourishing of native trout in the strongholds of cold, clear mountain streams and lakes. 
 Our native trout – wild aquatic beauty in peril
 Westslope Cutthroat trout

Westslope cutthroat trout are listed as threatened by both the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada.   In Canada, westslope cutthroat trout are native only to the Bow and Oldman River systems.  
Historically in the Oldman watershed, their populations extended from the high mountain creeks, rivers and lakes to as far as Lethbridge.  But - that was then, this is now.  WSCT have declined so precipitously in the last 50 years that they now are at around 5% of their former population numbers, and these remnant populations have retracted to the small and scattered streams in the highest reaches of the Rocky Mountain tributaries of the Oldman River.  
Human activities were and continue to be the greatest threat to the persistence of WSCT remnant populations in Alberta.  These activities include the historical introduction of invasive species (ie: stocking of rainbow trout hybridize with WSCT and reduce or exterminate pure strain populations); development/industrial pressures that adversely impact or destroy habitat; and consumption (angling).
This alarming trend is further exacerbated by the looming issue of climate change, when projected mean temperatures in summer of many streams, especially in lower elevation streams and lakes, will rise to a point that WSCT cannot continue to exist.   High mountain streams with intact forests and riparian areas provide the foundation for the clear, cold, connected and complex aquatic systems that support WSCT.  
If we want to have WSCT in the future, there is an immediate need to take greater care of these important remnant habitats – to protect, rehabilitate and restore, and to manage adverse and cumulative impacts in these mountain headwaters areas.
 Bull trout


Bull trout were listed as a threatened by the Government of Alberta in 2012.   The status of bull trout is also currently under review by the Government of Canada.  A Recovery Plan for bull trout is now being prepared to guide the recovery of bull trout in Alberta.   
Bull trout occur in all of the major watersheds of the eastern slopes in Alberta, but have experienced significant reductions in both range and numbers, including the loss of some populations. Historically, bull trout were estimated to live in approximately 24,000 stream kilometres in Alberta, but are now down to an estimated 16,000 kms.   This is a 33% reduction in the extent of their historical range.
Bull trout in southern Alberta watersheds have had the greatest losses, including the Oldman, Bow and Red Deer rivers.  Bull trout populations in the Oldman watershed have been decreasing due to increasing cumulative impacts of industrial and recreation activities in their historic range, including logging, gas exploration and extraction, off-highway vehicles use, livestock grazing and random access camping.
  Recovery of bull trout will require conservation of healthy aquatic ecosystems, restoration and protection of degraded habitats, and the adoption of disturbance thresholds that will not be exceeded.
 What do we need to do for native trout?
As a first step, Albertans need to be aware that the populations of native trout are in trouble and that action is needed to ensure healthy headwaters and source water native fish habitat.  As a sharp lesson about the nature of cumulative effects that degrade native fish habitat and population persistence, Lorne Fitch put it most succinctly:
"Farmers, miners, off highway vehicle users, roughnecks, homeowners, politicians and a cast of thousands have devastated Alberta’s fish populations without ever catching or frying a single fish. Instead, large numbers of fish, populations of fish, and watersheds of fish were killed through habitat alterations, loss of critical habitats, water withdrawals, and pollution. It has been a death by a thousand cuts, not a thousand hooks. Individually there was no malice, spite or even intention – only the ignorance of fish ecology and cumulative effects."

Lorne Fitch (excerpt from essay ‘Two Fish, One Fish, No Fish: Alberta’s Fish Crisis’)
If we are able to secure healthy, productive headwaters and source water habitat for native fish, we are also helping to secure healthy and productive headwaters and source waters for all who need water in the Oldman watershed.   
In addition to raising public awareness, a concerted effort to effectively manage cumulative development/use impacts, provide excellent conservation information to public and stakeholders, and work to address threats to the continued persistence of native trout is greatly needed in the Oldman headwaters.  
The OWC Headwaters Action Team and partners are starting to address some of these concerns this summer (more on the Team and partnerships is coming in a future Blog!).    Recreation user engagement programs in Dutch Creek will share information about critical habitat for westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout, and engage recreationists to seek solutions that will would help ensure continued native trout persistence.  
Trout Unlimited (Oldman chapter) has taken the initiative to begin to work on riparian restoration and sedimentation issues in Hidden Creek – a sub-watershed just north of Dutch Creek and home to bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout.   The Alberta Conservation Association is working on a more complete inventory of westslope cutthroat trout in the upper Oldman headwaters area, and will be doing population assessments in Dutch Creek, Hidden Creek and White Creek in 2015.   Cows and Fish are working with the OWC to inventory riparian areas and flag areas that need focused restoration work in the form of restoration, and engagement of users to mitigate further impacts.  South Saskatchewan Regional Plan sub-regional initiatives are underway with the Linear Footprint Management Plan and Recreation Management Plan for the Livingston and Porcupine Hills areas.   
All of these initiatives are greatly needed, but we need a focused approach to preserving and extending critical habitat for native trout as an important iconic species, and a marker of healthy, productive headwaters and source waters in the Oldman watershed and beyond.   
Bull trout - at home in cold, clear, complex and connected high mountain streams and lakes


Connie Simmons
Planning Manager



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