MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - A multi-stakeholder tree and shrub project has resulted in more than 500 seedlings being planted to promote future wildlife habitat along the Fallentimber Creek in Mountain View County.
An update on the project was given during the Oct. 21 regularly scheduled Agricultural Service Board (ASB) meeting.
Through a partnership with the Agroforestry Woodlot and Extension Society (AWES) and the Legacy Land Trust, the tree and shrub planting project took place on the existing ALUS project area in the county.
ALUS promotes environmental and riparian zones on selected lands.
“More than 500 trees and shrubs seedlings were supplied by AWES, and volunteers from Legacy Land Trust along with Mountain View County agricultural services staff took part in the planting,” Lorelee Grattidge, sustainable agricultural specialist told board members.
“Volunteers were needed to assist the landowner in providing the seedlings with protection and watering to ensure a good start. The project goal is to restore the riparian zone along the ephemeral watercourse that runs through the property into the Fallentimber Creek and to develop wildlife habitat.”
Grattidge volunteers visited the property in September.
“We thought it was a neat partnership,” she said. “We helped the landowner (an elderly man) with the tree planting. This landowner has had an ALUS project since, I think, 2021 or 2022.
“They (AWES) had some seedlings in the past but not all of them worked out, so AWES provided more seedling so there was no additional cost. We want to make sure that the seedlings got a good start.”
In other news from the recent ASB meeting, members have been invited to take part in an Alberta Environmental and Protected Areas department survey being conducted as part of efforts to develop a nature strategy for the province.
According to the department, the nature strategy would be a made-in-Alberta approach for conserving, managing and restoring nature to support communities and economies, similar to Alberta’s Water for Life Strategy, members heard.
“The strategy will recognize the government of Alberta’s current system for maintaining nature, provide long-term direction to guide the province’s future work on investing in nature, and taking action to manage the benefits we receive from nature, now and into the future,” administration said in a briefing note to the board.
Input gathered through the survey focuses on five specific areas, including “investing in nature through conservation, sustainable management and restoration”, with input being accepted until early November.
The ASB is made up of county councillors and appointed members of the region’s agricultural community. It advises the county and province on issues and concerns related to agriculture.
