Protected Areas and Spruce Grove Presentation to o Cou ouncil il - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Conservation Blueprint and Headwaters: Protected Areas and Spruce Grove

Presentation to

• Cou
• uncil

il Alis lison Ronson Executive Director, CPAWS Northern Alberta January 18, 2016

Overview

• Introduction to CPAWS Northern Alberta
• Conservation Blueprint of Northern Alberta
• The Bighorn backcountry and headwaters protection
• Land Use Planning in Alberta: the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan

CPAWS

• A nation-wide non-profit conservation organization
• The only charity in Canada focused solely on protecting public lands

and waters

• 90% of land is publicly owned in Canada (41% by the federal

government, 48% by provinces)

• 60% of land in Alberta is provincially owned

Protected Areas

• Only solution to long-term protection of endangered species
• Science shows we need at least 50% conservation of landscapes –

protection on 50%, conservation on the rest!

• At current level of protection in Alberta, we will lose 50% of our species
• Protect against climate change, provide ecosystem services
• But where are priority areas for conservation in Alberta?

Conservation Blueprint of Northern Alberta

• What: a mapping analysis with 300 “conservation values” to illustrate

areas of high conservation value

• Result: Scientifically sound illustration of priority areas for protection

and conservation in Alberta

• Why Care? Shows that headwaters regions of Alberta are critical!
• Spruce Grove’s drinking water comes from the Bighorn Backcountry,

the source of 90% of the water in the North Saskatchewan River watershed

20% of conservation features protected 50% of conservation features protected 80% of conservation features protected

The Bighorn Backcountry

• Designated as Public Land Use Zones
• Alberta’s last intact forest and the source of

drinking water for every community in the North Saskatchewan Region

• Provides habitat for Grizzly Bear, Mountain

Goats, Bighorn Sheep and Peregrine Falcons, and for endangered Lake Sturgeon and Whitebark Pine

• Great

recreational

• pporutnities

What happens upstream…

… can have devastating effects downstream

Land Use Planning in Alberta

• Governed by Alberta Land Stewardship Act
• 7 planning regions in Alberta
• Lower Athabasca and South Saskatchewan regional

plans already completed

• North Saskatchewan regional plan underway

An Important Opportunity for Headwaters Protection and Public Engagement on Conservation Issues

The Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park

The Bighorn Wildland Provincial Park

• CPAWS Northern Alberta and the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative (Y2Y)

would like to see the Bighorn as a Wildland Provincial Park Wildland Provincial Parks:

• Allow recreational use such as camping and hiking
• Allow hunting
• Allow off-highway vehicles and snowmobiling but enable provincial

management of activities such as these!

• Are managed for protection of the ecological integrity of the region

What can Spruce Grove do?

• Ask the province for protection of the city’s headwaters during regional

planning for the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan

• Consider writing a letter of support for CPAWS’ “Protect Alberta’s

Headwaters” campaign

• Have CPAWS deliver a workshop to Spruce Grove residents about the

importance of protected areas and headwaters protection

Thank You

Alison Ronson aronson@cpaws.org