NSRVCS Newsletter - March 4, 2021

Summer work for students at City of Edmonton
Do you have an interest in or knowledge of ecology, natural area conservation or parkland planning and want to get job experience? The City's Open Space Strategy office in Planning has posted two student job opportunities.

The Sustainability Scholar position, May to August, titled Edmonton River Valley Connectivity Analysis is a graduate student opportunity. The application deadline is March 7, 202. Information on Job ID: 16463 at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mRLW0SIH8t4aFtB2M0KHM7Hle8jOMFEFJFghJyk-ISA/edit

The Co-op student position is for 8 months, from May to Dec 2021, and is an undergraduate student opportunity. The position is titled Planning Work Experience Student and the application deadline is March 11, 2021. Information on Job Number: 40401 at https://edmonton.taleo.net/careersection/1/jobdetail.ftl?job=40401

Planning your conservation legacy
Are you a landowner looking for more information about leaving a conservation legacy by conserving your land for the future? Learn about Planning Your Conservation Legacy with the Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) through a free webinar and printed guide.

The webinar will discuss options for donating your land title or conservation easement, questions you and your family should consider, criteria that EALT looks for, plus information about how the legal, appraisal and Ecological Gifts Program processes work.

You can view EALT's Planning Your Conservation Legacy guide at
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/569ec99b841abaccb7c7e74c/t/5f973a394365556592a671c4/1603746413027/Planning+Your+Conservation+Legacy+-+compressed.pdf

The online webinar will be Friday, March 19, 2021 from 12 pm to 1 pm, and will be recorded for those who may wish to view it later. Register for the webinar at https://www.ealt.ca/event-listing/pycl-webinar

This early flower an important energy source to insects
Three-flowered Avens is a low-growing plant. A whole group of these plants can make an effective ground cover, as each plant will spread into a small colony about 30cm across. It can tolerate a small amount of shade and just about any moisture conditions, from wet to dry.

This unusual plant is recognized by the long, pink, feathery hairs that catch the wind and help scatter the fruit. The flowers remain partly closed, and are pollinated by insects, mainly bumblebees, with enough strength to force their way in. Because they bloom in early spring, Three-flowered Avens provide an important energy source to insects coming out of hibernation.

Indigenous people boiled the roots of this plant to make a tea. They also used the roots as a medicine for colds, fever and flu, and as an eyewash. The seeds were crushed and used as perfume. Learn more at http://www.prairiepollination.ca/plante-plant/benoite_a_trois_fleurs-three_flowered_avens/

Edible School Yards webinar
How can schools contribute to climate change mitigation, educational opportunities, and help stop school hunger? Join a series of experts from the community for presentations and questions on March 10 from 7 to 9pm.

The pandemic has sprouted an incredible interest in gardening and local food security across the city. More community gardens are taking root. The new Edmonton City Plan contemplates planting 2 million new urban trees. How can we ensure that schools and community leagues think creatively about school land as a place to welcome these trees? How can we imagine and co-create new opportunities for schools and communities to grow urban agriculture?

Webinar speakers will be Marci Makarewicz, permaculture design for edible schoolyards and outdoor classrooms; Dustin Bajer, educator, permaculture designer, trees and bees expert; and Raquel Feroe, Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues board member. Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZawBdJD_FSyyLRZ6l0sMRBl3kBSqktO6ujD4OPqjFtMQZJw/viewform

River valley contributions or question
If you have a river valley concern or question, contact us at nsrivervalley@gmail.com
Your friends and neighbours can sign up for this newsletter at https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/
If you have a photo, information, news or event about Edmonton’s river valley and think it should be in this newsletter, email it to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712
nsrivervalley@gmail.com
http://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/
https://www.facebook.com/NSRVCS
https://www.instagram.com/nsrvcs

NSRVCS Newsletter - February 25, 2021

Defend river valley from unnecessary gondola
City Council voted 8 to 5 to approve a legally non-binding Gondola Agreement Framework with Prairie Sky Gondola, which keeps alive the private company’s scheme for a 2.5km gondola, cutting through Edmonton’s river valley, from Whyte Avenue to downtown.

An opinion piece published before the vote made several arguments against the plan. It said the mono-cable gondola will add a non-essential, redundant transportation corridor to an area well served by many transportation crossings including the new Walterdale Bridge.

The city plan is designed to address climate change and add tree canopy and green space. Green jobs and blue and green infrastructure are at the base of most economic-recovery plans that address climate change. The gondola will not help with these core ambitions.

The company states it does not need any City money, but degradation of the river valley will occur. A gondola will add 13 towers, one as high as 37 metres, with 10 by 10 metre bases to a part of the city prized for its beauty. At one site within Queen Elizabeth Park’s spruce and aspen forest, a key link in the region’s wildlife corridor, heavy equipment will be needed to anchor a tower to bedrock to protect it from a sliding hill.

The mono-cable style of gondola typically requires a cutline, like Banff and Jasper. But even if it can get over most trees, nonstop bobbing of carriages down the slope of Queen Elizabeth Park is sure to disrupt the quiet pleasure in viewing the park’s old growth forest from the other side of the river. Read more https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-defend-edmontons-river-valley-from-an-unnecessary-gondola

WildEdmonton: monitoring urban biodiversity with remote cameras
Ever wonder what is really going in Edmonton’s river valley? Find out what is happening at night or at other times when people are not around. Learn about what creatures live among us and where they roam.

The North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society (NSRVCS) invites you to participate in an online presentation by Colleen Cassady St. Clair titled WildEdmonton: A protocol and preliminary findings for monitoring urban biodiversity with remote cameras. The event will be March 15 at 5:30pm. Please RSVP to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

After your RSVP is received, you will be sent the Zoom contact information necessary to participate in the event. NSRVCS’ AGM will immediately follow the presentation and feature a brief overview of the society’s activities in 2020.

Colleen is a professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. She studies how animal behaviour contributes to both problems and solutions related to conservation biology. Her current and recent projects address biodiversity in Edmonton, sources of conflict and coexistence with urban coyotes, the importance of personality in habituation in elk, and mitigating train strikes on grizzly bears in the mountain parks. https://edmontonurbancoyotes.ca/

Coal policy and the North Saskatchewan River
Edmonton’s drinking water comes from the North Saskatchewan River so coal mining upstream and its impact on the North Saskatchewan River watershed is a concern to all residents.

Minister of Energy Sonya Savage announced public consultations with Albertans on a modern coal policy for Alberta will begin on March 29. Savage said “I have directed my department officials to bring forward a comprehensive consultation plan that is by Albertans and for Albertans. The details of the process will be announced before consultations begin.”

According to the Minister, “With the input of Albertans, a modern coal policy will protect the areas Albertans cherish while allowing responsible resource development in the appropriate places.”

Albertans interested in receiving regular updates about the process, future consultation sessions and how to participate can submit their contact information to https://www.alberta.ca/coal-policy-development-engagement.aspx

O-day’min the heart of Edmonton
O-day’min, the new name of the city’s downtown ward means strawberry, or heart berry and represents the heart of Edmonton, amiskwaciwâskahikan.

The stem of the heart represents the North Saskatchewan River, the vessels are the waterways, while the veins make up the blood (people). The roots (veins) of the strawberry represent the different cultures that now make up the city.

The O-day’min is a traditional medicine that guided the Anishinaabe (people with the shared culture and language of the Algonquian tribes) understanding of the deep connection between mind, body, spirit, and emotions.

Anishinaabe peoples are found across Canada, and in Alberta have been referred to as the Saulteaux. The O’Chiese First Nation near Rocky Mountain House is home to Anishinaabe peoples. Strawberry teachings at https://wabano.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Strawberry-Teachings-_-ENG-_-FR.pdf

River valley contributions or question
If you have a river valley concern or question, contact us at nsrivervalley@gmail.com
Your friends and neighbours can sign up for this newsletter at https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/
If you have a photo, information, news or event about Edmonton’s river valley and think it should be in this newsletter, email it to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
nsrivervalley@gmail.com
https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/
Facebook @NSRVCS
Instagram @nsrvcs

NSRVCS Newsletter - February 18, 2021

Silver Skate Festival in Hawrelak Park
This festival at Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park, February 12-21, is looking a little different, but there is still much to do and to see. There are snow sculptures, two cross country ski trails and lots of room for snowshoeing.

Thanks to the creative mind of local artist, Steven Teeuwsen, you can take a magical walk through Hawrelak’s paths, dotted with his crystal lanterns. These metal and wood art displays are inspired by the pop-up look of paper lanterns and are lit in a way which creates beautiful shapes and patterns of light on the snow.

It would not be Silver Skate without a little pond skating. Hawrelak has the biggest pond rink in the city and offers tons of room for learning or zipping by at your fastest speeds. You are guaranteed space for social distancing, plenty of room for lacing up, and ample parking. Festival information https://www.todocanada.ca/14-things-to-do-during-2021-silver-skate-festival-in-edmonton/

Coltsfoot harbinger of spring
This wild edible plant is unusual in that the flowers bloom and die before the appearance of any leaves, which earned Coltsfoot the name "son before the father" in earlier times. Before the introduction of matches, the felt-like covering of the plant, wrapped in a rag, and dipped in a solution of saltpetre, was excellent tinder after being dried in the sun.

Coltsfoot is a low growing perennial plant. It has large, deep green leaves but the plant has no main stem. The leaf petiole holds the leaves 10 to 20 cm above the soil, often forming a complete canopy covering the soil. Coltsfoot flowers often before the last of the snow melts. Flower heads have even been known to push through snow.

Coltsfoot flowers can be eaten tossed into salads to add a wonderful aromatic flavour or fill a jar with the flowers and add honey to make a remedy to help calm a cough or to sweeten a bitter herbal tea. Coltsfoot sorbet recipe https://www.ediblewildfood.com/coltsfoot.aspx

Forest Heights known for trees and view
Forest Heights, a neighbourhood in southeast Edmonton, overlooking the North Saskatchewan River was officially made part of Edmonton in 1913. The neighbourhood was used as agricultural land until the 1940s when housing demands after the Second World War pushed for the area to be developed into a residential sector.

True to the name, the neighbourhood has massive elm trees that canopy the streets which make walking around feel like you are entirely cut off from the rest of the city. It is also home of the Edmonton Jewish Cemetery. Abraham Cristall, known as Edmonton’s first Jewish citizen, purchased the land located at 7622-101 Ave on May 26, 1907, to develop the cemetery.

Although technically not part of Forest Heights, Capilano Ravine cuts into the residential area, and consists of a park area which many residents traverse for walks. The City of Edmonton Archives contains pictures of a 1935 ski jump located in Capilano Ravine. Forest Heights during this time was mostly farmland, which means this ski jump was likely in the middle of natural and undeveloped land. Learn more at https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/01/27/forest-heights-a-hidden-pocket-of-history/

River valley contributions or question
If you have a river valley concern or question, contact us at nsrivervalley@gmail.com
Your friends and neighbours can sign up for this newsletter at https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/
If you have a photo, information, news or event about Edmonton’s river valley and think it should be in this newsletter, email it to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
nsrivervalley@gmail.com
https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/
Facebook @NSRVCS
Instagram @nsrvcs