tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19536810151858207802024-02-23T01:22:22.648-08:00Trevor Herriot's Grass Notes<i>Awakening to the spirit and beauty of the northern Great Plains</i>Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.comBlogger362125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-82121045120358642062017-11-17T11:48:00.001-08:002017-11-26T14:40:15.683-08:00A Road to Roost Upon: Red Knots at Reed Lake<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5cZWA194gI2qWOvSsMlYBNVAf1L2F7b399k9uua7b-dLCUYZERBlh-OywiwcsdMgKN-touJ4cIePdDQL0CkyKPIfcwad5R3dP65tpHRmGQ20drc0ZHaEhJAA2W2_K5GOqw2s_pX99x0/s1600/3027+REKN+%2526+BBPL+110529+KM350dpiweb+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga5cZWA194gI2qWOvSsMlYBNVAf1L2F7b399k9uua7b-dLCUYZERBlh-OywiwcsdMgKN-touJ4cIePdDQL0CkyKPIfcwad5R3dP65tpHRmGQ20drc0ZHaEhJAA2W2_K5GOqw2s_pX99x0/s400/3027+REKN+%2526+BBPL+110529+KM350dpiweb+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kim Mann's photo of Red Knots and Black-Bellied Plovers roosting on <br />Range Rd 383 bisecting Reed Lake south of Morse, Sk.</i></td></tr>
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Today I am pleased to post a story written by a naturalist-photographer friend, Kim Mann, whose passion for shorebirds takes her regularly each spring, summer and fall to the shores of Chaplin and Reed Lakes along the TransCanada Highway—two of the northern Great Plains most important staging areas for large flocks of shorebirds. The story is a terrific example of how making even a minor change—closing a road for a very short period each spring—can assist a rare bird on its long migration. <b>Don't miss the slide-show of her photos at the end of the post!</b><br />
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Here is Kim's story:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's a warm, near windless day as my sister and I walk slowly up a closed grid road. Closed to vehicular traffic since sometime in 2014 when the grid finally lost its battle with the forces of wind and water, this stretch of sandy gravel is a lifeline to a small reddish orange bird called a Red Knot- <i>Calidris canutus</i>. Known for its extreme migratory flight, this bird is why we are here.<br /><br />These little birds are migration machines. Their anatomy <b><a href="http://www.bayjournal.com/article/long_migration_makes_red_knots_hungry_for_horseshoe_crab_eggs">undergoes drastic changes</a></b> such as the stomach and gizzard shrinking in size and muscles becoming bigger in order to make the long flights possible, however, such changes make staging areas crucial. The birds need to rest and refuel as quickly as possible before continuing on to the Arctic where they nest.<br /><br />The grid we are on, officially known as Range Road 383 in the RM of Morse, bisects the lake and is one of these crucial staging areas. A saline lake, Reed is <b><a href="https://www.ibacanada.ca/site.jsp?siteID=SK034">listed as an Important Bird Area (IBA) - SK034</a></b>. Thousands of birds of a variety of species use this lake as a stopover during both spring and fall migrations. The grid and the lake's shores teem with small insects and crustaceans. The lake itself is rich in food as evidenced by the frantic feeding habits of flocks of birds. Not only is Reed Lake an important migratory stopover, it is home to several species of birds that nest on a small island on the west side of the grid.<br /><br />We first traveled to Reed Lake in 2011. A post on Saskbirds had listed a mixed flock of Red Knots, Black-bellied Plovers, Piping Plovers, and various sandpipers on the grid road and I wanted to go see them. I recorded my first Red Knot sighting on May 29th, 2011. There were approximately 200-400 Red Knots that day in a flock stretched widthwise across the grid. Every time a vehicle went by, up they flew and out over the water until finally circling back to roost again on the road. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, that year, at least <b><a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Saskbirds/conversations/messages/20872">eleven Red Knots were killed by traffic</a></b>. For a species at risk ranked in Canada as Endangered, this loss was devastating.<br /><br /> Fast forward to spring of 2015. This time when we visited, the damaged grid was closed to vehicular traffic. The birds were much less flighty and way more involved in feeding and sleeping. We have returned every spring since.<br /><br />Now to the reason I am writing this blog post. <br /><br />The grid is in the process of being repaired. By next spring it should be open to vehicles once again. I have emailed the four levels of government involved- the RM of Morse, SARM, Saskatchewan, and Canada, with a proposal to protect the Red Knots and, by extension, all the spring migratory birds that use that grid. Hopefully we can all work together to protect the birds.<br /><br />My proposal- close the grid to vehicular traffic during the time the Red Knots are at Reed Lake, (spring migration), by placing locked barriers at the north and south ends of the grid. There are excellent grids available both east and west to circumvent the lake within ten minutes driving time which people have used since 2014 when the grid was originally closed. <br /><br /> Something definitely needs to be done to protect this species at risk. There is a very small number of Red Knots that visit Reed lake- maybe 400-900 birds. Breaking off from the majority of Red Knots that follow the eastern coast during migration, they travel the central migratory path up north. We can't afford to lose any of them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you agree with the proposal Kim makes, then please write Saskatchewan's Minister of the Environment, Dustin Duncan at env.minister@gov.sk.ca. Mailing Address, Room 345, Legislative Building, 2405 Legislative Drive, Regina, SK, Canada, S4S 0B3.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, here are just a few of the images Kim has taken while visiting the Red Knots of Reed Lake over the last six years (<b>click on the lower right corner of this video box below</b> to launch the slideshow in Youtube and get a larger view):</span></div>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-64047697518600067392017-11-05T18:36:00.001-08:002017-11-06T07:23:55.633-08:00Two short videos on the sale of Crown landsWhy Crown land is important<br />
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And a slide show on why conservation easements on private land can not replace public land. A reporter told me that the Environmental NGOs who meet with Sask Ag succeeded in getting the Province to put a conservation easement on that 2200+ acre piece of native grass Crown land near Bengough. This is good news and easements are important conservation tools but if Crown land is sold there are public values an easement cannot protect.</div>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-64797188162391111162017-10-16T14:47:00.000-07:002017-10-16T14:47:17.811-07:00Colonial Mindset Prevails on the Prairie: Tallying up the Sale of Crown Lands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">“Sold a record number of lands that have <b>no significant public, ecological or economic benefit</b> through the strategically-focused 2015 Agricultural Crown Land Sale Program and The Wildlife Habitat Protection Act Moderate Ecological Value Land Sale Program. To some extent, this success was made possible by the new public online auction sales platform.”<i>From Saskatchewan Agriculture’s 2016-2017 Annual Report</i></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1953681015185820780" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;">On Friday I received an email that included a link to a graph on the Ministry of Agriculture’s web page showing the dollar value of all the Crown lands that the Ministry has sold in recent years. I was going to post that revealing little graph here today but it mysteriously disappeared over the weekend and is no longer available online.</span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />But I found the data anyway by digging through a bunch of old annual reports for the Ministry of Agriculture.<br /><br />Let’s start with the baseline. How much Crown land did we have in the southern half of the province when the Sask Party took office and starting selling it off? <br /><br />Well, according to the <b><a href="http://www.finance.gov.sk.ca/annreport/AgricultureAndFoodAnnualReport0607.pdf">2006 annual report for the Ministry of Agriculture</a></b> (the year before the Sask Party came to power) the ministry was at the time administering “approximately 7.3 million acres of Crown land that is leased to farmers and ranchers or operated as community pastures.”<br /><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1953681015185820780"></a>The annual report goes on to say that 3.4 M acres of that Crown land, “representing one-third of all wildlife habitat in the agricultural region, is reserved from sale and has specialized development restrictions under The Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. These natural areas make a significant contribution to maintaining existing wildlife populations and biodiversity across the agricultural region of Saskatchewan.”<br /><br />Within a year of taking office, the Brad Wall/Bill Boyd government began selling Crown land at a discount, offering financing alternatives to cash sale. They stated their intention to sell approximately 1.6 million acres of Crown land. By 2014 they were eyeing up the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act lands to see how they might justify selling some of them off.<br /><br />Here are the dollar figures and acreages from all Ministry of Agriculture Crown land sales from 2008 to today. (All data come from Ministry of Agriculture Annual Reports, but after 2012 they stopped reporting acres. However, I have estimated the acreages sold by extrapolating from the reported acreages for the earlier years, which work out to an average price of $300 per acre.)<br /><br />From 2008-2009 annual report: $7 M in Crown land sales, selling approximately 23,000 acres<br /><br />From 2009-10 annual report: “More than 161,000 acres of Crown Land, valued at $48 million were sold in 2009-10.” <br /><br />2010-2011: 83,631 acres of Crown Land, valued at $25.4 million were sold.<br /><br />2011-2012: $30.2 M (67,294 acres were sold); and the report says that since 2008, the ministry had sold 304,885 acres worth more than $91,000,000.<br /><br />2012-2013: $28 M (93,000 acres sold)<br /><br />2013-2014: $26 M (87,000 acres sold)<br /><br />2014-2015-- $15.4 M, (50,000 acres sold)<br /><br />2015-2016: $29.2 M, (100,000 acres sold).<br /><br />2016-2017: $145.9 M, (<b>nearly 500,000 acres sold</b>).<br /><br />That adds up to approximately 1.1 million acres of Crown lands in the south of the province that they have sold since taking office in 2007--15% of the Crown lands in the prairie ecoregion, one of the most endangered and least protected landscapes on the continent.<br /><br />How much of that 1.1 M acres contained native grassland, wetlands, aspen parkland is anyone’s guess because no one inside or outside of government is keeping track, but much of it was formerly protected under WHPA and, <b><a href="http://trevorherriot.blogspot.ca/2017/10/conservation-community-silent-as-wall.html">as we have seen recently</a></b>, there are Crown lands with native grassland and bush that were never in WHPA but are now being auctioned off in the next few weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1953681015185820780"></a>Our Crown lands—already so scarce in the south because 85% of the land has been privatized—are the last shadows of the prairies we were entrusted to share and protect together under treaty, the closest thing we have to land held in common for the benefit of all treaty people. <br /><br />If we stand by and let this government sell them off, we will be abandoning any possible renewal of the spirit in which the treaties were signed, and inviting a new form of colonization taking us even further from any legitimate social contract with the land and its first peoples.</span>Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-68750649750678140732017-10-03T21:09:00.000-07:002017-10-03T21:09:07.773-07:00Conservation community silent as Wall govt auctions off more native prairie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Brad Wall continues to auction off Saskatchewan's prairie heritage parcel by parcel, and the provincial conservation organizations are standing by in silence.<br />
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This fall Ritchie Bros auction has listed 75 parcels of Crown land--much of it native grassland, aspen parkland, wetlands and forested areas. Almost none of these lands for sale are receiving conservation easements to stop future owners from plowing and draining the natural landscape--not that a government conservation easement provides much in the way of real protection anyway.<br />
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In a quick scan through their very helpful website (oddly named <a href="http://ironplanet.com/realestate-skgov">ironplanet.com/realestate-skgov</a>), I found several parcels with hundreds of acres of native grassland up for sale--most with no easement.<br />
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One chunk of more than 2,240 acres of native grassland near Bengough is being advertised as a single lot of land to be sold without a conservation easement. The Province promised when it began selling off Crown land that any land of high ecological value would not be for sale and that land with moderate ecological value would be sold with conservation easements. If 2,200 acres of native prairie in an area surrounded by many more blocks of native grassland is not of the highest ecological value then nothing is.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGWH2tyQgaATp2jn42Kepd5i55gWGovUqjm1MwLEDDro0crN27Kzctj1oRntVX6cMOTrPvTPpMqoweXm5SVukvx7qFh1qdZ5oALUkdw1a7gn4P8t4KSwABYBE_sovoRMbVfqVNhte_gg/s1600/capture+of+auction+web+page+with+listings.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="998" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGWH2tyQgaATp2jn42Kepd5i55gWGovUqjm1MwLEDDro0crN27Kzctj1oRntVX6cMOTrPvTPpMqoweXm5SVukvx7qFh1qdZ5oALUkdw1a7gn4P8t4KSwABYBE_sovoRMbVfqVNhte_gg/s400/capture+of+auction+web+page+with+listings.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>this is a screen capture from the <a href="http://ironplanet.com/realestate-skgov">auction website</a>--go there and take a look<br />at the satellite images yourself</i></td></tr>
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This evening I called up the current leaseholder of that land near Bengough, a rancher named Gary Shaver. I told him I was writing a story about the Province auctioning off native grassland.<br />
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Leaseholders are often reluctant to speak on the record but Gary was willing to talk. He was quiet but clear in his concerns about the auction.<br />
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I asked him if he was planning to bid on the land. "Well I guess I haven't got much choice." Would you rather keep leasing it for your cattle, I asked.<br />
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"Sure if that was an option, but they've made their minds up to sell it."<br />
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I told him that some of us fear that Crown grasslands that are sold off could eventually end up in the hands of someone who would plow the land under.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>2,240 acres of Crown native prairie near Bengough on the auction block</i></td></tr>
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"Well," Gary said, "what some of us are afraid of is the land getting into the wrong hands and then we'll end up being a bunch of peasants working for someone else." He said he has seen the price of land driven up by out of province interests bidding on land.<br />
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"I'm not too happy with that Wall anymore," Gary said. "He's been letting people come in here and buy up land, driving up the prices."<br />
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He agreed that most ranchers will treat the land well but eventually everyone has to sell--whether you retire or your heirs decide to sell--and when that happens there is nothing to stop future owners from turning the native prairie into canola or lentil crops.<br />
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I spoke to another Crown grassland leaseholder this evening, Jason Mapleloft of Lethbridge who has likewise seen his lease of native pasture put up for sale. His reaction paralleled Gary's. </div>
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"We are losing too much native grassland these days," he said. "It should be left as is." He said that if the land he leases falls into the wrong hands it could easily be converted to cropland.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jason Maplecroft's leased Crown land near Lloydminster</i></td></tr>
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Most confusing and frustrating of all, there has been no public outcry whatsoever from the conservation community. Nothing from Ducks Unlimited, Nature Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada.<br />
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I am at a loss to account for their silence.<br />
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<br />Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-22489766657951614402017-09-12T14:01:00.000-07:002017-09-12T14:01:16.793-07:00Great White Birds stay on the Prairie this summer<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eHuKb5Zo2R6De5nQ-liD4gswa0fseFwl0vp_IYG_DpMimePBjNV8hoV1YKo5Deg1CnMsVVsCHC7IocErulnuneuDIDT5rRkeXFxJZrLaXJfbgjYnyVMVN8U50lB0adbwujqpi-HDahQ/s1600/WHCR_JAV_TH5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-eHuKb5Zo2R6De5nQ-liD4gswa0fseFwl0vp_IYG_DpMimePBjNV8hoV1YKo5Deg1CnMsVVsCHC7IocErulnuneuDIDT5rRkeXFxJZrLaXJfbgjYnyVMVN8U50lB0adbwujqpi-HDahQ/s400/WHCR_JAV_TH5.JPG" width="395" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whooping crane image courtesy of James Villeneuve</td></tr>
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Among the most positive bird news this summer was the record nesting success for the whooping cranes at Wood Buffalo National Park. The community brought forth 63 new birds, beating the previous record of 49 set in 2006.<br />
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Biologists counted 98 nests this spring and there were four pairs of twins. The wild population at the park is now over 400 birds. While they winter on the Texas Gulf coast at Aransas where Hurricane Harvey struck recently, the cranes are just beginning their southward migration and will not arrive until much later. <a href="http://friendsofthewildwhoopers.org/hurricane-harvey-whooping-cranes/">News from Aransas</a> indicates that the habitat should recover from the surge of salt water.<br />
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With that many cranes now breeding at Wood Buffalo, we may begin to see more young cranes stop short and spend the summer at prairie wetlands--within their historic range. (See <b><a href="http://trevorherriot.blogspot.ca/2015/01/bring-back-great-white-birds-of.html">this story</a></b>.)<br />
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This summer, a pair of young adult Whooping Cranes got to know one another at a wetland near the town of Minton, an hour and a half south of Regina on Highway 6. Photographer James Villeneuve spent several days with them, photographing them from a safe distance. Here is what he had to say when I asked him to describe the experience:<br />
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"I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours a day with them for a little more than a week. It was especially great to see that one of the birds was a second year bird (there is still some brown on the coverts). At sunset each night they would perform a dance together, it was special to watch. One night they chased a coyote that was approaching the edge of the water, I believe it was after one of the shorebirds sharing the water. After a series of cold fronts pushed through on consecutive days they left in high winds for what I believe to be the last time on July 30th."</blockquote>
Take a close look at the bird on the left in this photo by James and you will see those brown feathers he mentions on the wings near the black feathers.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This whooping crane pair summered on the prairie near Minton, Sask.<br /><i>Image courtesy of James Villeneuve</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-89098888361510849182017-08-21T19:17:00.003-07:002017-08-21T19:17:48.632-07:00Warblers passing throughWood warbler migration is underway on the northern Plains, flushing birds from the forests to the north down to our urban forest here in Regina. August 20st was a good day for wood warblers in the back yard. They were ignoring me so I went in again and got my camera. I sat in a lawn chair and took these images with a Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi, with a 400 mm f/5.6 lens. In an hour and a half I had photos of six species. Here they are strung together in a short video (to get a larger view of the video be sure to click the Youtube button on the bottom right corner):<br />
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<br />Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-56570088438734930692017-08-09T15:25:00.002-07:002017-08-09T15:25:43.767-07:00Summers are for hummers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKu_TwAnNzPwbo0wZLXei5v9McFWdGPlchJAH-8CXg05FdvNmwqJRt8IOG2OemoABz19bm3WPq47C1gW7AP566NZCPCRQCwKgFZkCKNqSqUnnY1jnga4CrlUDmX564PBB6dgypl_ZXLM/s1600/IMG_1419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKu_TwAnNzPwbo0wZLXei5v9McFWdGPlchJAH-8CXg05FdvNmwqJRt8IOG2OemoABz19bm3WPq47C1gW7AP566NZCPCRQCwKgFZkCKNqSqUnnY1jnga4CrlUDmX564PBB6dgypl_ZXLM/s400/IMG_1419.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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A few weeks ago, Jared Clarke, naturalist, bird bander, teacher, and host of CJTR Radio's "<b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/theprairienaturalist">The Prairie Naturalist</a></b>" asked me a question: "How many hummingbirds are you seeing at your feeders?"<br />
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"Six or seven," I said.<br />
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"So you've got 21."<br />
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I thought he hadn't heard me so I said it again--six or seven.<br />
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Then he explained. When it looks like you have three hummingbirds you likely have ten or more coming to your feeders. Trouble is, you can't be sure until you start banding them.<br />
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Over the past month, Jared has been banding ruby-throated hummingbirds at acreages, farms, and cottages in the Qu'Appelle Lakes and surrounding area. He has come to our weekend farm south of Indian Head three times now and I finally had a chance to join him one morning earlier this week. So far he has banded 23 of them at our place and more than a hundred in general this summer. Here are some photos from the morning we spent together fishing for hummingbirds together.<br />
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Here is the rig he uses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5c72I2iyQXrmYqGMuzMmgjF4KICcueXcQRrfEBaXgsNUk7K6mowxHSYkK8OPmiA4la_1mqbnFq69JkFgGrsojSA286HsojWjwlMj8CkJ6XPPFtI0hOeQASVvqDLarM9R6cfekqg2-ryw/s1600/IMG_2971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5c72I2iyQXrmYqGMuzMmgjF4KICcueXcQRrfEBaXgsNUk7K6mowxHSYkK8OPmiA4la_1mqbnFq69JkFgGrsojSA286HsojWjwlMj8CkJ6XPPFtI0hOeQASVvqDLarM9R6cfekqg2-ryw/s400/IMG_2971.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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A simple and entirely safe trap that he suspends above a feeder, dropping the rolled up cylinder of soft mesh with a kite string from twenty feet away when a hummer comes into to drink.<br />
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Here we are holding the string and waiting (click on any image for a larger view).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDb_HyThfqhMr1zJwVVqTN6HlICq4XAcrC0sgMUWnHb8n9MT5o73PIBjLFV6HzYl2EPn-6j-7FFt0bl-R5QJDah_ExRm-W4HmVko8j5uD9E0orFg0e4SWNghD0gXtWRNJbo-7zYJHsGlI/s1600/IMG_2987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDb_HyThfqhMr1zJwVVqTN6HlICq4XAcrC0sgMUWnHb8n9MT5o73PIBjLFV6HzYl2EPn-6j-7FFt0bl-R5QJDah_ExRm-W4HmVko8j5uD9E0orFg0e4SWNghD0gXtWRNJbo-7zYJHsGlI/s400/IMG_2987.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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In a minute we had our first bird. I can't recall if this was an adult female or a juvenile born this summer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLK4d4-1toHvu44JsjiQJ5Oy_q3b-2fSCCvB7uvSvG6iTQysufo-uS3fnDgQ4ZR3AwarxW1R-qV2kXJgCbrxoaZP6QyI_-iP5O8Tcun0cW3V9IblEU3du-l9Egerbs_bJ527h43AdCQM/s1600/IMG_2974+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLK4d4-1toHvu44JsjiQJ5Oy_q3b-2fSCCvB7uvSvG6iTQysufo-uS3fnDgQ4ZR3AwarxW1R-qV2kXJgCbrxoaZP6QyI_-iP5O8Tcun0cW3V9IblEU3du-l9Egerbs_bJ527h43AdCQM/s400/IMG_2974+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Jared has designed the project so that he will return to the same feeders over several years, which will help him learn about the hummingbirds' rate of survival and loyalty to breeding areas.<br />
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The bands are so small I would need a magnifier to read the numbers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z11pWdbx2vVs5v5f340iiJSLlqU4vj22CdBUt_HmplEfKPWEy67sVp2SDNFkM1KeqRWnwMVg5hdMe_V_4DiH-VYoNcMT5Ak7Ov-s85QaIaILTQ9Zchh9m2xMjXAnQwXRhihZATNqPp0/s1600/IMG_2975+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1402" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z11pWdbx2vVs5v5f340iiJSLlqU4vj22CdBUt_HmplEfKPWEy67sVp2SDNFkM1KeqRWnwMVg5hdMe_V_4DiH-VYoNcMT5Ak7Ov-s85QaIaILTQ9Zchh9m2xMjXAnQwXRhihZATNqPp0/s400/IMG_2975+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Here is an adult male. It is smaller than the females so Jared has to trim about a half millimetre off of the band or it might slip right off its foot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvnrmEDp1yhqfXlS2g1nY1UA3lag7YTK47ZRuxwaxtZhJauped6nJUQXZcKAM__3D1EU7MCQHfcJNZynVRhj-UeFDQeu1q1XkrOzWk-ALWMJ1dllGXZzBDb0kxuRF0ua-cA1vhvki6F4/s1600/IMG_2981+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvnrmEDp1yhqfXlS2g1nY1UA3lag7YTK47ZRuxwaxtZhJauped6nJUQXZcKAM__3D1EU7MCQHfcJNZynVRhj-UeFDQeu1q1XkrOzWk-ALWMJ1dllGXZzBDb0kxuRF0ua-cA1vhvki6F4/s400/IMG_2981+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
And here is a young male born this year. You can see he has grown the first feather of his gorget, already glowing metallic red.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaN_1EyuSbCIA1cpzwUN5f3ka6n1B-FDbD6EAnxvpmI6l2aDuLCOPVDQU8QhqIGGj17fDQwKt7JmRpjcELo9g8ExWNPArrimYfo-eUh-5RXjCIuJ1uEz4jEg0Q-l1YaOOnZwh3JL4DiE/s1600/IMG_2980+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaN_1EyuSbCIA1cpzwUN5f3ka6n1B-FDbD6EAnxvpmI6l2aDuLCOPVDQU8QhqIGGj17fDQwKt7JmRpjcELo9g8ExWNPArrimYfo-eUh-5RXjCIuJ1uEz4jEg0Q-l1YaOOnZwh3JL4DiE/s400/IMG_2980+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
We talked the morning away as I retrieved birds from the trap and brought them to Jared for processing. If there is a more relaxing way to catch and band birds I haven't seen it.<br />
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<br />Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-82951941932865833552017-07-11T22:31:00.000-07:002017-07-11T22:31:28.314-07:00200 cattle die at Shamrock Pasture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>PFRA pasture managers working with cattle at Wolverine Community Pasture<br /> (image courtesy of Branimir Gjetvaj)</i></td></tr>
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When a couple of cows die suddenly, the people who own them want to know why. When a couple hundred die, the animal cruelty officers want to know too.<div>
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Last week, as we heard <b><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/200-cattle-dead-in-southwest-saskatchewan-1.4198128">in the media</a></b>, 200 cows and calves died of dehydration and drinking toxic water in the former Shamrock PFRA Community Pasture. The shareholders of the new Shamrock Grazing Corporation are understandably shaken by the event--for the hundreds of thousands of dollars represented in the loss, but also for the suffering their animals went through.<div>
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Shareholder representatives (many of whom would be former PFRA patrons) have been quick to defend the contract staff who were responsible for checking on the livestock, and that perspective is to be admired. However, <b>a<a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/cattle-die-neglect-saskatchewan-1.4199643">nimal cruelty officers are on site</a></b> interviewing people to see if they can determine if neglect may have led to the tragedy.</div>
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What I know about cattle and water management would not eclipse the period at the end of this sentence, but if the only available water evaporated enough to concentrate down to a toxic level of salts during the heat of the last week, then it might be fair to ask if an experienced manager with training and resources at his disposal would have provided the livestock in that field with a safer alternative source of water to avoid such a risk.</div>
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I asked a former manager of another PF pasture what he thought of the events at Shamrock. Not wanting to be seen as criticizing current managers, the former manager requested anonymity but said the following:<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />"This is exactly what I predicted would happen. The new lessees would not pay the pasture manager the salary he expected as they could find someone who would do the job for less. . . . This might be a lesson and a costly one for the producers, that maybe the former managers did have some value in the operation of the pastures. I had some dugouts that were potentially toxic and took measures to ensure that the cattle had other options for potable water. . . . .My experience is if it is bad in the spring it will only get worse, and if it is borderline for toxicity in the spring you had better have an alternative or back up plan, there will be more of this type of nightmares, I am guessing."</blockquote>
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Some transitioned federal pastures were able to convince their PFRA manager to make the move and work for the new grazing corporation--often by allowing them to graze their own livestock on the pasture. Shamrock, however, seems to have gone elsewhere to secure a manager. They put the position out for contract tender. <b><a href="https://www.saskjobs.ca/jsp/joborder/detail.jsp?job_order_id=760222">Here is the SaskJobs posting</a></b> they ran just last January. The list of "credentials (certificates, licences, memberships, courses, etc.)" has but one entry: "driver's licence;" however, the job description does mention water management.<div>
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None of which incriminates the grazing corporation in the least. If there is anyone to be blamed here, it is the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, for rushing the pastures through a privatization process without providing the kind of support and oversight that would ensure that under new governance the land and cattle will be managed at the same standard the PFRA always provided. </div>
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Instead of leaving the grazing patrons with the financial headroom and the incentives they needed to hire quality managers, the Province is taking as much revenue as they can from the transitioned pastures. It is only from the shareholders own ingenuity and effort that many of the transitioned pastures have been able to find good managers.</div>
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However, it is worth recalling that the federal PF managers were recruited, trained, and promoted in a system that not only reduced the incidence of such mishaps; the system included built-in public accountability through a chain of command ending at a minister's office when mistakes did occur or when private or public interests in the use of the land were at stake.</div>
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And if the Province is now neglecting to provide that accountability and internal oversight of local management on the private grazing and livestock side of pasture use, what should we expect in the way of accountability and oversight for the management of public interest, such as carbon sequestration, species at risk conservation, and access for Indigenous people's customary use? </div>
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In the new pasture dispensation, instead of the buck stops here, we have the bucks going into the provincial treasury and no one accountable for the proper management of these rare and important public lands. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKa9WBpW1RXpaG7H4GGi5cnwUUdNVzNofVeFjbjtSUf6XMF7Gxk8CD82SLC6CqE3BRIsPRPGrMWVHns8Sbi6devn-hwKBp3A0G0HNMrg9ykisc88uQytKgtatlrhqpETVPoiNUcep11IM/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKa9WBpW1RXpaG7H4GGi5cnwUUdNVzNofVeFjbjtSUf6XMF7Gxk8CD82SLC6CqE3BRIsPRPGrMWVHns8Sbi6devn-hwKBp3A0G0HNMrg9ykisc88uQytKgtatlrhqpETVPoiNUcep11IM/s400/027.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>healthy wetlands water livestock but provide important habitat on<br /> public grasslands including community pastures</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-1967385762972648472017-06-14T22:38:00.001-07:002017-06-15T13:24:21.240-07:00Grassland loss in Saskatchewan by the numbers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaE-0St2IuzL_lg2lGYWiDBsZ411Kj9NnTU_DCKxnC9Eeo5O_ExfJL3Q5_IyUrcy9yEpk676DXjyXy1n7702zzG0swT_Bs41G7zGQdLB-DoPaDDIY0JmKzVADGyqKoQ1xudc2kaphggE/s1600/IMG_2505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioaE-0St2IuzL_lg2lGYWiDBsZ411Kj9NnTU_DCKxnC9Eeo5O_ExfJL3Q5_IyUrcy9yEpk676DXjyXy1n7702zzG0swT_Bs41G7zGQdLB-DoPaDDIY0JmKzVADGyqKoQ1xudc2kaphggE/s400/IMG_2505.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>freshly broken prairie in Southwest Sask. where I often hear that no-one<br />breaks native grassland anymore</i></td></tr>
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<i><b><span style="color: red;">“Grassland being broken in substantial acreages is just not an issue.”</span> </b></i><br />
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Hon. Lyle Stewart, Minister of Saskatchewan Agriculture, <a href="http://www.producer.com/2013/09/native-grasslands-are-safe-ag-minister/"><i>Western Producer</i>, September 26, 2013</a>.<br />
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According to Stats Canada (Table 004-0203 - Census of Agriculture, land use, every 5 years), Saskatchewan lost 2,068,246 acres of “natural land for pasture” in the province between 1991 and 2016. <br />
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This means that more than 2 million acres of native grassland, aspen parkland and other forms of natural pasture land in the province were plowed under in the last 25 years. <br />
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How much is 2 million acres? It is nearly ten times the size of Grasslands National Park, one of our last remaining protected grassland areas of any size in the province.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEK-oKA9jlpt_3mffHnTl-F_bRbqg5REn9DOaAQhvEGRSpVzby-eg9vOmtcTAXNXFMRyqAc_1xTvGKQOLO1ay1gEmrfZisCa6ORt4BJUclmqIIPylgCNQGoygvi5wu9BnUi9yHNRR1P8/s1600/IMG_2500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEK-oKA9jlpt_3mffHnTl-F_bRbqg5REn9DOaAQhvEGRSpVzby-eg9vOmtcTAXNXFMRyqAc_1xTvGKQOLO1ay1gEmrfZisCa6ORt4BJUclmqIIPylgCNQGoygvi5wu9BnUi9yHNRR1P8/s400/IMG_2500.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>native grassland next to broken land--image taken in late May this year</i></td></tr>
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That 2 million acres amounts to one-sixth of the prairie area in Canada being destroyed in a single generation.<br />
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At that rate Saskatchewan is losing 80,000 acres on average every year, or more than 200 acres a day, or 9 acres every hour.<br />
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That is a 15.5% decrease over 25 years. How does that compare to rainforest loss? Well, <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_of_the_Amazon_rainforest#Forest_loss_rates">Brazil lost 9.5% of its rainforest over the same period</a>. </b>(To be perfectly clear--in absolute acres lost per year the rainforest loss is much higher than our loss of native prairie, but the yearly percentage loss of prairie in SK is greater than the yearly percentage loss of rainforest in Brazil.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SxxUV7hm3k3x8HvV3ackw-xJ9sxTr1FGVoC67TmcNmtcbvs__8-D-PmV9uLzaEiJDJmgaNrjFnvHtYrou63JOqyHDDrNXUOap3OD4mdTeWTzx8E-Cs5xLdGgjOHiUQGRNwmQKIZGmlk/s1600/IMG_2471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0SxxUV7hm3k3x8HvV3ackw-xJ9sxTr1FGVoC67TmcNmtcbvs__8-D-PmV9uLzaEiJDJmgaNrjFnvHtYrou63JOqyHDDrNXUOap3OD4mdTeWTzx8E-Cs5xLdGgjOHiUQGRNwmQKIZGmlk/s400/IMG_2471.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Long-Billed Curlew, one of many species in rapid decline because of <br />grassland loss</i></td></tr>
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Oh--almost forgot. It is <a href="http://www.pcap-sk.org/native-prairie-appreciation-week">Native Prairie Appreciation Week</a> next week, so get out there and appreciate what we have left of our native prairie.<br />
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-28465895992545444422017-05-25T17:05:00.002-07:002017-05-25T17:05:42.265-07:00Grassland voices<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvm8wj5suwQ8WJqf9icNWsKgVbe8tcPpVccI40GH0Nq2oaLrHLbaXbA9iln641LrOeXrjoyLtYxN81y8mHFoW8WIHEWVAvu2ojwKcz__JBXTdAZMXVDbWhx3Y84GL5Sd7FBY5V5HwAsqk/s1600/sylvie+and+karen+aug+2011+hike+to+devocht+149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvm8wj5suwQ8WJqf9icNWsKgVbe8tcPpVccI40GH0Nq2oaLrHLbaXbA9iln641LrOeXrjoyLtYxN81y8mHFoW8WIHEWVAvu2ojwKcz__JBXTdAZMXVDbWhx3Y84GL5Sd7FBY5V5HwAsqk/s400/sylvie+and+karen+aug+2011+hike+to+devocht+149.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>the Western Meadowlark, one of the many songbirds that thrive on community<br />pastures--(image courtesy of Hamilton Greenwood)</i></td></tr>
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On Saturday afternoon I am joining Ed Rodger, volunteer caretaker for the Govenlock-Nashlyn-Battle Creek Grasslands Important Bird Area in Saskatchewan's southwest corner, to sample breeding bird populations for the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas project.<br />
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We will head out each morning in time for the dawn chorus of bird song and record every bird we hear or see. (Information on the <b><a href="http://sk.birdatlas.ca/">Breeding Bird Atlas here</a></b>.)<br />
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The IBA is composed of three of the most ecologically significant community pastures in the federal community pasture program, which are all in their final year of operation as pastures managed by Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Nashyln and Battle Creek are scheduled to be transitioned to private management by the grazing patrons but it remains to be seen what will happen to Govenlock, which, for now, remains federal land. Grassland conservation groups are waiting for the federal government to work out an agreement with the private cattle producers dependent on Govenlock--one that would ensure their grazing rights on acceptable terms while providing support and programming for biodiversity and species at risk conservation.<br />
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The vast stretch of native grassland enclosed by these three contiguous pastures (nearly 850 sq kms of land (330 sq. mi.)) hosts some of the greatest densities of species at risk on the northern Great Plains. At this time of year, the air above these lands is filled with the song of thousands of birds--grassland longspurs and sparrows, lark buntings, meadowlarks and pipits. Here are a few of them in living colour and full voice, courtesy of the video work of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/wildbirdvideos">Wildbird Video Productions</a> and others on Youtube.<br />
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First, the Chestnut-collared Longspur:<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/waZM8uxMZ94/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/waZM8uxMZ94?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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It's cousin of the short-grass, the McCown's Longpur, (Wild Bird Video):<br />
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The Baird's sparrow (courtesy of Birdchick):<br />
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Brewer's sparrow (Wild Bird Video), voice of the sage-brush country:</div>
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Its much rarer neighbour the Sage Thrasher (Wild Bird Video):</div>
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the Lark Bunting, with one of the most distinctive voices on the prairie (courtesy of VHS Ark):</div>
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everyone's prairie favourite, the Western Meadowlark (Wild Bird Video):</div>
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and finally, the song that falls from the skies, the Sprague's Pipit, which as this video illustrates, is one of the hardest birds to get a good look at (courtesy of Charlotte Wasylik):<br /></div>
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<br />Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-56011964499873797362017-05-18T15:18:00.002-07:002017-05-18T15:39:08.332-07:00Grassland protection and loss--by the numbers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccgcfjIJ4BGa_XK3Opx7LTZABHqCogCMURAg2EQqp4bZuZCYUIE_lpaZ3S629NT2RGmSjgzakwLljy2p0IV88VwhsPZ9Npj6L92Lin8BBTiZGZYIBK-jqi4A9GuyUSRuNuLI_ACWrdpc/s1600/027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccgcfjIJ4BGa_XK3Opx7LTZABHqCogCMURAg2EQqp4bZuZCYUIE_lpaZ3S629NT2RGmSjgzakwLljy2p0IV88VwhsPZ9Npj6L92Lin8BBTiZGZYIBK-jqi4A9GuyUSRuNuLI_ACWrdpc/s400/027.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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[Thanks to Katherine Arbuthnott of Public Pastures--Public Interest for gathering the data and research for many of the figures shown below.]</div>
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<li><b>We estimate that we have somewhere around 20% of our native prairie remaining but it is a very rough estimate based on old and inadequate data.</b> (See <b><a href="http://www.pcap-sk.org/rsu_docs/documents/PCAP_native_prairie_lit_review_final_13Apr11.pdf">this document</a></b> by the Prairie Conservation Action Plan.) According to the most recent estimates which are all based on research from the 1994 Southern Digital Land Cover (SDLC) Digital Data--Saskatchewan has lost more than 80% of its native grasslands to cultivation and urban development. We should have a more up to date and accurate figure, but the province has never done a proper inventory of its native land cover south of the boreal forest.<br /></li>
<li><b>Per cent of grassland remaining by eco-region:</b>
13% in aspen parkland, 16% in moist mixed grassland, and 31% in mixed grassland<span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">. </span><i><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">(</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fr</span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">om Hammermeister, A., Gauthier, D., & McGovern, K.
(2001). Saskatchewan’s native prairie: Taking stock of a vanishing ecosystem
and dwindling resource. Native Plant Society of SK report</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">. And</span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> Statistics Canada census of agriculture, 2006;
<a href="https://www.npss.sk.ca/docs/2_pdf/NPSS_SKNativePrairie-TakingStock.pdf"><b>access here</b></a>.)</i><br /></span></li>
<li><b>Between 1971 and 1986, approximately 25% of grasslands were lost</b> to agriculture, industry, and urban development. <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>( From Coupland, R.T. (1987). Endangered prairie habitats: the mixed prairie. In
Proceedings of the Workshop on Endangered Species in the Prairie Provinces,
Edmonton, AB, 24-26 January, 1986. )</i></span><br /></li>
<li><b>Between 1987 and 2001, an additional 10% was lost</b> across all eco-regions: 15% in aspen parkland, 8% in mixed grasslands, and 5% in Cyprus uplands. This means that approximately 1% of the small areas of native grasslands remaining are lost each year. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(From Watmough,
M.D., & Schmoll, M.J. (2007). Environment Canada’s prairie and northern
region habitat monitoring program, Phase II. Technical report series No. 493.
Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Edmonton, AB.)</i></span></li>
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<li><b>85% of the land south of our forest is privately owned</b>.<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>("Game Management Plan: 2017-2027", Government of Saskatchewan).</i></span><br /></li>
<li><b>Saskatchewan has 24% of all private land in Canada</b>, but merely 6.5% of the nation's total area ("Land Use in Saskatchewan," P.C.. Rump and Kent Harper, Govt of Sask, 1980). In Saskatchewan most habitat loss is driven by industrialized agriculture on privately owned land.<br /></li>
<li><b>Some areas of Saskatchewan have among the highest rates of grassland habitat loss</b> in the entire Great Plains. <br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(<a href="https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/947/files/original/plowprint_AnnualReport_2016_Final_REV09192016.pdf">World Wildlife Fund Plowprint Report, 2016.</a>). </span></i></li>
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<li><b>The transfer of the former federal community pastures</b> has effectively removed all conservation programming and protection from 1.78 M acres of land, which are all listed under Saskatchewan's Representative Areas Network as officially protected. . . at least for now.<br /></li>
<li><b>The <a href="https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/crown-lands/southern-conservation-land-management-strategy">Province of Saskatchewan has removed </a>another 1.8 M acres</b> of public land in the grassland eco-zone from the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act to make it available for sale--effectively removing its legislative protection.<br /></li>
<li>In its March Budget <b><a href="http://www.producer.com/2017/03/sask-to-nix-community-pasture-program/">the Province announced</a></b> that it is shutting down the Provincial Community Pasture program (another 780,000 acres, 590,000 acres of which have also been listed under Saskatchewan's Representative Areas Network as officially protected).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbRUJ-nWflvpHjLJNd3ABMy4nUBUreAHQeqTSb-R_ChXhLPygDl_Li4AEMp8N7hCwgJ86Hwb9kGu4MeK6nXJZ71BDjJxWnBjETerDwam6UNMhgcBmOr8SB2-EgC654eVdqKYQCHx2l5o/s1600/039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbRUJ-nWflvpHjLJNd3ABMy4nUBUreAHQeqTSb-R_ChXhLPygDl_Li4AEMp8N7hCwgJ86Hwb9kGu4MeK6nXJZ71BDjJxWnBjETerDwam6UNMhgcBmOr8SB2-EgC654eVdqKYQCHx2l5o/s400/039.JPG" width="400" /></a></li>
<li>It remains to be seen whether some of these grasslands will be subdivided and sold, but if they are no longer receiving any form of government management or programming and will be treated more or less like any other privately leased Crown grasslands, their status as protected areas will eventually be lost.<br /></li>
<li>This brings the tally of acres losing conservation programming and protection in Saskatchewan to <b>more than 2.3 Million.</b> That puts at risk more than one-third of the 6 Million acres in Saskatchewan's prairie ecozone officially protected under our (<b><a href="http://trevorherriot.blogspot.ca/2017/02/how-is-saskatchewan-doing-on-its.html">much neglected) Representative Areas Network</a></b>.<br /></li>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-83170648522519830662017-05-04T09:34:00.000-07:002017-05-04T09:34:28.173-07:00A farmer's "next challenge"?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Yes, listen up farmers—if you need advice you can always get it from a mining company’s billboards.<div>
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Because mining companies always serve the public good and treat the land really well. PotashCorp really cares about the starving multitudes all over the planet. And it cares about our prairie farmers who have to shoulder the responsibility of feeding the world—guys like the model in the new PotashCorp ads photoshopped in to make it look like he is outstanding in his field.<br /><br />I bet they care so much they are even working on a program to help our farmers take up the <i>next </i>challenge after they feed 9 billion with unsustainable, petro-intensive, climate-change-driving high-yield agriculture. And that would be helping them come up with a way to explain to their grandchildren (and themselves) just why it was a good idea to remove every shred of natural cover on miles and miles of the land they manage. But that shouldn’t too difficult—you can always appeal to an authority like God or global trade, something like that:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Well you see, theoretical grandchild, the Good Lord made this land very fertile—good for growing the wheat and canola that starving children eat all over the planet. We’ve been doing it here for almost 100 years. Your great-granddad was the first person to grow wheat in this part of Saskatchewan.” </blockquote>
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“Really? What was here before that?” </blockquote>
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“Oh, not much really. Just a bunch of grass. It maybe fed some buffalo and a few nomadic Indians who came by now and then but they are better off with the real food they have now. Your grandpa used to have a bit of that old grass where the school used to be but we crop that spot now. It’d be irresponsible to keep a piece of land in grass when it could be productive and feed people.” </blockquote>
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“Why are we feeding people who live so far away? Can’t they feed themselves?” </blockquote>
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“Well, that is a good question. Let’s see if I can remember my Econ. 101. Ok, here we have the know-how to use machines and chemicals and thousands of acres to grow a whole lot of food without having to employ many people. And we do that better than anyone on the planet. That is what economists call our ‘comparative advantage’. People who buy our grain and canola in other parts of the world might not be so good at feeding themselves but they have their own things they’re good at—things like, oh I don’t know, digging conflict minerals out of the ground to provide the rare metals Chinese people need to make your smartphone work...that kind of thing. It all works out quite nicely.”<br /> <br />“Yeah, but grandpa....” </blockquote>
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“Now you run along and play . . . grandpa has to go stand in the field and think about how he is going to feed 9 billion people.”</blockquote>
<br />And now, it might be a good idea to clear the palate with some food for thought from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (click on the image below to see a larger version):<br /></div>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-9641543591114994742017-04-22T15:14:00.001-07:002017-04-22T15:19:25.013-07:00 Road Allowances: Restoring the Lost Kingdom of Monarchs and Lady's Slippers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every scrap of public land is precious in a province that has privatized 85% of its prairie ecozone (and is working hard to sell off the rest). One type of public land that gets little attention is the undeveloped road allowance, a strip of natural landscape that is supposed to run along the edge of many sections of farmland in Saskatchewan. <br />
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Our road allowances—surrounding all land south of the forest in a grid every mile east and west and every two miles north and south—are often used to provide and maintain transportation and utility access through the landscape, serving the public interest. They form a network of commons upon the land that connects us to services and to one another. But road allowances that are <i>not </i>used for roads and other infrastructure have also historically provided refuge and connectivity for nature in agricultural landscapes—supporting the commons of healthy, diverse ecosystems we depend upon for our own health and wellbeing. <br />
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All told, these strips of public land only a generation ago protected hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat in this province. At sixty-six feet wide, each mile of undeveloped road allowance provides eight acres of habitat for an array of plants and animals. When they are left alone, they support a mix of native and introduced grasses and forbs, shrubs and trees in moister areas, and small wetlands. Here and there, scraps of native prairie will persist if no one has put them to the plow.<br />
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Historically, road allowances formed ribbons of nature around cultivated land, a wild kingdom belonging to no man where anyone was free to hunt, walk, camp, pick berries; where badgers, meadowlarks, and burrowing owls thrived, and where the lady slipper and the monarch butterfly took refuge.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Yellow Lady's Slipper in a road allowance in the RM of Indian Head</i></td></tr>
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What happened? Farmers got scarce and farms got huge as the drive for efficiency took over. Now our few remaining farmers, using larger equipment and satellite guidance systems to seed, spray, and harvest tens of thousands of acres, have begun to look upon undeveloped road allowances as obstacles that can often be eliminated and converted into tax-free acres to bring under production. It’s just waste land—why not use it to feed the world with the cheap food it seems to want? <br />
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In some cases farmers go to their local Rural Municipality (RM) to request authorization to include the road allowance into their operation, but often they proceed without permission. A few hours on the right piece of heavy equipment, and any modern farmer can easily remove the natural cover, break the soil, and start treating the public land like it is theirs to seed and spray. In short order, the meadowlarks lose their nest sites, Monarch butterflies lose the milkweed they need to lay eggs, and the lady slippers and anenomes are replaced with canola and wheat.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvexrfT44BZmf-lH7daUcfo6vF1Wozk5RcF1P_J3ht4xKlfw_ioXAzMiO5HQO88RijGMHaGtSBhnyfFUzjhyNy3R8vsnmSjL2KQbWeWPxOD5kfuEd_4tksYfzu-0XnGT3FVMQA384QKs/s1600/IMG_0167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvexrfT44BZmf-lH7daUcfo6vF1Wozk5RcF1P_J3ht4xKlfw_ioXAzMiO5HQO88RijGMHaGtSBhnyfFUzjhyNy3R8vsnmSjL2KQbWeWPxOD5kfuEd_4tksYfzu-0XnGT3FVMQA384QKs/s400/IMG_0167.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>a road allowance filled with Canada Anenome in the RM of Indian Head</i></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8A8W8ra_xU_nNOlSPnjl-5ZX4X4Aszt17N1uxLm4uwfgv7nAATjI4XBNkPYdg-MQW7QZ3GCPSU8DaZGnNGYsF9vm1wya7vYtOl2iRPnOAwzq1z9osGE7V8FH5c2dvAxfWyuiR3L3Zqk/s1600/IMG_8369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>What needs to be done? For thirty years or more, the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, with 25,000 members spread across the province, has been trying to work with RMs to conserve undeveloped road allowances. They urge RMs to voluntarily protect their undeveloped road allowances as habitat, by leaving them natural, discouraging unnecessary traffic, and posting them with signs. <br />
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But voluntary programs work better when the public gets involved and supports the effort. If you live in the country, talk to your RM and ask what they are doing to protect road allowances that do not have roads. See if they might consider instituting the <b><a href="https://swf.sk.ca/programs/wildlife-tomorrow/">Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife for Tomorrow program for road allowances</a></b>. If your RM is already signed up, make sure you thank the reeve and let them know you support the protection of road allowances.<br />
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We will not be returning vast stretches of the native prairie to their former grandeur any time soon, but we do have it within our reach to surround our farm fields with strips of land that are sanctuaries and corridors for wildlife and carbon storage, natural protection against wind and water erosion, and places for the public to hike, ride horseback, pick berries, and let nature restore our senses.<br />
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[This post owes much to the work and insights of the great and gracious Lorne Scott, former Reeve of the RM of Indian Head, and a farmer-conservationist of wide reknown.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Monarch butterflies, an endangered species in steep decline, depends<br /> on marginal habitat like road allowances where milkweed does not<br />get poisoned by roundup</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-50374127771999472472017-04-09T17:05:00.002-07:002017-04-09T17:05:44.242-07:00Conservation Saskatchewan Style: 15 of the species you can shoot get a ten-year plan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7Ra2CglQz14C5gxPp_Wn6aYHzDrah6hjN-FhKLhkurBerxg95PP0dVQfMOjsk4B7QwVrRBC78j0D73R-qC8BeEbQnk2hA_QNUYwbDzT-Rh8StEKo2udVHL9eaZLttvWgF0QfaLXCmjc/s1600/sylvie+and+karen+aug+2011+hike+to+devocht+179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7Ra2CglQz14C5gxPp_Wn6aYHzDrah6hjN-FhKLhkurBerxg95PP0dVQfMOjsk4B7QwVrRBC78j0D73R-qC8BeEbQnk2hA_QNUYwbDzT-Rh8StEKo2udVHL9eaZLttvWgF0QfaLXCmjc/s400/sylvie+and+karen+aug+2011+hike+to+devocht+179.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice bird, but it doesn't belong here and it gets more management attention<br />than at risk birds like the Chestnut-collared Longspur <br />(image courtesy of Hamilton Greenwood)</td></tr>
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Saskatchewan's Ministry of Environment will soon be releasing its “Game Management Plan: 2017-2027.” <div>
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I had a look at a draft a couple of weeks ago. Nothing wrong with it, for the fifteen game species it covers (two of which are not native to the continent).</div>
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But it is impossible to read such a plan without thinking of the side of wildlife conservation that is not getting this kind of long-range planning and programming in Saskatchewan.</div>
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When are we going to see a provincial plan for biodiversity, for our degraded and disappearing prairie wetlands and grasslands, and for the thirty-plus species at risk trying to hang on to the last scraps of prairie or make a go of it in private farmland that is being ditched, drained and bulldozed at a ferocious rate?<br /><br />How about some a plan and equivalent funding for Representative Areas and Protected Areas programming?</div>
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<br />Remarkably, at least in the draft document, the authors of the plan list the following as the plan’s first principle:<br /><br />“1. Public lands, waters and wildlife are held by government in trust for the benefit of all people.”<br /><br />Wow. Now that is crazy talk. I thought we were all about getting rid of public lands because our private landowners are so darn good at looking after habitat and wildlife needs. Or did these folks in Environment miss that memo? Or maybe they are just talking about forested public land and this kind of thinking doesn’t really apply to native grassland. <br /><br />I have met some of the people who would have worked on this plan. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment has some terrific scientists, people who made a long investment in their education and graduated with high ideals. Some of them have done graduate work on the non-game species most endangered in this province, have studied the habitats we are losing, but now they spend their days counting white-tailed deer or moose and devising ten-year plans for “the responsible use and conservation of resources.” <br /><br />Really? That’s it—“use of resources”? I thought Aldo Leopold put that ‘wise-use’ jargon to bed back in the 1940s. </div>
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We can do better than this.</div>
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It is embarrassing to live in a province whose only long-range planning for the wildlife we share under treaty is limited to 15 huntable species. Here is a list of the fortunate few who get the lion’s share of attention from our Ministry of Environment:<br /><br />White-tailed deer, Mule deer, Moose, Elk, Barren-ground and Woodland caribou, Black bear, Pronghorn and these birds: Sharp-tailed grouse, Ring-necked pheasant*, Spruce grouse, Gray partridge*, Ruffed grouse Willow and Rock ptarmigan (*European species).<br /><br />The other prejudice revealed in this plan is for forest over wetlands and grasslands. In the text of the plan, the word “forest” appears seventeen times, but grassland appears only four times and wetlands three times. Why is that? Only half of the province is forest. What about the wildlife where most of us live—in the south? <br /><br />To answer that you have to go back to the plan’s first principle: “Public lands, waters and wildlife are held by government in trust for the benefit of all people.”<br /><br />Our forests are 95% Crown land and that means we have some capacity to manage them for public values such as wildlife protection. Under “Maintaining Habitat on Crown Land,” the document goes on to say “the majority of remnant natural lands such as forests and native grasslands in Saskatchewan are publicly owned and confer a range of benefits to people including wildlife and habitat, water quality protection, climate regulation and recreational values. Effective management and stewardship of this public natural capital is critical for the achievement of the GMP vision and other ministry objectives.”<br /><br />That sounds so good. What about south of the forest? As the plan states under the heading “Consideration for Game Management,” 85 per cent of Saskatchewan lands “south of the forest fringe are privately owned or managed. As such, the success of wildlife management programs largely hinges on the support of Saskatchewan landowners.” <br /><br />How is that working out? According to the text under “Maintaining Habitat on Privately-owned Land,” there are some voluntary programs mostly funded by private NGOs, a couple of landowner recognition awards—again, NGO driven—and oh yes, some policies and legislation “intended to protect wildlife habitat.” <br /><br />Well, this side of those best intentions and all that hinges on the support of Saskatchewan landowners, any reasonable assessment of the prairie eco-zone would have to conclude that things have become unhinged. <br /><br />We have a government that wants to protect wildlife by looking for the support of private landowners and private landowners who would like to protect wildlife but want the government to support them. Caught in the middle, more prairie species are added to the endangered list every year, and more privately-managed habitat disappears down the throat of industrialized agriculture.<br /><br />The plan opens with these words:<br /><br />“Saskatchewan’s many and varied wildlife are a public resource belonging to all Saskatchewan residents. The responsible use and conservation of these resources, on behalf of the public, is the responsibility of the Government of Saskatchewan.”<br /><br />Yep. Except when we are offloading that responsibility to private landowners and hoping for the best.</div>
Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-23792076853656021172017-03-31T14:46:00.002-07:002017-03-31T14:46:51.013-07:00Inspiration from the best of our ranchers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWl96w6XIaoT2rn2zekRlcRVcrunP1GjuAsBmZ2jc_DjG8DF-tX2tBhniY4rj6Tl5640C5jefg_inFra_tx9zBJpnhz7OxgFXE189_PFcQimr-blt2SmAaqlPSeOnD75iIY4V5BQ3Qwww/s1600/IMG_0530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWl96w6XIaoT2rn2zekRlcRVcrunP1GjuAsBmZ2jc_DjG8DF-tX2tBhniY4rj6Tl5640C5jefg_inFra_tx9zBJpnhz7OxgFXE189_PFcQimr-blt2SmAaqlPSeOnD75iIY4V5BQ3Qwww/s400/IMG_0530.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ponteix rancher, Orin Balas (left) showing his excellently managed prairie to<br />Bob McLean from the Canadian Wildlife Service</i></td></tr>
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The Province is saying it will dismantle Saskatchewan's provincial
community pastures system. Not good news, but here is a four-step process on how
to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear:<br /><br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1.</span> First, for inspiration and food for thought, take a look at
this short, ten minute video (below) put out by the <b><a href="http://www.sodcap.com/">South of the Divide ConservationAction Program (Sodcap</a></b>).
It is called "Prairie Pride" and features some of Southwest Saskatchewan’s best private managers
of native rangeland, ranchers who graze large expanses of Crown grasslands on
long-term private lease holdings—much of which would be included under the
Wildlife Habitat Protection Act. <br /><br />Listen to what they have to say. The video
contains a hopeful, aspirational message that speaks to possibilities that
could help us make that silk purse.<br /><br /><br /></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0aa5HRR98C0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0aa5HRR98C0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />2. </span>Now, keeping in mind the stewardship ethos expressed so well
in the video by those three ranchers—good people I have had the privilege to
meet—let yourself imagine a partnership between private interest (cattle producers),
the wider public interest (government administered Crown grasslands of various
kinds), and the local community interest of rural areas—a partnership that
would aim to foster a mix of private and public benefits: economic, cultural,
social, and ecological, including improved carbon sequestration and climate
resiliency. <br /><br />How? Take the gospel of stewardship and prairie protection we heard
from the ranchers in the video and use public policy to help it spread across
our prairie ecozone to all land managers—First Nations, farmers, mixed farmers
and other ranchers.<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />3. </span>Next, consider the moment and its rich possibilities: <br />
<br />
a.) The last of the former PFRA federal community pastures, and the biggest
ones with the highest ecological values in terms of biodiversity and species at
risk density, are poised to be transferred to Saskatchewan and then placed into
private management for cattle production by groups formed by the former grazing
patrons. <br /><br /></div>
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b.) <b><a href="http://treaty4news.com/2017/03/fsin-upset-over-province-auctioning-crown-lands/">First Nations in the province are concerned</a></b> about the
sell-off of Crown lands and meanwhile are increasingly interested in land
management opportunities.<br /><br />
c.) Organizations launched by ranchers, from Sodcap to Ranchers Stewardship
Alliance to the Prairie Conservation Action Plan (PCAP) are concerned about the
business risks that Species at Risk pose for private producers. This is a
reality. If land managers see SAR as a liability, bad stuff happens.<br /><br />
d.) The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture just announced that it is planning
to close its provincial community pastures program, but it is inviting the
public to join in a discussion on what should happen to these fifty pieces of
land containing 780,000 acres, some of which is native and some of which is
tame grass.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. </span>Finally, take a look at maps that show the federal and provincial pastures, as well as the Wildlife Habitat Protection Act grasslands nearby—here is an example below.<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcc51qTYKRRO-VbuvSV_wQCh7vXkL261Qoug8SbXYqN4sxpSYDM_VltydvQgBfIVZoufOSzMKsZioJ0yJTAHg5vz9gsA_f4kKmOLLE7iDw2iVRXBJX1VuN6Ji2OJs_cpa5Her8No_L9yQ/s1600/sw+protected+lands+under+RAN.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcc51qTYKRRO-VbuvSV_wQCh7vXkL261Qoug8SbXYqN4sxpSYDM_VltydvQgBfIVZoufOSzMKsZioJ0yJTAHg5vz9gsA_f4kKmOLLE7iDw2iVRXBJX1VuN6Ji2OJs_cpa5Her8No_L9yQ/s400/sw+protected+lands+under+RAN.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">click on the image to see a larger version: pale green pieces are PFRA pastures,<br />the baby blue in the middle is Arena Provincial Community pasture, and the<br />small violet squares are WHPA lands leased as private holdings. Most of the dark<br />brown area remaining is private land that has been cultivated.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /><br /></div>
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Now, keeping the grazing needs of cattle producers in mind, consider that as of
today all of that land is still Crown provincial land—most of it leased out or
soon to be leased out privately—but as Crown land it remains an instrument of
public policy. Interesting possibilities come to mind, but any seizing of this
opportunity would have to arise from the cattle producers of the region, but
then widen to include the interests of the public that would ultimately be
helping to absorb the costs of any programming or support. <br />
<br />
Each region has its own soil and climate and therefore may need its own
solution—a solution initiated locally that would honour and take advantage of
the two kinds of range management knowledge that have been keeping the best of
our Crown grasslands in good condition for generations: one, the traditional,
intergenerational knowledge of private managers, which reaches back through some Indigenous land managers into the distant past, and two, the science of the range
ecologists and biologists who support and work closely with private cattle
producers. <br />
<br />
With a new vision of how public lands, private interest and the community can
work together in grassland regions, and the right support from the conservation
community and federal and provincial governments, those two sides of range management
knowledge and science could ensure that the example of stewards like those
shown in Prairie Pride will not only live on in one corner of the province but
will begin to spread to other areas as well. <br />
<br />
Who knows? One day the pipits, longspurs, shrikes and burrowing owls that have
vanished from large portions of their range might return. Once a better private-public
bargain is in place and producers are feeling supported and appreciated, the
ethic of stewardship could even extend to grassland restoration, helping to
connect some of our isolated expanses of native grassland with richer habitat
suitable for cattle production as well. <br /><br />In the bargain, Saskatchewan could be proud of its contribution to national protected areas and carbon sequestration targets by working with land managers to increase our percentage of the prairie ecozone under protection and our net storage of carbon in soils under well-managed perennial cover. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now that would be prairie pride times ten.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pxIfdCLiTt9V9KsG75O8VMt564qQGAfQBXzxBsVemwJIowUc1GEUH4008XrFOpjMwHPAr_9ou-quIQu60o4NZ7lBcNZ8QfF9_3A7pAmhBhPlYijC-ZmEl8nXU21TWjSfdwPOyDflMAw/s1600/IMG_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pxIfdCLiTt9V9KsG75O8VMt564qQGAfQBXzxBsVemwJIowUc1GEUH4008XrFOpjMwHPAr_9ou-quIQu60o4NZ7lBcNZ8QfF9_3A7pAmhBhPlYijC-ZmEl8nXU21TWjSfdwPOyDflMAw/s400/IMG_0513.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Govenlock area rancher Randy Stokke on a Sodcap field tour</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-68270109258955397682017-03-23T23:29:00.000-07:002017-03-23T23:36:32.452-07:00Keep your hands off our public lands<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAShskgbimQRkSyj5dwgvbyrTBmmgLyrDcZf6zbLTxg_ckiha8w6Aikxj7cefG2gLeubjYl7pYot5lxRv2rH5d9FKgPluou-4YbB7DwQCDcWtM2IBvumpeXuELbNC9R6TQqBbzJGhuhE/s1600/private+land+now.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtAShskgbimQRkSyj5dwgvbyrTBmmgLyrDcZf6zbLTxg_ckiha8w6Aikxj7cefG2gLeubjYl7pYot5lxRv2rH5d9FKgPluou-4YbB7DwQCDcWtM2IBvumpeXuELbNC9R6TQqBbzJGhuhE/s400/private+land+now.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>image courtesy of Hamilton Greenwood</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Ok, the vandals in charge of the legislature have delivered another sucker punch to our natural prairie, announcing in the budget that they will be disposing of the 51 provincial community pastures, likely <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatchewan-pastures-program-1.4036408">putting them up for sale</a>.<br />
<br />
Among our large provinces and territories (i.e. excluding the Maritimes), Saskatchewan already leads the nation in the ratio of private land to public. Across Canada, 11% of land is privately owned. In B.C. 7% of land is private. In Alta, 30%. Saskatchewan is at 40% but south of the boreal forest in this province the figure is 80% and rising. In fact, believe it or not, by 1980 24% of all privately held land in Canada was in Saskatchewan<a community="" docx="" edn1="" href="file:///C:/Trevor" mar="" media="" pastures="" pppi="" respond="" s="" stuff="" to="">[i]</a>—almost all of it in the Prairie Ecozone. And now we are adding more?<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtQqMaidm9YtJVVytvzPwqGqwNZneSi3cr74jWZTqlxGtWfy6Q84tDwHA9LSqnbFLgMBcIr2Hg0H2qsVbFMY-W6pp-PmRMaW7bRUKfi1gmlywPVhmv3UxU6VTtoqeWQ6USem5vQdThHU/s1600/80+PER+CENT.JPG"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNtQqMaidm9YtJVVytvzPwqGqwNZneSi3cr74jWZTqlxGtWfy6Q84tDwHA9LSqnbFLgMBcIr2Hg0H2qsVbFMY-W6pp-PmRMaW7bRUKfi1gmlywPVhmv3UxU6VTtoqeWQ6USem5vQdThHU/s400/80+PER+CENT.JPG" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">southern Saskatchewan has 24% of all private land in Canada</span></i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Canada keeps its forested ecosystems public (94% of forested lands are Crown owned) to ensure they are managed for a mix of private and public interests. What about our grasslands, which have very little protection and are much more endangered than our forests?<br />
<br />
Once we privatize Crown land, easements or not, we severely weaken our ability to create and enforce the laws, regulations and policies required to meet any priorities for sustainable grassland management for the wider public interest: climate change mitigation and carbon management, species at risk, biodiversity, soil and water conservation, heritage conservation, access for education and recreation....and so on.<br />
<br />
Our Crown lands—so scarce in the south—are the last shadows of the prairies we were entrusted to share and protect together under treaty, the closest thing we have to land held in common for the benefit of all treaty people. <br />
<br />
If we stand by and let this government sell them off, we will be abandoning any possible renewal of the spirit in which the treaties were signed, and inviting a new form of colonization taking us even further from any legitimate social contract with the land and its first peoples.<br />
<br />
There is no dressing up this kind of decision—when you strip the protection from large expanses of old growth prairie that were listed under the province’s <a href="https://www.saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculture-natural-resources-and-industry/land-management/saskatchewan-representative-areas-network">Representative Areas Network</a> (RAN) you are essentially saying that their protection does not matter. <br />
<br />
Crown conservation easements on their own cannot protect the habitat and its many rare and threatened species. Saskatchewan Agriculture has neither the staff nor the desire to monitor and prosecute private producers who violate any of its existing regulations—are we to believe they will enforce easements on all of the public lands they are selling off?<br />
<br />
Twenty-eight of the provincial pastures totaling 240,000 ha (593,000 acres) are listed as protected areas under RAN, which contributes to Canada’s national totals of protected areas it reports to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Until the Wall government got hold of our Crown lands, Saskatchewan had 2.4 M ha (5.9 M acres) of land in the Prairie Ecozone under RAN protection. You could call that 2.4 M ha a good start but this government is taking the scant RAN protection we had in the prairie ecozone and slashing it by thirds. <br />
<br />
First the PFRA federal pastures lose their protection and conservation programming. That subtracts 720,000 ha from RAN. Then they sell another 720,000 ha of Wildlife Habitat Protection Act lands that were also listed under RAN. Add the 230,000 ha portion of the provincial pastures that have been included in RAN and now instead of Saskatchewan protecting 2.4 M ha of the Prairie Ecozone, we are down to a mere 760,000 ha—which is about 3% of the ecozone’s 24 M hectares, and abysmally short of the Canada 2020 target of 17% protection for Canada’s ecozones.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Stay posted. This land is worth fighting for. On a stage in downtown Regina tonight, I heard Joel Plaskett and his father Bill sing a new song that ends with these words:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The next blue sky is ours. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>We're in this fight to win</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>and we will.</i></div>
<div>
<br />
<a community="" docx="" ednref1="" href="file:///C:/Trevor" mar="" media="" pastures="" pppi="" respond="" s="" stuff="" to="">[i]</a> Land Use in Saskatchewan. P.C. Rump and Kent Harper. Saskatchewan Environment. 1980. p. 56<br />
<div>
<div id="edn1">
</div>
</div>
</div>
Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-62926649331448947762017-03-03T12:21:00.000-08:002017-03-06T09:43:50.355-08:00Auctioning off the Farm: Satellite Views of Crown Land up for Auction<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQsiRsWo7Vpqybs9WBKGvKpJWYoj5wULReBuz473h1xAhkbuhx2s57kB5-RTsU7_HNPyBDHxqFlYAFQwHfm2ZTV-O_e3S_RsRmOildpD8fu5NfCzeINgHz3d46zNx1EteuCmkbj6LqQ4/s1600/IMG_1892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQsiRsWo7Vpqybs9WBKGvKpJWYoj5wULReBuz473h1xAhkbuhx2s57kB5-RTsU7_HNPyBDHxqFlYAFQwHfm2ZTV-O_e3S_RsRmOildpD8fu5NfCzeINgHz3d46zNx1EteuCmkbj6LqQ4/s400/IMG_1892.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Saskatchewan's Provincial Bird, the Sharp-tailed Grouse, is<br /> declining and needs the grassy habitats Crown lands provide</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, so the <a href="http://leaderpost.com/business/agriculture/80-parcels-of-crown-land-up-for-auction"><b>Ministry of Agriculture is saying</b></a> that the 80
parcels of land it is <b><a href="https://www.rbauction.com/cms_assets/images/eq1/real-estate/SK-Ministry-of-Ag-Real-Estate-Handout.pdf">auctioning off</a></b> this month have little or no ecological value. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s check that out with a little help from Google Maps
satellite view and the Province’s <b><a href="http://www.envgis.gov.sk.ca/Agriculture/ACLMV/">Agricultural Crown Land Map Viewer</a></b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first parcel I searched for on the Crown Land Map Viewer
was NW 12-28-3 W3rd, in the Rural Municipality of Rosedale, south of Kenaston
and west of Bladworth. As you can see in the screen capture below, the parcel
of 160 acres is part of a larger block of Crown land (marked in pink) totaling
800 acres, and only one mile east of an even larger block of Crown land
totaling 2,560 acres. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dT6NkKpwBp1K2c8Psl7y25kPYn9gpzCB5JVVjpiziSgCWaNQeWWdYgoGfixC__XW8meAYus-QJeR_CO4K39f9TcWPe_UxsosSU2rcbWsUlUjEfESKZy0-Ul05R2Q6NbC_Ac_DC1aZtw/s1600/Crown+parcel+south+of+Kenaston+for+auction.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dT6NkKpwBp1K2c8Psl7y25kPYn9gpzCB5JVVjpiziSgCWaNQeWWdYgoGfixC__XW8meAYus-QJeR_CO4K39f9TcWPe_UxsosSU2rcbWsUlUjEfESKZy0-Ul05R2Q6NbC_Ac_DC1aZtw/s400/Crown+parcel+south+of+Kenaston+for+auction.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Click on image to see a larger view</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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Together the two discontinuous pieces of Crown land make
up more than 3,300 acres.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, that is a lot of land but maybe it’s all cultivated land
with no natural cover of any kind, no habitat or ecological value. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To figure that out, we have to go to Google’s satellite view
and see what is there. Here it is, with red marking the Crown land and yellow
indicating the Crown quarter up for auction. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDGy1BRNVhTxtLW30XrO7ZIkc31oBb1d2bTjJ8xfUFQcwJSd0M-suTz_wRtoxeTLth9OrQvkzx4zPnp_z5dC6nqIszQkPie5O3VA0ODOOvsjKeHBu2LdHW2zjDVSpq8PU-zD_yiyQKdA/s1600/google+map+image+of+Crown+land+s+of+Kenaston.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiDGy1BRNVhTxtLW30XrO7ZIkc31oBb1d2bTjJ8xfUFQcwJSd0M-suTz_wRtoxeTLth9OrQvkzx4zPnp_z5dC6nqIszQkPie5O3VA0ODOOvsjKeHBu2LdHW2zjDVSpq8PU-zD_yiyQKdA/s400/google+map+image+of+Crown+land+s+of+Kenaston.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Click on the image to get a bigger view. And then look at
this view from higher up to see the surrounding area.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTWq1fJcDHVCJl9p59oJQLaav_dKtu7MoIqrkVqo08_HR7za0Y-6GLfRVCW-gENRGurzzB2p3oqyn6DI9lRkkYK4gErPSvqmtCdiF7v8IcAFh9jN0uKDVouInm4whJbPWjBmXF-zxlxA/s1600/higher+view+of+Kenaston+quarter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTWq1fJcDHVCJl9p59oJQLaav_dKtu7MoIqrkVqo08_HR7za0Y-6GLfRVCW-gENRGurzzB2p3oqyn6DI9lRkkYK4gErPSvqmtCdiF7v8IcAFh9jN0uKDVouInm4whJbPWjBmXF-zxlxA/s400/higher+view+of+Kenaston+quarter.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You don’t need a lot of experience reading satellite images
to see that the Crown land appears to be grassland of some kind, and most of
the surrounding privately-owned parcels have been cultivated to grow annual crops.<br />
<br />
It has a small ephemeral stream running through it and appears to be under permanent cover—which means, whether it is native grass or partly tame grass, it sequesters more carbon, provides natural habitat for prairie creatures like the Sharp-tailed Grouse, protects biodiversity, and does a better job of conserving soil and water, and handling the extremes of drought and flood, than the surrounding private land under cultivation.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there is one more way to see if it is native grassland or not.<br />
<br />
The quarter up
for sale (marked in yellow) is listed by the Province in its <b><a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=d768fe20-6569-4eeb-a4ac-0bfc7cc87e21">Crown Land Search</a></b> feature online, which tells you what condition the land is in, using a category they call "Production State". Here is the results when I searched for this quarter near Kenaston up for auction:<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Rd_JoXuKmWXo8IxQQhp4-vnnYD17t7J0Fjj8tslHe7SXven-9Tr4jMi6Yc7uk7PAWNy51P2FpmjD8gsK7Pk0sl2SZkwdTkeV_IO-221SvDPfdHdtL-g_7C6y3X6h2oQCvEioN_g08Mk/s1600/crown+land+search+results.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Rd_JoXuKmWXo8IxQQhp4-vnnYD17t7J0Fjj8tslHe7SXven-9Tr4jMi6Yc7uk7PAWNy51P2FpmjD8gsK7Pk0sl2SZkwdTkeV_IO-221SvDPfdHdtL-g_7C6y3X6h2oQCvEioN_g08Mk/s400/crown+land+search+results.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
Ok, <b>it is native grassland</b>, but as you can see in the satellite image the quarter not just an isolated fragment; it is attached to hundreds of acres of
habitat and in close association with thousands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
I did some more digging and found that the remaining 640 acres (four quarters), which are also native grassland, are also for sale--not in this public auction but to the current lessee if they choose to buy.<br />
<br />
What's more, there are no restrictions preventing sale or requiring conservation easements for the quarter section of native prairie up for auction nor the adjoining four quarters of Crown native grassland.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Ministry of Agriculture has been telling us that no native grass is being sold without an easement. Are they lying or just wreckless?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's look at another parcel.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is a screen capture from the Crown Land Map Viewer showing
a parcel up for auction in the RM of Eagle Creek, whose legal description is NW
30-37-12 W3rd. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPHLUUXOmzFA5qX2-bTflH7b5EYhfRJm1SS6Uqim4eX9wLujinFEChyphenhyphenpXWWe81236uSq9J4-bBlo8FdocFIIe8J1bK4oVuF2HTPqdtcChcD1uu106BFlPb9tdroTnJKNOroIYWBOzJPQ/s1600/parcel+in+Eagle+Ck+Rm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifPHLUUXOmzFA5qX2-bTflH7b5EYhfRJm1SS6Uqim4eX9wLujinFEChyphenhyphenpXWWe81236uSq9J4-bBlo8FdocFIIe8J1bK4oVuF2HTPqdtcChcD1uu106BFlPb9tdroTnJKNOroIYWBOzJPQ/s400/parcel+in+Eagle+Ck+Rm.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Click on image for a bigger view</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This parcel is not connected to the main larger chunk of
Crown land to the south but only a half mile away. Now let’s go to the Google
Satellite View to see whether the parcel for sale has natural cover and if the
intervening private land makes a natural corridor or is broken land.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiZ4ORUhF_cOTutTwfYhB8is6dqhOXz38JhmeF79hUglzhDfsq0N0YyHrMySYbux33BMMuUZI6ZDkLV9uX8ThxMDrYqBu_g2cc2hQCg35peVnduDV_rK2Jj9BJZUvwuat0Pdy0WMH1f8/s1600/google+map+of+Crown+land+in+Eagle+Creek+RM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqiZ4ORUhF_cOTutTwfYhB8is6dqhOXz38JhmeF79hUglzhDfsq0N0YyHrMySYbux33BMMuUZI6ZDkLV9uX8ThxMDrYqBu_g2cc2hQCg35peVnduDV_rK2Jj9BJZUvwuat0Pdy0WMH1f8/s400/google+map+of+Crown+land+in+Eagle+Creek+RM.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Click image for larger view</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whoa--this is native grass, and a lot of it. Ok, yes, there are a few acres of plowed land just south of the quarter
up for auction, but the parcel itself appears to be native grassland and
it is nearly surrounded by more of it. This Crown land is part of a large block
of native prairie—some of which is private but some is likely Wildlife Habitat Protection Act land. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have less than 20 per cent of our native prairie remaining in this province.
It is the most endangered ecosystem on the continent. Why would the parcel rate
as low or moderate ecological value? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Doing some more clicking on the Crown Land Map Viewer, I launched
the “Search Crown Land” feature in the green box pointing at the parcel, then
went one more layer into the data to find a small table indicating that the
parcel has “Heritage Value,” which may “restrict or limit the sale, use or
development of the land.” Hmmm. Are there archeological sites on the land?
There may well be. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Ministry of Agriculture, let’s assume, has deemed that
this parcel is of “moderate ecological value,” and therefore it will be one of
the few that will have a conservation easement when it is sold, but I have no
confidence in the capacity of an underfunded and understaffed government agency
like Agriculture to monitor or enforce its easements all over the countryside. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These parcels were placed in the Wildlife Habitat Protection
Act for a good reason. De-listing them now has nothing to do with ecological
science and everything to do with political ideology and the short-term
thinking that is forcing ministries to help balance the books by selling off
assets and cutting the hours of staff.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A couple of years ago the Wall Government called in its few
remaining scientists and made them rank the ecological value of
WHPA lands. The biologists and ecologists did what they were told and devised a
system called the Crown Ecological Assessment Tool. But they did not sign off
on or approve the Province’s choice of where to draw the line that would
determine what can be sold and what must be retained. That was entirely a
political choice, like a university professor marking his students on a curve.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A certain percentage is required to fail and the line is
drawn at an arbitrary place to make sure that happens. In this case, the Wall
Government decided it wanted to hit a certain revenue target so they drew the
line just above the place that would allow them to sell roughly 1.8 million
acres. Arbitrary, political, and ideological—the placement of that line had
nothing to do with the science of determining which land is worthy of
protection under the Crown.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a strategy that sells well in the board rooms of
industry and land developers because it removes government oversight and
environmental regulations from a lot of land. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It might even please farmers who have the financial support
to buy the land, but it does nothing for the majority of farmers faced with
escalating costs amid increasing pressure for them to steward ecological
services that the rest of us benefit from.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What about the rest of us? Are we going to sit by and watch even more Aspen
bluffs bulldozed, wetlands drained, and grass plowed under: the province’s rural
landscapes sacrificed to produce high yield crops and country estates for people
with out-of-province money?</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM85OTuZvSWezRJjt1iXkpLyuG0Q-zIy7u1d7s_1z_bVaC0k6PgqtdMosli0tjozl_BoG6ghD8dCv1vijgIo32IjOv0SJ9E3KDOUivDOhcfb1-0Pkha9VImARANCMsjaN-5TMqTVfeVTI/s1600/IMG_7878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM85OTuZvSWezRJjt1iXkpLyuG0Q-zIy7u1d7s_1z_bVaC0k6PgqtdMosli0tjozl_BoG6ghD8dCv1vijgIo32IjOv0SJ9E3KDOUivDOhcfb1-0Pkha9VImARANCMsjaN-5TMqTVfeVTI/s400/IMG_7878.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Common Pintail, no longer common, needs the kind of habitat our<br />Crown farm lands have always provided</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-72394099298303722142017-02-26T15:00:00.000-08:002017-02-26T15:09:30.170-08:00The opportunity at Govenlock Community Pasture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9pT18IOy8n9uTfMIURaZ10GsZJN_pKj6a9uc1kMgQFlxjtRcRce2W757013xyhhIlf-D_98eRb3RZ1CgQbnf4E9b9ZjqVLoe8M4WOYHRIo-zTV38fBeWjkmXY8eC5UEn781dprUyUR4/s1600/IMG_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9pT18IOy8n9uTfMIURaZ10GsZJN_pKj6a9uc1kMgQFlxjtRcRce2W757013xyhhIlf-D_98eRb3RZ1CgQbnf4E9b9ZjqVLoe8M4WOYHRIo-zTV38fBeWjkmXY8eC5UEn781dprUyUR4/s400/IMG_0027.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
There is a large former PFRA pasture in the extreme southwest of the province called Govenlock, named for the nearest settlement (today a ghost town, but <b><a href="http://basementgeographer.com/govenlock-saskatchewan-or-why-rand-mcnally-needs-to-update-its-maps-more-often/">a rum-running hub during the Prohibition era</a></b>), which was founded by William Govenlock who homesteaded in the area and then swung a land deal with the CPR in 1913 to found the town.<br />
<br />
At approximately 200 <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">km<sup>2</sup></span>, Govenlock serves as critical habitat for at least 13 federally-listed species at risk—including Swift Fox dens, sage flats for Greater Sage-grouse, and nesting sites for Burrowing Owls and Ferruginous Hawks. <br />
<br />
Govenlock is an <b><a href="https://www.ibacanada.ca/site.jsp?siteID=SK039">Important Bird Area</a></b>, designated by Birdlife International—one of the only grassland IBAs in the province. But the pasture is also an important grazing area, and the grazing, when managed for a balance of cattle production and biodiversity, is a vital tool for keeping this arid and short-grass pasture healthy.<br />
<br />
Unlike the other 61 PFRA pastures in Saskatchewan, though, the land that was made into Govenlock community pasture was always federal land and therefore it is not being transferred to Saskatchewan government. That difference has presented an opportunity that so far has not been taken up.<br />
<br />
A couple of years ago, Environment Canada, conservation groups and the local grazing patrons began discussing the possibility of getting the federal government to retain some of the conservation management at Govenlock, to ensure that the land’s biodiversity and species at risk continue to be part of management priorities. For that to happen, responsibility for the land would have to be transferred from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Nature groups started to talk about a new National Wildlife Area at Govenlock, or some designation to capture its multi-use nature as rangeland with both cattle-grazing and ecological significance. <br />
<br />
In July 2015, the Harper Government announced that the land would be transferred to Environment Canada. <b><a href="http://www.davidanderson.ca/harper-government-takes-action-to-conserve-govenlock-community-pasture/">Here is the media release</a></b> posted by the local Conservative MP, David Anderson, at the time.<br />
<br />
However, for some reason the process stalled out in the handoff from the Harper Conservative Government to the Trudeau Liberal Government. This week, I heard a rumour that the transfer never did happen and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) still does not have the land. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, in a phone conversation I had with one of the cattle producers who depend on Govenlock for grazing, I learned that, despite the foot-dragging at ECCC, they are still interested in working out some kind of arrangement with the ministry. However, they need long-term grazing agreements that give them some economic stability (no producer can live with one-year terms), and some assurance that the federal government will take care of any costs associated with managing for species at risk and biodiversity. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5ZcTh8fkUd716HbM3-NIlG42pXwvBPyX4IX2tR5BoZU_ijNm7-bSfCha1u-YMALNL2_2xWElOlQ6AvPEUijy4ITQ98yi5tKMoiHgq-ojUtH5RcN1Z9h-BxjQv40lIKcATqPRpsvrjl4/s1600/IMG_0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO5ZcTh8fkUd716HbM3-NIlG42pXwvBPyX4IX2tR5BoZU_ijNm7-bSfCha1u-YMALNL2_2xWElOlQ6AvPEUijy4ITQ98yi5tKMoiHgq-ojUtH5RcN1Z9h-BxjQv40lIKcATqPRpsvrjl4/s400/IMG_0028.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><i>Ferruginous Hawk on Govenlock sage flats</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If National Wildlife Areas are too restrictive and do not allow for long-term grazing agreements, then let’s move on and find a solution that will create a multi-use prairie conservation zone at Govenlock that meets ranchers’ needs for grazing and protects Canada’s 75-year investment in the ecological wellbeing of this important ecosystem and its species at risk.<br />
<br />
The Liberal Government has made some strong promises to Canadians in its “<b><a href="http://www.conservation2020canada.ca/home">Pathway to Canada Target 1</a></b>” announcements, wherein they have said, “By 2020, at least 17% of terrestrial areas and inland water, and 10% of coastal and marine areas, are conserved through networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.”<br />
<div>
<br />
In <b>a <a href="http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1173419">news release just before Christmas</a></b>, ECCC Minister Catherine McKenna said that, “by working together with Indigenous groups, non-profit organizations, the private sector, and other stakeholders, we can meet the 17 per cent biodiversity land target for Canada by 2020.”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That sounds very good, but what are they going to do for grassland in Canada? From the hayfields of Nova Scotia where bobolinks struggle to survive to the grassy slopes of the B.C. interior where some of the planet's northern-most long-billed Curlews nest, grasslands in Canada receive very little conservation programming or official protection, compared to alpine, arctic, and forested landscapes.<br />
<br />
Govenlock is low-hanging fruit. It represents a relatively easy opportunity for Minister McKenna to do something to protect a 200 <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">km</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">2</sup>piece of ecologically rich grassland. It would be an excellent start.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div>
Ranchers in the area are ready and willing to sit down and negotiate terms, and the conservation community from <b><a href="http://naturecanada.ca/news/blog/wanted-govenlock-pasture-for-national-wildlife-area/">Nature Canada</a></b>, to the <b><a href="http://giftofnature.ca/govenlock-nashlyn-and-battle-creek-community-pastures/">Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society</a></b>, to the <b><a href="http://www.timescolonist.com/canadian-wildlife-federation-wants-ottawa-to-protect-prairie-grasslands-1.10260040">Canadian Wildlife Federation</a></b> have all been calling on the government to take steps to help producers protect the former PFRA pastures. Why not use Govenlock to pilot a biodiversity and grazing plan that could help Canada and Saskatchewan to keep all of the former PFRA pastures on the protected areas map? <br />
<br />
If not, it will become clear that neither Saskatchewan nor the federal government is doing anything to replace the conservation programming on the former PFRA lands and conservation groups will insist that Canada and Saskatchewan de-list all sixty-two pastures, totalling more than 7,000 <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">km</span><sup style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">2</sup>. </div>
</div>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AhJGVOffKELQDggRLFzm31TZmN5ZAmlgLrx7PbXXmKb6tQ1PcCD_lQ0x7CI3prH26HzZt1a23zuJldqbjDriBcxZVqAEuC4rzwROpCCo088eU7fSwK33HpHsqQmiNE_4Xq_DK5_3tvU/s1600/grasslands-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AhJGVOffKELQDggRLFzm31TZmN5ZAmlgLrx7PbXXmKb6tQ1PcCD_lQ0x7CI3prH26HzZt1a23zuJldqbjDriBcxZVqAEuC4rzwROpCCo088eU7fSwK33HpHsqQmiNE_4Xq_DK5_3tvU/s400/grasslands-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Govenlock community pasture--image courtsey of Branimir Gjetvaj at <a href="http://branimirphoto.ca/">branimirphoto.ca</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-68522000377553973142017-02-17T15:28:00.000-08:002017-02-19T12:37:55.132-08:00How is Saskatchewan doing on its protected area targets?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhif3cGH1s6-5bU4BHNSjVoYGMuJkTh1t2r0iogqE3TSByF5H8fxmTcR9L5GtUg9nK9wBAiOOSjB1JZFc0iUg2rVW4sew85WXt4QLVZrgkaRiBz7yuYzaneaeyuz8innpQKeR8z6jN2u68/s1600/provinces+protected+areas+comparison.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhif3cGH1s6-5bU4BHNSjVoYGMuJkTh1t2r0iogqE3TSByF5H8fxmTcR9L5GtUg9nK9wBAiOOSjB1JZFc0iUg2rVW4sew85WXt4QLVZrgkaRiBz7yuYzaneaeyuz8innpQKeR8z6jN2u68/s400/provinces+protected+areas+comparison.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sask is the worst of the larger provinces (chart from <a href="https://www.ec.gc.ca/indicateurs-indicators/default.asp?lang=en&n=B0C62685-1">Environment Canada report</a>)</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
Next week, environment ministers and parks and protected areas ministers from across Canada will be gathering in Alberta to meet with the federal minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Hon. Catherine McKenna. The plan is to talk about two topics: species at risk, and meeting protected areas targets.<br />
<br />
Will Saskatchewan’s ministers be going? I phoned the offices of Saskatchewan’s Environment Minister, the Hon. Scott Moe, and our Minister of Parks, the Hon. Ken Cheveldayoff today to see if they are planning to attend. The woman who answered the phone in Mr. Cheveldayoff’s office said no, he will not be attending. When I called Scott Moe’s office I spoke to a woman in charge of his calendar and she said she cannot share the minister’s calendar details with the public, although yes he did receive an invitation. But, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he will be there representing the province in this important discussion.<br />
<br />
Why are protected areas important? Well, believe it or not, nature is actually the stuff that makes life possible on the planet—the soil, air, water, climate and species that we depend upon. The earth is running out of landscapes where those ecological goods and services are being protected from the kinds of urban, agricultural, and industrial development that harm them. Protected areas are vital sources of ecological integrity and diversity that we will need more than ever under climate change scenarios of flood and drought.<br />
<br />
Over the last twenty-some years Saskatchewan has joined with the rest of Canada in signing a series of national and international agreements on protected areas, beginning with 1992’s United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. That same year Saskatchewan signed on to the “Statement of Commitment to Complete Canada’s Networks of Protected Areas.” At that time, 12% was set as the target for protecting a percentage of each province’s total area. The intention was to protect that percentage of our forests, grasslands, and wetlands, to ensure representation of the full range of the province’s biodiversity.<br />
<br />
Saskatchewan got to work and within five years unveiled its Representative Areas Network (RAN), devising a plan to reach the 12% target by the year 2000. While we were making steady progress in the early years of RAN, we stalled out at 8.7 per cent or 9.7 per cent depending on which report you read. Our grassland ecoregions in the south are stuck at well under 6%.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTZl9QnrnxzihxgCTXisgA6EXfts3bNPFw3W5CmCArZXSnZjat5ky20VZEC_4IgJNlmokNmVJ8T5u46fMHQbuwPEAmGtx8Z6u0HNBZAvF0ffvQVzW3NcW2_gWSo99YpzW0WeS12VCJkI/s1600/rep+areas+network+graph.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRTZl9QnrnxzihxgCTXisgA6EXfts3bNPFw3W5CmCArZXSnZjat5ky20VZEC_4IgJNlmokNmVJ8T5u46fMHQbuwPEAmGtx8Z6u0HNBZAvF0ffvQVzW3NcW2_gWSo99YpzW0WeS12VCJkI/s400/rep+areas+network+graph.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this graph from one of the more recent reports on protected areas <br />
posted by Saskatchewan`s Environment Ministry shows<br />
that we flat-lined in 2004</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the international targets on protection have moved. In 2010 Canada signed the Convention on Biological Diversity, raising the bar to a target of 17% by the year 2020. <br />
<br />
So if you were Saskatchewan’s Minister of Environment heading to a meeting to discuss protected areas what would you report? What could you say about what your government has done in recent years and what it plans to do in the next few years? <br />
<br />
Well, first you would point to a huge protected area we added to our Representative Areas Network in 2013—the <b><a href="file:///C:/Users/PC/Downloads/Pink%20Lake%20Representative%20Area%20Map.pdf">Pink Lake Representative Area Ecological Reserve</a></b> 160 kilometres north of La Ronge in the Churchill River Upland Ecoregion, the 3600 sq km reserve is our biggest protected area. That addition has the province now claiming that it protects 9.7% of its area—far below the target of 17% and still the worst in Canada excluding the maritimes and NWT. <br />
<br />
But believe me it is hard to find any recent reports from Saskatchewan on protected areas progress. However, a friend just today sent me this map recently printed in <b><i>Canadian Geographic</i></b> (Walker, N. (2017). ["To preserve and protect: All of Canada's protected areas on one map." Canadian Geographic 137(1): 32-33.) celebrating all of Canada’s wonderful protected areas. ]<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1l9wMAwDdCnQfs4XYuDkPa_O3GnHbnOnCVxAEJIUzf6IwM9pXstsGcOl_9Y4RwrjYtei6hMMDl_ZDZ6idAmq2X4rhDX6SNqPZDPIEKyM_d6IkR6obladnT6N5c-ZmWJiFhbuH4_5vPpc/s1600/can+geo+map+of+protected+areas.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1l9wMAwDdCnQfs4XYuDkPa_O3GnHbnOnCVxAEJIUzf6IwM9pXstsGcOl_9Y4RwrjYtei6hMMDl_ZDZ6idAmq2X4rhDX6SNqPZDPIEKyM_d6IkR6obladnT6N5c-ZmWJiFhbuH4_5vPpc/s400/can+geo+map+of+protected+areas.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>a snip from a map in Canadian Geographic article about protected areas in Canada</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
<br />
Yep, it is pretty up to date. There’s big ol’ Pink Lake, all fat and sassy up north so I am sure they got the data from the right source--the The CARTS (Conservation Areas Reporting and Tracking System) geodatabase, which is run by the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But, hold on, down in the south there are all these little green dots that look very familiar (red circle in southwest corner on this map). Hey, what the heck!—Saskatchewan is still claiming the federal community pastures as protected areas!</div>
<div>
<br />
That can’t be. Those pastures, all 1.8 million acres, are being leased out to cattle producers and run entirely for private profit from grazing. They have no support or programming for conservation, and the Province is trying to get the cattle producers to buy them! Manitoba decided to not sell their 20 pastures but even they have de-listed them as protected areas. Either the Sask. government is practicing make believe conservation here or playing fast and loose with the facts to make it look like we are making progress towards our protected areas goals. <br />
<br />
Any way you slice it, Saskatchewan should have to remove 1.8 M acres from its protected areas tally. If we were honest and did delete them, this province would have to admit it is actually losing ground in its protected areas effort, and the grassland ecozone, already the least represented, would be looking very thin in any kind of protection—thank God for Grasslands National Park and the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s preserve at Old Man on His Back.<br />
<br />
But let’s back up a minute—Saskatchewan doesn’t get all the blame for the loss of protection for the federal pastures. They were a federal responsibility for 75 years after all. Sure it was the Harper government that pulled the plug on the program, but the current administration can’t just shrug its shoulders and walk away from a process that is removing protection from millions of acres of the most endangered ecosystem on the planet.<br />
<br />
It is not too late for Ottawa to do something good for the grasslands that Stephen Harper cut loose. This year will see the transfer of the last twenty or so community pastures. These are the big ones with the highest ecological value and the longest lists of species at risk. Most are in the southwest of the province. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One trio—Govenlock, Nashyln, and Battle Creek—together make 812 square kms of grassland right along the Montana border—that’s bigger than Waterton Lakes National Park. There is a terrific opportunity here to grant official protection to the remaining pastures being transferred or at least to those three in the southwest. Failing that, the federal government has a responsibility to find its own way to ensure that the conservation legacy on the former federal pastures is not lost in the handoff from their agriculture ministry to the provinces to the private cattle producers who graze them.<br />
<br />
But Saskatchewan has ample opportunity too with the transfer of the pastures to increase its protected areas quotient. It would not be hard—in fact, the Saskatchewan Party in its very first election platform promised us it would establish a new wilderness park. They have not delivered on that yet. We have two wilderness parks already in the north—Clearwater and Athabasca—why not make one in the south?<br />
<br />
We could grassland wilderness park along Lake Diefenbaker from up river of sk landing to the bend south of Douglas plus parts of Beechy, Matador, and Monet. Gosh that would look good on a map, and make it a whole lot easier to attend ministerial meetings on protected areas.</div>
</div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bQBiyR8ePdL2Ji929vHnj3QG6VLq1SIRFQ3DNZjVpCV4tTPJfswZfb_8qoUmcSTVd_O8yhXMUFrdgRp4N6JQcdZdbgooT194i6sdq2mGx81VnHyT0GA-rMbswG2jMTP3_bgTyHaeLNU/s1600/potential+grassland+wilderness+park+area.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bQBiyR8ePdL2Ji929vHnj3QG6VLq1SIRFQ3DNZjVpCV4tTPJfswZfb_8qoUmcSTVd_O8yhXMUFrdgRp4N6JQcdZdbgooT194i6sdq2mGx81VnHyT0GA-rMbswG2jMTP3_bgTyHaeLNU/s400/potential+grassland+wilderness+park+area.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">much of that big streak of green along the South Sask River<br />
could be included in a grasslands protected area or grassland<br />
wilderness park</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-48116474674649931322017-02-02T13:27:00.000-08:002017-02-02T13:27:04.171-08:00Mapping Our Birds--the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas kicks off in 2017<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMUUX8J1YIVP9pVomyRSY-xcbHId8KMr3Np1jb9cHjuWe3cWbAfWAlH1jGdPfBKUOPfUdPvpHn__74TrpATDPV78GOVeJA52D7DfzEvW2iMK_x-G8tNA2G9LmY2hfMjUCiioduxNRFwk/s1600/IMG_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWMUUX8J1YIVP9pVomyRSY-xcbHId8KMr3Np1jb9cHjuWe3cWbAfWAlH1jGdPfBKUOPfUdPvpHn__74TrpATDPV78GOVeJA52D7DfzEvW2iMK_x-G8tNA2G9LmY2hfMjUCiioduxNRFwk/s400/IMG_0236.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>this image I took of a Long-billed Curlew nestling (and others with parents in view)<br /> confirms its status as a breeding species in Grasslands National Park</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
How far south do loons breed in Saskatchewan? Are some songbird breeding ranges shifting north under climate change? Do White-faced Ibis breed in the Qu'Appelle watershed?<div>
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<div>
In the next five years, fresh answers to those and many other questions about the province's breeding birds will emerge. 2017 will see the launch of five summers of field work aimed at figuring out which species of birds are breeding where in Saskatchewan. While preparations and planning were underway last year, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) and its partners officially launched the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas in the New Year, with <b><a href="http://sk.birdatlas.ca/">an attractive new website</a></b> and a solid plan in place. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
To manage the data collection, the atlas design subdivides Saskatchewan into 6,900 10 km by 10 km squares. Even with that army of volunteers and a crack team of scientists, skilled staff people and an energetic coordinating committee, it won't be possible to survey every one of those squares. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In <b><a href="http://planetsmag.com/2017-02-02/fine-feathered-facts/">a recent article posted by </a></b><i><b><a href="http://planetsmag.com/2017-02-02/fine-feathered-facts/">Planet S</a></b> </i>in Saskatoon, project coordinator Kiel Drake said that they will follow "a sampling grid" that will provide representation of the province's geography and birdlife, aiming for somewhere between 1300 and 1500 atlas squares. On each of these he said they hope to get 20 hours of "general atlassing". </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Even at the low target of 1300 atlas squares covered in five years, that amounts to a total of 26,000 atlassing hours--more than five thousand hours a year. That could be achieved with fifty atlasers averaging 100 hours a summer or 100 atlasers averaging fifty hours--or some such multiples.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Daunting? Perhaps, but Manitoba just finished up their five years of survey work--and if they can do it so can we. This is where you and I come in--as volunteers. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Of course the more skilled you are at identifying birds the better, but not everyone is a hotshot ear-birder who can nail down the hiss of a Nelson's sparrow a half kilometre away. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Saskatchewan people who <i><b>are </b></i>confident identifying certain familiar species--for example waterfowl or farm yard birds. They may not think of themselves as birders but they pay attention to the birds they know and leave the rest aside. This too is a perfectly legitimate way to help out as a citizen scientist. For the Saskatchewan Atlas project you could sign up to help in your region (the province is divided into <b><a href="http://sk.birdatlas.ca/atlas-regions/">sixteen regions</a></b>, each with their own volunteer coordinator), and then simply report breeding data on the species that you can comfortably identify.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqx3-8PNdvKJXzChiGH8KdXT28cHJVolaYE3W6Eijaz8Aq7LCsE49p3LnqgfUszT7-q59PDM6X7j3g93urHF4FHMx_RuJQlvuMG6R_JSD7MQXK1_y7Kh_c5UBh0TAUh1zGmEZshWKZT2Q/s1600/atlas+regions+map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqx3-8PNdvKJXzChiGH8KdXT28cHJVolaYE3W6Eijaz8Aq7LCsE49p3LnqgfUszT7-q59PDM6X7j3g93urHF4FHMx_RuJQlvuMG6R_JSD7MQXK1_y7Kh_c5UBh0TAUh1zGmEZshWKZT2Q/s400/atlas+regions+map.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>a screen capture of the southern half of the Breeding Bird Atlas map of regions</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And if you choose to, you could take some of the bird ID training that will be available during the atlas project, and increase your list of the birds you can identify. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Regardless, throughout the five years, there will be help on hand if you are uncertain of the identification of a particular bird. Of course it helps if you can take a photograph, even a fuzzy one, and email it to your regional coordinator.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
As for the more skilled birdwatchers out there--now is the time for you to step up and give something back to nature. You have had many pleasant hours chasing vagrants, watching the warblers pass through on a spring morning or the hawks head south in fall. The birds need you to give a few of your mornings this summer to the atlas. The breeding data you help gather will provide the kind of information we need to recognize, defend and protect breeding habitat from south to north in the province. Without solid data on breeding bird populations, the pressure to reduce regulation and government oversight, and the logic of endless economic growth will continue to destroy the places our birds need to nest and rear their young.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Healthy landscapes that support a diversity of breeding birds are healthy landscapes for all of us. </div>
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Please register to help with the atlas when you get a minute--<b><a href="https://www.birdscanada.org/birdmon/skatlas/register.jsp">using this web page from the Saskatchewan Breeding Bird Atlas site</a></b>.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2PuInvc7omvi3BD-fHwKImWmHBfXUrQiyFtLrxO9WMYe0ON0DXTSGC9CJAMehrajya6LArM8QgupzD60h07S5P7bWJq693vGiBHzTj5AI6sGLTy2jcTftiqMDsgSUHW7aEG-3qLXrI4/s1600/IMG_0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2PuInvc7omvi3BD-fHwKImWmHBfXUrQiyFtLrxO9WMYe0ON0DXTSGC9CJAMehrajya6LArM8QgupzD60h07S5P7bWJq693vGiBHzTj5AI6sGLTy2jcTftiqMDsgSUHW7aEG-3qLXrI4/s400/IMG_0161.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>this dapper fellow, a Black-crowned Night Heron, breeds at certain choice<br />wetlands throughout Region 8 of the Sask. Breeding Bird Atlas</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-44649808052014645632017-01-24T13:06:00.006-08:002017-01-24T13:09:30.682-08:00Grasslands National Park--finding your "prairie eye"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCVbXXok1EAN6_Z47kSopZDVRf3ksDoW-9RPnNBoIBaNNL9pL3i7KgdcxPRBfgYQcbw_PsvPVGWK8yY0uptU1cxsym1x0fNf__nMW7VPnNspEz7w9iO1m2wc0K6wqJb9RRuBboHYSEJ8/s1600/download1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCVbXXok1EAN6_Z47kSopZDVRf3ksDoW-9RPnNBoIBaNNL9pL3i7KgdcxPRBfgYQcbw_PsvPVGWK8yY0uptU1cxsym1x0fNf__nMW7VPnNspEz7w9iO1m2wc0K6wqJb9RRuBboHYSEJ8/s400/download1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Grasslands NP in October, image by Andy Goodson</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What do you see when you head out on the prairie?<br />
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<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.billholm.com/">Bill Holm</a>, the great poet of Minnesota prairies, wrote about the “horizontal grandeur” of prairie, that it “unfolds gradually, reveals itself a mile at a time, and only when you finish crossing it do you have any idea of what you’ve seen. Americans don’t like prairies as scenery or for national parks and preserves because they require patience and effort. We want instant gratification in scenic splendor as in most things, and simply will not look at them seriously. . . .There are two eyes in the human head – the eye of mystery, and the eye of harsh truth – the hidden and the open – the woods eye and the prairie eye. The prairie eye looks for distance, clarity, and light; the woods eye for closeness, complexity, and darkness. . . . One eye is not superior to the other, but they are different. To some degree, like male and female, darkness and light, they exist in all human heads, but one or the other seems dominant.”<a href="file:///C:/Trevor's/books/Islands%20of%20Grass%20book/islands%20manuscript/Islands%20of%20Grass%20Working%20Manuscript.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;" title="">[i]</a></span></span></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Trevor's/books/Islands%20of%20Grass%20book/islands%20manuscript/Islands%20of%20Grass%20Working%20Manuscript.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span>Bill Holm, <i><span lang="EN-US">The Music of Failure</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, Prairie Grass Press, 1990</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
If you have a minute and want to exercise your "prairie eye," take a look at <b><a href="http://saskborder.com/stories/life-on-mars">this photo essay</a></b>, with photos by Andy Goodson and Sean Hootz and story by Goodson. At the end of last October, the two of them visited the West Block of Grasslands National Park with some friends and then posted a photo essay on a beautiful website they maintain, featuring landscapes and wildness in Saskatchewan--<a href="http://saskborder.com/"><b>Saskborder.com</b></a>.<br />
<br />
These guys have a feel for how to photograph big landscapes. There are several terrific images of the bleak beauty and grandeur of the park as it settles in for winter.<br />
<br />
Part of the charm of the story is Goodson's candour in relating their apprehension as they arrived at the park and got their first look at the landscapes and campground. People like Goodson, who have seen a wide range of native prairie landscapes in Saskatchewan, know that the west block of GNP does not have the immediate postcard appeal of some other places--Jones Peak, the Matador, Swift Current Creek, Wood Mountain, the Cypress Hills, and the Killdeer Badlands of the East Block, but, as the story attests, once you get away from the Ecotour and wander over a few buttes and coulees, the scale and sweep of the land, the sense of liberty it inspires, just overtakes you.<br />
<br />
The secret is to spend at least two or three days. A three-hour tour won't do it. Luckily, their group stumbled on the North Gillespie range east and north of the campground where there are miles and miles of native grass and a powerful sense of prairie wildness.<br />
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If you plan to go to the West Block, that is the section with the best hiking and feel for prairie solitude and wildness. Here is a map with the best areas circled in <span style="color: red;">RED</span>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrc-k1BlQDehzkUnVMAkTSoSK9WQ3WLct_bPoKvCb5dVnqJmbvrqHefhNMU7ZMFef1nvnu-UKnu-L3JRBbeI0tnC9YaN_eEy8nt6cPJNV2jPj9K9w25WHYXx5Y1o_iwYLJyeBzRKKYSBM/s1600/CaptureGNP+map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrc-k1BlQDehzkUnVMAkTSoSK9WQ3WLct_bPoKvCb5dVnqJmbvrqHefhNMU7ZMFef1nvnu-UKnu-L3JRBbeI0tnC9YaN_eEy8nt6cPJNV2jPj9K9w25WHYXx5Y1o_iwYLJyeBzRKKYSBM/s400/CaptureGNP+map.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Map from GNP West Block Brochure, showing in red some of the wildest landscapes (click to enlarge)</i></td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
But do check in at the Park Centre in Val Marie to get access and road condition details and a good map--you'll need it. (Park Brochure <a href="http://parkscanadahistory.com/brochures/grasslands/booklet-e-2013.pdf">here</a>.)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68mTGx54v4PH2rG0nn3A23M72kCP0whYeuiYx-XC46xezJjKAHNiB_xJaqRmFWOTVHUXotFpeTSr6wEIxNtKbQcF0Y_gBbv_ucIANuQ1ZSYYS8zTJqrNkObBuVOsIp2xN8-yAlySNjiM/s1600/download3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68mTGx54v4PH2rG0nn3A23M72kCP0whYeuiYx-XC46xezJjKAHNiB_xJaqRmFWOTVHUXotFpeTSr6wEIxNtKbQcF0Y_gBbv_ucIANuQ1ZSYYS8zTJqrNkObBuVOsIp2xN8-yAlySNjiM/s400/download3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An October ramble through the North Gillespie range at GNP, image by Sean Hootz</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-65442494196030436652017-01-10T15:43:00.002-08:002017-01-10T15:44:32.918-08:00Farmers hurt by Yancoal’s divide and conquer strategy: a guest post<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMkiXyiF0L30zdujG58yzR4H3ZCnTSwOWwwL0Xkv68CAw18t2SOH1Nb2TKOmizuurEo9bHUDgtvklZlxdXv7oNYPq64m2i0tAKzRlnIkEDix9oHee3qA9aJps0xkc4oqXWQRtLO16JFU/s1600/residents-of-rm-longlaketon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMkiXyiF0L30zdujG58yzR4H3ZCnTSwOWwwL0Xkv68CAw18t2SOH1Nb2TKOmizuurEo9bHUDgtvklZlxdXv7oNYPq64m2i0tAKzRlnIkEDix9oHee3qA9aJps0xkc4oqXWQRtLO16JFU/s400/residents-of-rm-longlaketon.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
Residents of the area surrounding the proposed Yancoal mine
gathered Tuesday afternoon in Earl Grey to voice their opposition to the
project. (image from <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/residents-surrounding-site-of-proposed-yancoal-mine-upset-1.3714543">CBC News site</a> )</div>
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<i>From an enthusiastic note in a <b><a href="http://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-real-estate/regina/free-hold-mineral-rights/539743395?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true">Kijiji notice posted</a></b> by someone in Ontario who wants to sell his mineral rights for $1000 per acre to cash in on the Yancoal potash interest in the region north of Regina:</i><br />
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"<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Saskatchewan is already well known for its potash mining and now another massive, multi-billion dollar project could soon be developed north of Regina. </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Chinese-based Yancoal has been exploring and studying a potential site about halfway between Southey and Strasbourg. The company recently carried on to the feasibility stage. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"It looks pretty promising," said Strasbourg Mayor Ken Swanston. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Swanston indicated Yancoal is getting pretty close to the start of construction. He figures shovels could be in the ground as soon as next year. The company's website confirms that plan, with the mine scheduled to be in operation by 2020. Their goal is to produce 2.8 million tonnes of potash annually. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"The longevity of the mine, they figure it'll last anywhere between 65 and 100 years," said Swanston. "We're hopeful around here in Strasbourg that we get some spinoffs, and I'm sure Southey as well, whether it be for housing or shopping."</span></blockquote>
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I don't know everything there is to know about Yancoal but many people in the Southey--Earl Grey region, especially those without land or mineral rights they want to sell, are upset and feel the Province is not listening. (See <b><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/residents-surrounding-site-of-proposed-yancoal-mine-upset-1.3714543">this CBC story</a></b> when the Province approved the environmental assessment for Yancoal in August.)</div>
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Nearby, in Fort Qu'Appelle, <b><a href="http://thestarphoenix.com/business/local-business/yancoal-potash-mine-near-southey-receives-conditional-environmental-assessment-approval2">the Qu’Appelle Valley Environmental Association has opposed</a></b> the project citing concerns over the amount of water the mine will use and the likelihood of contamination to watersheds.</div>
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Living in a dry land with a vulnerable and limited water supply, everyone in Southern Saskatchewan should be worried about letting a Chinese company use 11 to 12 million cubic metres of water annually from the Buffalo Pound reservoir to dissolve potash. </div>
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And a lot of people are worried. Last year the Province received <b>more than 800 public submissions</b> to their environmental assessment for the project--a huge number. No one will say how many of the submissions were opposed to the siting of the mine and its projected extraction of water from the Qu'Appelle system, but it seems likely that most were.<br />
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At the same time, town administrators in Southey and Earl Grey are boosters for the project and a small number of area farmers like the idea. <br />
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For some insight into the people who are in favour of the Yancoal project, take a look at the following guest post from Braden Schmidt, a farmer in the Earl Grey area who speaks to a common concern for wildlife and habitat that may be affected by the Yancoal project:</div>
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Yancoal Canada Resources Co. is a subsidiary mining company of Yanzhou Coal Mining Co., owned by the government of China. With the support of the Saskatchewan government, they are charging forward with plans to build a solution mine on top of local farmers north of Earl Grey in the Rural Municipality of Longlaketon #219. With world-wide operations in China, Australia, and South America, Yanzhou has the capital to bribe locals with enormous sums of money. And that is exactly what they have done.<br />
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One farming family sold several quarters of land to Yancoal for as high as $720,000 per quarter, well beyond what neighbors would be able or willing to pay. That is about five times the current market value of farmland for the area where a good quarter could fetch anywhere from $120,000 - $150,000. Any farmer can quickly confirm that commodity prices have not jumped in price by five times, nor have input costs dropped by this factor. This payout is certainly a boon for those who own the land desired by Yancoal, but what about the remaining landowners who want to continue their operation? Many of these are multi-generational family farms with a deep commitment to their rural lifestyle and community. For some it would not be so easy to take the cash, uproot their lives, and move away. For others it would be downright out of the question. Farmers stuck with the land in the surrounding area will have to contend with the air pollution, increased noise and traffic, and groundwater contamination.</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;">"What happens when the cement drill casing fails and salty brine enters the pristine water table?"</span></span></div>
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Yancoal insists that their extraction methods will not endanger the integrity of the Hatfield aquifer, which provides drinking water for not only the community and several towns but also their livestock. What happens when the cement drill casing fails and salty brine enters the pristine water table?<br />
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Needless to say, the mining proposition has caused some contention among landowners as Yancoal continues to drive the community apart on this issue. Yancoal is not here for the good of the people of Earl Grey, Strasbourg and Southey. They don’t actually care about any of us despite what your gullible neighbor may be telling you. They are a large, faceless, foreign mining company and will do whatever it takes to get that potash on a train and send it to the Port of Vancouver. Despite increasing opposition to Yancoal from local landowners, the project seems poised to move forward. </blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7S10QURp1h0dc1CPucNTThQ7fXntk-TdYTgadRR3Wq-aUB-IwLAzXFXobztzghL2oErItt0rywISnQ7HcpFe8Eb7l7g0VrA8uB751S54zRSPnG38-EonSxFpZgywsnuUAbl65r5E2n4/s1600/1whooping+cranes.KimMann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7S10QURp1h0dc1CPucNTThQ7fXntk-TdYTgadRR3Wq-aUB-IwLAzXFXobztzghL2oErItt0rywISnQ7HcpFe8Eb7l7g0VrA8uB751S54zRSPnG38-EonSxFpZgywsnuUAbl65r5E2n4/s400/1whooping+cranes.KimMann.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>three whooping cranes were spotted this past spring near the Yancoal site. (This lovely image courtesy of the ever-generous Kim Mann)</i></td></tr>
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However, a sighting of whooping cranes near the proposed mine site last spring may provide yet another reason to stop Yancoal. The cranes were spotted in April 2016 resting on their route from their wintering grounds in Texas to Wood Buffalo National Park. They came very close to extinction in the 1940’s when only 20 individuals remained on the entire planet. The population has recovered with a rigorous captive breeding program but they are still considered critically endangered.<br />
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Unlike mining, grain and livestock production can still occur without completely wiping out the landscape and polluting aquifers. It is sad that locals need to seek out endangered species to provide a solid platform on which to argue their right to continue farming and uphold their rural lifestyle.<br />
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The farmers and locals of RM #219 don’t necessarily have to be bird enthusiasts or conservationists to appreciate what the occurrence of these critically endangered species might mean for their community as they continue to struggle with a foreign bully such as Yancoal. The protection of wildlife habitat may not be near the top of the list for reasons not to develop a mining project but it should be.<br />
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If there is something to learn from the visit of the whooping cranes, it is that the local people have maintained agricultural land that supports wildlife, even endangered species. Placing it in the hands of a Chinese mining company with a poor environmental record puts that agricultural land, and any habitat it provides, at risk.</blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8k47b8aN2tUwv0a3W94MWlGaiL4aQfYgwlcJ0L3FulGPi3ibiHOGUmw1mGUNN1OfFEaBoAiSwpBv-XOX2TXASk8SmC_M3UHatDaMNnUy5pZAkRU-3ZgRzDPcVH4pVxnUVvTNSdw0AWA/s1600/2whoopingcranes+Kim+Mann.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8k47b8aN2tUwv0a3W94MWlGaiL4aQfYgwlcJ0L3FulGPi3ibiHOGUmw1mGUNN1OfFEaBoAiSwpBv-XOX2TXASk8SmC_M3UHatDaMNnUy5pZAkRU-3ZgRzDPcVH4pVxnUVvTNSdw0AWA/s400/2whoopingcranes+Kim+Mann.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>another great photo courtesy of Kim Mann</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-59016998740412289242016-12-07T17:27:00.000-08:002016-12-07T17:27:23.415-08:00BBC on Grassland: Planet Earth 2 <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://ihavenotv.com/grasslands-planet-earth-ii"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAgB7uo_almwQ4QgPuOis1NA2zj5EfE3LO3kwnRO4eAhG6TkOLe1-ASjCdfB_RDu1FboY3-_ewnyfJ0BHssGzOLDBm5JnfmzVaDW-TntdkrY0g1Fd3TjptXoaE4wfg494wzOQPqy-SPCM/s400/grasslands.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://ihavenotv.com/grasslands-planet-earth-ii">BBC's new Planet Earth episode on grasslands</a></i></td></tr>
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David Attenborough has finally brought his dulcet tones to bear on the planet's grasslands in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b084xk6m">episode 5 of Planet Earth 2</a>. Cue posh public school accent:<div>
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"One quarter of the earth is covered by a single, remarkable type of plant . . . Almost indestructible, it can grow two feet in a day and be tall enough to hide a giant."</blockquote>
It is available online for viewers in the UK at the BBC website. <b><a href="http://ihavenotv.com/grasslands-planet-earth-ii">Others have found it in other places</a> </b>online but I couldn't tell you exactly where. . . .<br />
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My review? Well, it contains the usual stunning imagery and life and death drama you see on BBC nature programs, but if you are looking for north America's grasslands you may be disappointed. There is one short segment on bison and red fox (!?!) in winter on the Great Plains--the rest is shot on other continents.<br />
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Here is a bison....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUeNurUp9pl1qL5qKLFXHSCnXdh0WOtbFI3rPCDXKWXMzV4oXrmY_UkBT4Q2YlvYoMWqd8mrCv7yjFpcxA7wlSPqOlyF2eIUaS7aFunnWmJNuQG_bCLK0ho519R_cqDZyKe1uTJ4AeyM/s1600/bison.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUeNurUp9pl1qL5qKLFXHSCnXdh0WOtbFI3rPCDXKWXMzV4oXrmY_UkBT4Q2YlvYoMWqd8mrCv7yjFpcxA7wlSPqOlyF2eIUaS7aFunnWmJNuQG_bCLK0ho519R_cqDZyKe1uTJ4AeyM/s400/bison.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-32355538101998158092016-11-29T11:05:00.002-08:002016-11-29T11:05:58.835-08:00WWF report: 53 M acres on Great Plains converted since 2009<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrBOAvuhpx9mk6eW1LbSokOSr5B0qcfR0EhTPwm6SmEhQfSjbEjK5g_HC3WCVC3O2RGKv4s8VzyIq3cd3cej1vZ5eLsxnm8O3ixUrdOEBSFwasGUyhR4cUtjmrCHOb97rjS12S4hE7Qc/s1600/wwf+plowprint+story.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrBOAvuhpx9mk6eW1LbSokOSr5B0qcfR0EhTPwm6SmEhQfSjbEjK5g_HC3WCVC3O2RGKv4s8VzyIq3cd3cej1vZ5eLsxnm8O3ixUrdOEBSFwasGUyhR4cUtjmrCHOb97rjS12S4hE7Qc/s400/wwf+plowprint+story.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>a page from the just released WWF "Plowprint Report" for the Great Plains</i></td></tr>
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According to <b><i><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/29/north-americas-grasslands-are-slowly-disappearing-and-no-ones-paying-attention/?utm_term=.bb95b40fb215">The Washington Post</a></i></b>, a report just out from the World Wildlife Fund "argues that the continued expansion of cropland in the region may be threatening birds, pollinators and even drinking water, while releasing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year."<br /><br />WWF data shows that 53 million acres of land in the Great Plains have been converted to cropland since 2009. From 2014 to 2015 alone, approximately 3.7 million acres were lost. <div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhhN9JD1Ux8q5vYUAIqp4R98_vMocldKo71Tj5CI06rcX7xTxkdz-p-Eky0Lacs2eH_nJpvJ3rmGrCfDofT_fqhGQ0M2qNlW1y79-qmk5vU6eK4dejIMx9n8OD2UE59Fx5X_gBdlUlxs/s1600/IMG_9879-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhhN9JD1Ux8q5vYUAIqp4R98_vMocldKo71Tj5CI06rcX7xTxkdz-p-Eky0Lacs2eH_nJpvJ3rmGrCfDofT_fqhGQ0M2qNlW1y79-qmk5vU6eK4dejIMx9n8OD2UE59Fx5X_gBdlUlxs/s400/IMG_9879-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>when native grass is plowed as this was in the summer of 2015, tons of carbon are released</i></td></tr>
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<br />According to the WWF's annual "Plowprint Report" ,published annually to show the loss of grassland habitat, "in 2014, the Great Plains lost more acres to conversion than the Brazilian Amazon."</div>
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Where is this happening? Right here in Saskatchewan. In fact, Saskatchewan's White Valley Rural Municipality (Eastend area in the southwest of the province) had the highest rates of habitat loss among regions where there is important grassland bird
habitat.</div>
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<br />In general, though, as the report says, "the highest rates of loss occurred in the Prairie Potholes Region and specifically in the Canadian portion of that region. The rate of loss in this region is about twice that of the larger study region."<div>
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Here are the maps from the WWF Plowprint Report for 2016 (pdfs <a href="https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/946/files/original/plowprint_AnnualReport_2016_GenInfo_FINAL_112016.pdf"><b>here for general info</b></a> and <b><a href="https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/947/files/original/plowprint_AnnualReport_2016_Final_REV09192016.pdf">here for facts and figures</a></b>). Red areas in the map on the left show regions where the rate of grassland loss is highest (Saskatchewan is among the worst) and green in the map on the right shows what remains of native cover on the Great Plains:</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZ4XBsg14u1MzV9WWPeUQNhWYcWbRHXi5MtvuaLD_CUTbbGeTn7EIy_aW90f1TbCiQJ5xKiAaBan0SijBrmrOy6RiYTklQsCBZpz_PK7YdWrkGhCcyy4BumzCOSqNWVeu2wcEsJWb8dQ/s1600/plowprint+maps.2016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZ4XBsg14u1MzV9WWPeUQNhWYcWbRHXi5MtvuaLD_CUTbbGeTn7EIy_aW90f1TbCiQJ5xKiAaBan0SijBrmrOy6RiYTklQsCBZpz_PK7YdWrkGhCcyy4BumzCOSqNWVeu2wcEsJWb8dQ/s400/plowprint+maps.2016.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Areas of greatest grasslands loss on the Great Plains, courtesy of WWF </i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1953681015185820780.post-5840080570979043862016-11-10T07:56:00.000-08:002016-11-10T07:56:43.490-08:00Grassland Matters--talking to the Canadian Forage & Grassland Association<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAb4NvQbgVTjS0LiDDrOLaKAf534RbMTlPY1GmomNND-KKTPK57ElJF9GoX5YEaz_uGkL4N1my5qwmQ2tF_DYf_1h7kDDzIva6p3cTUhHjRYqrI6-eUTV2WRzTtdcSrx9nkK2YA6HdO0/s1600/Bairds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAb4NvQbgVTjS0LiDDrOLaKAf534RbMTlPY1GmomNND-KKTPK57ElJF9GoX5YEaz_uGkL4N1my5qwmQ2tF_DYf_1h7kDDzIva6p3cTUhHjRYqrI6-eUTV2WRzTtdcSrx9nkK2YA6HdO0/s400/Bairds.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Baird's Sparrow in a hayfield</i></td></tr>
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<br />Next Wednesday, November 16, I have the privilege of addressing a national gathering of men and women who manage grass. <br /><br />The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association is hosting its 7th annual conference next week in Winnipeg, Nov. 15 to 17. This is Canada’s only national forage-based conference and will highlight how the forage and grassland sector is a critical foundation for sustainable growth and development throughout the Canadian agriculture industry. <br /><br />This year's theme is "Grass and Green in 2016" and begins with an optional pre-conference tour to Brandon on Nov. 15 to SG&R Farms and the Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives research farm. The main conference includes a trade show, several virtual farm tours, a banquet where the organization presents its New Holland-sponsored CFGA Leadership Award, and a full line-up of speakers on such topics as environmental protection, research at work, sustainable agriculture systems and forage export development.<br /><br />During my presentation, "Grassland Matters: Some Thoughts on Grassland, Native and Tame, and Why We Need More of It," I will speak about why perennial grasslands, both native and tame, are important not only to the animals that graze them but for everyone; why they are overlooked as lands that must be conserved and fostered; and how producers and consumers, rural and urban, Indigenous and settler people, can work together to conserve, and expand, Canada's grasslands.<br /><br />While our native grasslands are in trouble, there is an important role for the tame forage community to play in addressing at least some of the issues associated with losing our old growth prairie.<br /><br />So I will be talking about how not to give up on the life of the prairie that underlies the land no matter what is growing on top—and how the livestock and forage and grassland management world can be part of restoring health to the land.<br /><br />Looking forward to meeting grass people there!<br /><div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFTJXCM4nN1B2UC82Zyw39VFKWyHK5E2sPA1Qk70vP8f9LtFZMb4AgfLsjo_JUIpDAiP8H6t4_UwIFX5-N-IbKDQ_0wWuxd9vUEvwtqaOSEnDTi80AAK5rTBUCe9Qv1uj2IdwsczWzH8/s1600/IMG_0076%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoFTJXCM4nN1B2UC82Zyw39VFKWyHK5E2sPA1Qk70vP8f9LtFZMb4AgfLsjo_JUIpDAiP8H6t4_UwIFX5-N-IbKDQ_0wWuxd9vUEvwtqaOSEnDTi80AAK5rTBUCe9Qv1uj2IdwsczWzH8/s400/IMG_0076%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bobolink on Smooth Brome</i></td></tr>
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Trevor Herriothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11129533251670929001noreply@blogger.com0