River Valley News - Sept 8, 2022

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September 8, 2022

City wants feedback on 5 projects, 3 impacting river valley
The City of Edmonton is hosting its first large-scale in-person engagement event in two years. On September 10 at West Edmonton Mall and September 17 at Londonderry Mall, you are invited to chat in person with city staff about five city-building projects. The city is looking for your comments and feedback on: River Valley Planning Modernization, Zoning Bylaw Renewal, National Urban Park, District Planning, and Mass Transit.

River Valley Planning Modernization is about planning for the future of YEG’s river valley. The city is renewing 2 plans: The Ribbon of Green which provides long-term planning guidance for the protection, access and enjoyment of the river valley; and The North Saskatchewan River Valley Area Redevelopment Plan, which provides land use planning direction, as well as the processes and tools the city uses to evaluate and regulate proposed development in our river valley and ravine system.

Zoning Bylaw Renewal is a multi-year comprehensive overhaul of the city’s current zoning bylaw that includes rethinking how, what and why the city regulates in terms of zoning and land development. Proposed changes will also impact our river valley.

Edmonton is one of several cities across Canada in discussion with Parks Canada about the potential for establishing a National Urban Park in our city/region. The decision about whether a National Urban Park is established in Edmonton will be made by City Council in partnership with Parks Canada and Indigenous partners, using feedback provided by the public and stakeholders. Complete engagement details at https://www.edmonton.ca/programs_services/public_engagement/engage-edmonton?utm_source=virtualaddress&utm_campaign=engageedmonton

Bunchberry Meadows closed Sept 6-Oct 30
The months of September and October are an important time for plants and wildlife at Bunchberry Meadows. To limit disturbance, Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) has announced that the meadows will be closed to the public from September 6 through October 30.

The good news is that visitor access will be available via guided tours on Saturday or Sunday, beginning September 10. The Fall Foliage Tours, hosted by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, EALT’s partner in the conservation of Bunchberry Meadows, are available to book on selected weekends. You can sign up for the tours at https://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/where-we-work/alberta/events/

Reconciliation in Edmonton should begin on the Rossdale Flats
In an Edmonton Journal opinion piece, Phillip Coutu writes “From 2000 to 2005, a small group of descendants of Fort Edmonton played an integral role in the preservation of the Fort Edmonton burial grounds. As a Metis who has lived and worked with Indigenous people my whole life, I wish to say that reconciliation needs to be seen to be done and the Rossdale Flats is an ideal location to reimagine our relationship with First Peoples.

It begins with allowing Cree, Metis and others in the plains culture to talk to each other in a consultation process that honours its oratory nature. I am very saddened by the recent art installation debacle which featured a buffalo fur trader and a buffalo but excluded any acknowledgement that the Metis existed here for 100 years.

Worse, it confuses our history. We are the children of the fur trade who hunted buffalo and viewed them as a gift from the creator. This art did not reflect our history. It reflected American history where buffalo herds were slaughtered for their pelts and their carcasses left to rot on the plains.

I believe the bronze buffalo belongs at the entrance of the burial grounds so all who drive down River Valley Road would be reminded of the power of our buffalo culture. The Metis often say we are like the buffalo, who stand to face the cold north winds. I believe other descendants would support this idea as this buffalo, like us, has been discarded from the flats.” Read piece at https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-reconciliation-in-edmonton-should-begin-on-the-rossdale-flats

Laurence Decore Lookout named after former mayor
A stretch of road along Saskatchewan Drive from Groat Road to 99 Street honours Laurence Decore, former mayor, lawyer, Ukrainian community activist, multiculturalism advocate and leader of Alberta’s official Opposition. In 2004, five years after his death, Edmonton honoured Decore with a four-kilometre stretch of road designated as Laurence Decore Lookout.

It offers spectacular views of the river valley and downtown, especially at night and especially from the viewing platform constructed at the intersection with Gateway Boulevard in Old Strathcona. For most of the distance, a pleasant walking and running path occupies the narrow space between the natural vegetation denoting the top of the riverbank and Saskatchewan Drive.

A city councillor from 1974 to 1977, Decore became Edmonton’s second mayor of Ukrainian origin in 1983. Decore’s grandparents, the original surname was Dikur, homesteaded east of the city, but his father John, who represented the Liberals in the House of Commons, chose law as a profession. Like both parents, Decore involved himself in Ukrainian community life and worked actively on behalf of a variety of Ukrainian causes. More at https://transforming.edmonton.ca/closer-to-home-a-postcard-view-of-edmonton-with-pro-tips/

City surface temperatures 6-12C higher compared to rural areas
Elna writes “I read with interest the article concluding that older neighbourhoods with boulevard trees are cooler. I live in Greenfield which is 50 years old and does not have the advantage of boulevard trees. My neighbourhood is losing its tree canopy as birch trees have died and spruce trees have grown too large. These private trees are cut down and not usually replaced. The City has no regulations concerning this situation. I believe the City in its tree planting plan should consider replacing trees in neighbourhoods such as mine.”

Wasps and other insect bites can be serious
Liz emailed “Last summer I went into the kitchen to find a wasp chowing down on bits of cooked ground beef that were caught in the drain. As I watched, it stuffed itself, flew to the windowsill where it proceeded to scrub from head to toe, followed by lying down in the sunshine and having a snooze. Thinking it had just ate a Thanksgiving style feast, I left it to its nap. When I returned a few minutes later, it was gone, full, content and refreshed. Yet another example of how we are more alike than different, no matter the species.”

Photo by Ivan Todosijczuk, who writes “Further to the article on spider and wasp bites, I've attached a photo that could be titled ‘When apex predator meets apex predator.’ This was taken in our back yard in Glenora.”

Comment or contribution
Please note that articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the wide variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley. Email river valley photos, event information, comments, or questions to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712

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September 1, 2022

River Valley News - Sept 1, 2022

Guest User

September 1, 2022

City surface temperatures 6-12C higher compared to rural areas
Last summer, Nilusha Welegedara and her family sweltered in their rented Edmonton townhouse, relying on air conditioning and fans to help make life bearable. With no trees for shade, and living next door to a sun-baked parking lot, even going outside offered little relief, the University of Alberta researcher recalls.

But then they moved to a neighbourhood filled with mature trees, located near the city’s river valley. “It’s totally different now,” says Welegedara. “We never use fans and even have to use blankets sometimes in the summer, it’s that much cooler. So it’s a big relief.”

The difference doesn’t come as a surprise to this post-doctoral fellow, whose first-hand experience mirrors her research findings that there are links between various landscapes in Edmonton and hotspots known as urban heat islands. Learn more at https://www.ualberta.ca/folio/2022/08/islands-in-the-heat.html

Raise a curious, confident, nature-loving child
September spots are open for the Edmonton Forest School which runs full-day, half-day, and once-a-week program options at Gold Bar Park to support children in the development of a sense of place, an ethic of care towards nature, and an understanding of themselves as a part of the natural world.

Edmonton Forest School Society is a not-for-profit society that aims to connect Edmontonians to our incredible river valley. It is a group of parents, teachers and community members who came together to ensure our children, the next generation, become resilient, empathetic, and adventurous environmental stewards who care and protect our greatest resource, the natural world.

Programs run from September to June. Learn more at https://edmontonforestschool.com/ and email questions to instructors@edmontonforestschool.com

Showy Aster a native plant that attracts butterflies
Eurybia conspicua or Showy Aster is a tall robust native plant that looks best at the back of the border or in front of shrubs. It will grow into a nice clump, needs full sun to semi-shade, blooms late July-September, and attracts butterflies.

Showy Aster is a perennial spreading by means of underground rhizomes, forming loose clonal colonies. Each plant can produce a flat-topped array of 5-50 flower heads, each head with 12–35 blue or violet ray florets surrounding 48–55 yellow disc florets. More at https://eng.snappages.com/native-plants-e

Wasps and other insect bites can be serious
Larry writes “The mention of spiders in the article caught my attention as I just heard an interview with Arachnologist Catherine Scott who spoke of popular misinformation about spiders. The interview was full of interesting information and is well worth a listen She says that spider bites are extremely rare events, contrary to popular belief.” 8-minute interview at https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2065099843792

Mark emailed “Thanks for sharing information on insect stings. Predator and parasitoid species are fascinating and vital to our ecosystems. Many stinging species are ground-dwellers that actively protect their nests. We can avoid a painful encounter by staying on the path. River valley users know that a crushed plantain leaf relieves mosquito bites. For a wasp sting you'll need a spit poultice, where you chew the leaf for about 10 seconds before pressing it on the sting. It's important to understand that insect predators have tremendous value and are more than a potentially deadly nuisance to humans.

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August 26, 2022

River Valley News - Aug 25, 2022

Guest User

August 26, 2022

Wasps and other insect bites can be serious
Insect and spider bites often cause minor swelling, redness, pain, and itching. These mild reactions are common. They may last from a few hours to a few days. Home treatment is often all that is needed to relieve symptoms of a mild reaction to common stinging or biting spiders and insects, such as fleas, flies, and mosquitoes.

Some people have more severe reactions to bites or stings. Babies and children may be more affected than adults are. Problems that are more serious include a severe allergic reaction, shock that can occur if the circulatory system cannot get enough blood to the vital organs, nausea, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.

Insects most likely to cause allergic or toxic reactions include bees. A bee leaves its stinger behind and dies after stinging. A local reaction includes pain, swelling and redness around the sting but may become as serious as a severe allergic reaction for some people.

Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets are typically more aggressive than bees and may sting more than once. Most reactions include a bump at the site of the sting. A toxic reaction can occur if a person is stung 10 or more times. Yellow jackets cause the most allergic reactions. More information at https://myhealth.alberta.ca/health/Pages/Conditions.aspx?hwid=insbt

Western Tanager a wasp eater
Seeing a male Western Tanager is like looking at a flame: an orange-red head, brilliant yellow body, and coal-black wings, back and tail. Females and immatures are a dimmer yellow-green and blackish. These birds live in open woods all over the west, particularly among evergreens, where they often stay hidden in the canopy.

While most red birds owe their redness to a variety of plant pigments known as carotenoids, the Western Tanager gets its scarlet head feathers from a rare pigment called rhodoxanthin. Unable to make this substance in their own bodies, they obtain it from insects in their diet.

This bird eats mostly insect, especially wasps, ants, termites, stinkbugs, cicadas, beetles, grasshoppers, crane flies, dragonflies, caterpillars, scale insects, and sawflies. They also eat fruit, especially during fall and winter, when it may dominate the diet

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Western Tanagers were thought to pose a significant threat to commercial fruit crops. Today, it is illegal to shoot native birds and they are safer than they were a century ago. More at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Tanager/overview

John Walter a prominent figure in early Edmonton
John Walter came to Canada in 1870 to build York boats for the Hudson's Bay Company. At the end of his HBC contract in 1875, he decided to try his hand at making a life outside of the Fort walls. With York boats still in demand, the company offered to pay John in cash for all the boats that he could turn out. Walter’s boat building business had begun.

John settled on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River, directly across from Fort Edmonton on a location near the ford crossing the river for the Calgary-Edmonton trail. Following the 1882 land survey, Walter’s dwelling and cultivated fields became River Lot 9, which granted him 155 acres, with a 2-block frontage on the river and a depth running south to what is now University Avenue.

He developed his property by moving buildings no longer in use at the Fort and refurbishing them. His property was also shaped by his opening a blacksmith and carriage shop in 1886, his continued boat building business, ferry operation, a small coal mine in 1887, and a sawmill in 1893. Although the sawmill became John’s biggest success, he was most recognized for his ferry.

John’s businesses, particularly his lumber mill, began to suffer with the decline of the housing boom in 1912. The 1915 flood caused great damage to his business, washing away lumber stocks and sawmill, and caused great damage to the Walterdale community. To add to the losses, one of John’s trusted employees embezzled a substantial amount of money. John Walter died 5 years later without recovering his losses. Learn more at https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/john_walter_museum/john-walter-bio

Aspen poplar has been used as a painkiller
This tree is essential to the Aspen Parkland, the ecoregion where Edmonton is found. It is also known as the trembling aspen because of its unusual flat petiole, or leaf stems, which cause the leaves to flutter, or quake in the slightest breeze.

Aspen photosynthesizes even with their bark. This means they provide valuable winter food for porcupine, moose, black bear, beaver, ruffed grouse, and rodents, which may eat the bark and leaves of aspen trees.

Some scientists think that an aspen grove connected by a root system may be a single organism. Aspen is known for suckering or producing new trees from their root system if adult trees are damaged. The roots stay connected, and all trees that are connected will grow leaves or lose their leaves all at the same time.

Aspen contains salicylates and has been used as a painkiller. Salicylates are also used to treat acne, warts, dandruff, and ringworm, because the acid form can remove the outer layer of human skin. It can even be used as a food preservative and as an antiseptic. Learn more at https://www.ealt.ca/species-spotlight-list/aspen-poplar