Edmonton river valley and ravines featured internationally
Edmonton is featured in an October 2021 Guardian article titled “10 great city projects for nature.” It looks across the world where people are welcoming wildlife into cities and highlights ten of the most exciting and innovative urban biodiversity projects popping up.
The article states more than a dozen wildlife bridges and passages have been built in the Canadian city of Edmonton to maintain habitat connectivity and reduce human wildlife conflict. One of the largest is a 30-metre bridge near Big Lake in the north-west of the city, designed to be a corridor for moose and other ungulates.
Trees on the bridge provide shelter for animals as they cross. Smaller bridges include special passes for salamanders and frogs so they can avoid the road as they move between the wetlands and forest.
Readers may be surprised to learn that the Big Lake area is part of the City of Edmonton’s North Saskatchewan River Valley and Ravine System Protection Overlay. Read The Guardian article at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/01/10-great-city-projects-for-nature-from-vertical-forests-to-pocket-farms-aoe
Why is our city called Edmonton
People have lived in this area for thousands of years. The Cree called the area Beaver Hills or Amiskwaciy. The North Saskatchewan River was called Omaka-ty by the Blackfoot meaning Big River, and French maps from the 1790s called it Rivière Bourbon after the French royal family. We now call it the North Saskatchewan, based on the Cree word kis-is-ska-tche-wan meaning swift current.
The name Edmonton was first given to Fort Edmonton, a Hudson Bay Company fur trading post on the North Saskatchewan River, in 1795. It was named after Edmonton, England, the birthplace of Sir James Winter Lake, who was at the meeting of the governors of the HBC when the fort was established.
Even after it was officially named, the fort continued to be called other things by the people who came to trade. The Cree called it amiskwacîwâskahikan or Beaver Hills House; the Nakota Sioux called it ti oda or Many Houses; and the Niitsitapi called it Amakowsis, or omahkoyis, or Big Lodge.
Other names relate to colonial resource development. Whitemud Creek was first used by Dr. James Hector of the Palliser Expedition in 1858, who noted the white-coloured mud on the banks of the creek used to whitewash the HBC buildings. Fort Road was part of a fur trade trail system that stretched to Lower Fort Garry or Winnipeg. Learn more at https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/edmonton_archives/origins-of-naming-in-edmonton
Water and our province’s coal policy
Last week, Minister of Energy Sonya Savage announced an extension to Dec. 31 for the Coal Policy Committee. The purpose of the Committee is to conduct engagement as necessary to prepare a report to the Minister on the advice and perspectives of Albertans about the management of coal resources.
The Livingstone Landowners Group has produced a video titled Running Dry: Alberta’s Shrinking Rivers which talks about Alberta as a water scarce province. Seasonal patterns are changing due to climate change. With winter warming we have a higher portion of rain versus snow, rising snow line and an earlier spring.
Alberta rivers are either in plenty or poverty. Glacier melt is at the highest rate ever, and the rivers receiving glacier melt are raging. When water is delivered too quickly, it means we run out of water later in the season because there is only a certain budget provided from snow melt and rain fall.
Roadways and other development allow water to drain more quickly and pick up contaminants. Healthy rivers need healthy waterheads. Water isn’t a product of the river; it is a product of everything that goes on in its watershed. landscape. A river is just an expression of what that landscape has and how it has given it to us. Every land use decision is a water management decision. Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5eGTimo8a4
Give to help create a lasting river valley legacy
The North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society Capital Fund at the Edmonton Community Foundation supports conservation of natural lands in the City of Edmonton. The river valley is close to the hearts of Edmontonians, who value its natural beauty and the opportunity to enjoy.
There is still a lot of privately held land within the river valley in Edmonton. If you think of our river valley as a Ribbon of Green and as a sacred trust, gifted to us to respect, honour, and protect for ourselves and future generations then we should give it public protection forever.
The intent and purpose of the Fund is to support land acquisition and other activities that conserve the natural ecosystems and cultural heritage landscapes in the City of Edmonton and in the geographic area surrounding Edmonton, giving highest priority to maintaining the biodiversity and ecological integrity of those lands for the public benefit.
Due to Edmontonians’ support in the 2020 holiday season, the Fund was officially inaugurated with a balance of $13,051. Our goal this season is to increase the Fund to $25,000. The net income of the Fund is disbursed annually to the Edmonton and Area Land Trust. Your can give your charitable donation online at https://www.ecfoundation.org/funds/north-saskatchewan-river-valley-conservation-society-capital-fund/
Remembrance Day and Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Paul writes “Wanted to thank you for your latest RVN. The link you sent to Rev. McDonald’s grave site led me to a link of one of my uncles who died Dec 7, 1942. I never knew this uncle but had heard about him and I have a framed ink sketch he did while he was stationed in England. It's a drawing of the ruins of an old church somewhere in the countryside where he was stationed.
He was in the RCAF and served as a gunner in the Royal Air Force. He graduated from the bombing and gunnery school in Toronto in August 1941. Family history says he was shot down over the North Sea. There is no grave, but his name is inscribed on the wall at the Air Force Memorial at Runnymede outside London. He was so young, just 20 when he died. I never knew the Canadian Virtual War Memorial existed, so thanks for posting this link.”
Peddling toward a mountain bike park in the river valley
Martin says “I see lots of habitat devastation by mountain bikers through the conifer complex in Nellie McClung natural park area. The "tire print" doesn't seem as bad through Aspen habitats. I have mixed feeling regarding the bike park. I worry that the bikers will both tire of the park and that it may funnel more bike traffic through the river valley's unmanaged trails. Those spruce contribute so much to bank stabilization and we are losing them.”
Comment or contribution
If you have a comment, concern, or question, contact us at nsrivervalley@gmail.com Please also email us river valley photos or event information. Your friends, neighbours and colleagues can sign up for this newsletter on our web site.
Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712