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August 3, 2023

River Valley News - August 3, 2023

Guest User

August 3, 2023

Federal funding will support planting 1.5 million trees in Edmonton

The Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees program will provide $47.8 million to help plant 1.5 million trees in Edmonton. This grant is matched by $47.8 million in municipal funding, which is part of the City’s $66 million new Greener As We Grow tree planting project.

“Trees are an important part of how people experience life in Edmonton. Trees help clean our air, shade our streets, and shape some of our most beloved public spaces,” said Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. “This grant will allow us to expand our planting efforts over the next eight years and bring us closer to our goals of being a healthy and climate-resilient city.”

Over the next eight years, YEG will increase its urban forest canopy by planting trees in approximately 300 hectares of naturalized areas, boulevards, parks, and open spaces. Edmonton has a target of having two million trees planted by 2031 as part of the City’s Urban Forest Asset Management goal of achieving 20 per cent canopy cover by 2071. https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/2-billion-trees.html

Households with a bird feeder and backing onto greenspace, needed for study

Dale Brochu photo

Prior research has shown that coyotes eat a surprising amount of birdseed, usually after it spills from suspended bird feeders. Both birdseed and the rodents that eat it attract coyotes, and coyotes that eat human sources of food are more likely to approach people and pets.

Master student Abby Keller is seeking 60 volunteer households in Edmonton that have a yard that backs directly onto a greenspace, ravine or river valley, lacks a coyote-proof fence, and either has a bird feeder or would be willing to install one. She will study the extent of attraction to birdseed in residential yards by coyotes and their prey, and whether coyote and prey access to birdseed can be reduced using a simple device called a seed hoop.

A seed hoop is a mesh hoop that can be installed below a bird feeder to prevent birdseed from falling to the ground. To monitor coyote and prey activity at bird feeders, Abby will install a remote camera and rodent track/hair tube at a bird feeder in the yards of project volunteers. Seed hoops will be installed at half of the yards, but every participant will receive a complimentary seed hoop at the end of the study.

Email coyotes@ualberta.ca to express interest or request more information. Abby Keller information at https://abbylkeller.weebly.com/

Matthew James Weigel wins three awards for Whitemud Walking

Within a single month, UofA doctoral student Matthew James Weigel won national, provincial and local literary awards for Whitemud Walking. His first published volume of poetry is a collection of poetry, photographs and documents exploring the Dene and Métis poet’s place in Edmonton’s history of colonization and erasure.

The book’s structure, entirely designed by Weigel, is based on his walks through Whitemud Creek at the University of Alberta’s Mactaggart Sanctuary. In June, the book won the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry from the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, and in May the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award from the League of Canadian Poets.

The Gerald Lampert jury described Whitemud Walking as “a remarkable work of resistance historiography” and a “masterclass in experimental form … re-visioning of family stories and the poet’s loving and attentive relationship with a particular place. You do not just read this book but experience it with your mind, heart and spirit.” https://www.ualberta.ca/folio/2023/06/phd-student-wins-trio-of-awards-for-first-poetry-collection.html

Does Edmonton need a national urban park to cherish its river valley

Irene writes “Yup, lots of money, but what hoops will we have to jump thru for this windfall, which is our own $$ anyway?”

Ripples on a Pond by William Frymire, Glass tile mosaic at Borden Park Natural Swim Experience

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/ripples-on-a-pond

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

Guest User

July 27, 2023

River Valley News - July 27, 2023

Guest User

July 27, 2023

Does Edmonton need a national urban park to cherish its river valley

Columnist Keith Gerein states a national urban park is worth exploring, though as the city goes into planning negotiations, he hopes leaders continue to ask whether inviting the federal government into this space is really necessary, or whether a lot of these touted benefits can be accomplished on our own.

He agrees the river valley is YEG’s most unique attraction, the largest urban park in North America, encompassing some 88 kilometres and 18,000 acres, and featuring 160 kilometres of trails. From this perspective, the queries often follow as to whether we are protecting it enough, or whether we are missing opportunities to better take advantage of it.

It is these sorts of questions that are at the heart of new debate on whether the river valley, or portions of it, should be designated as a national urban park. One idea is to form an independent group of various stakeholders to provide oversight of the park, said former MP Linda Duncan, who is a member of the North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society.

“Our concern is the clock is ticking and the feds are dealing with quite a few jurisdictions and they want to add more,” said Duncan, whose society is also seeking a tougher river valley bylaw. “So we need to get on with it. I think it would be regrettable if we missed this chance to have some infusion of dollars to protect the river valley.”

There is enough flexibility at this point that the seven cities expressing interest in a national urban park: this includes Halifax, Montreal, Windsor, Winnipeg, Victoria and Saskatoon, may well reach seven entirely different arrangements with Ottawa. The major carrot is $130 million in federal money, with potentially more to come.

https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/keith-gerein-does-edmonton-need-an-urban-national-park-to-cherish-its-river-valley

What makes an urban wildlife species a pest for humans

Dan Riedlhuber photo

From the pigeon pooping on your roof to the skunk hiding under your porch, what is it about an urban wildlife species that earns them the label of pest? If an animal is in a wild space, away from human beings, accessing wild food sources, we don’t see them as a problem. But once they interact with people, damage property, raid garbage or pose a potential threat to our livelihoods, pest-perception rises.

In Edmonton, skunks are not a particular favourite in the city. Known to live in highly populated areas often under porches or dens, and to raid garbage, the stinky critter can make its human neighbours fear leaving their homes. But they also provide an array of ecosystem benefits, like eating grubs, which keeps lawns healthy, and eating hornets and wasps.

Pigeons are a species once deemed useful by humans, but not anymore. Sometimes called rats with wings, pigeons weren't always regarded as pests. European colonizers introduced the species of pigeon that are common in cities across North America, bringing them over as sources of food, pets and as messenger birds.

But eventually, their uses in agriculture and for communication were replaced by other things. The pigeon was abandoned once they were no longer of use to humans. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/urban-wildlife-canada-alberta-edmonton-pest-explainer-1.6555194

When the natural resources of lakes in the Beaver Hills were abundant

In 1875, while building the North-West Mounted Police barracks at Fort Saskatchewan, Sam Steele recorded in his journal, “Our food at this time consisted of pemmican and mountain trout. The smallest trout weighed 5.5 lbs and many were over 12 lbs.”

He and his men also ate “large quantities of wild duck eggs obtained from the shores of the lakes in the Beaver Hills . . . and beaver, which when roasted is delicious food.” Large populations of beaver gave the Beaverhill area its name early in the fur trade, but rabbit became a valuable fur export during WW1 when the rabbit population in the Beaverhill subwatershed hit a 9–10 year peak.

During the war, rabbit fur imports to North America from Australia were cut off and the rabbit fur hat industry in New York became desperate. They sent American fur traders to Alberta where they bought 6 million rabbit hides in one year. Dr. Rowen from the University of Alberta counted 32,000 rabbits per square mile during that time.

More about the natural resources of the Beaverhill Subwatershed, beginning on page 213 of Living in the Shed by Billie Milholland, published by the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance. https://archive.org/details/livinginshedalbe00milh/

Could ecological restoration be the new outdoor recreation

Fostering ecological healing on lands that have been impaired delivers multiple dividends. This kind of volunteer work addresses many problems today that we’ve come to call crises: species extinction, climate change, soil loss, and the decline of both water quantity and quality.

At the end of the 20th century, scientists from around the world got together to measure our planet’s health. They reported that three out of every four acres of the Earth’s surface were in a degraded state. The urgent global need to restore our damaged lands and waters caused the United Nations to name this the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

Although restoration and recreation have much in common, there is a major difference between the two. While outdoor recreation fulfills oneself, ecological restoration gives back to the land. Not that benefiting oneself is bad; one of the reasons we recreate is for the regenerative powers of spending time in nature.

But adding restoration into the domain of outdoor recreation could go a long way to enhance our time outdoors. When a group acts to restore the health of soil, land, plants and animals, people involved always feel better about themselves. https://mountainjournal.org/ecological-restoration-could-be-the-new-outdoor-recreation

Cold Arbour by David Wilson, Muttart Conservatory

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/cold-arbour

Comment or contribution

Sincerely yours,

Harvey Voogd

North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society

780.691.1712

Guest User

July 20, 2023

River Valley News - July 20, 2023

Guest User

July 20, 2023

Many YEG trees planted in circumstances constrained by concrete and other infrastructure

The Wildflower News July edition features information that Jim Hole, a well-known horticulturalist, submitted to the City’s Integrated Pest Management Advisory Committee, of which he is a member. Hole writes, “Construction impacts are cumulative. Trees do not heal, they just compartmentalize damage, wall it off. Each event adds up over time: demolition, grading, and construction. Cumulative damage sends trees into a death spiral.

Tree preservation requires space. Compacting soil around trees with construction equipment causes serious damage. Tree roots do not grow like carrots. They spread wide and most are in the top two feet of soil. Most fine roots are in the top 18 inches. Compaction reduces water infiltration and dramatically reduces oxygen infiltration.

Tree root zone volumes and soil consistency are critical. Two cubic feet of structured soil for every square foot of crown projection at maturity is needed for healthy trees. Crown projection is the area under the dripline of a tree. If you think of a circle of foliage and do the math, a canopy diameter of 20 feet would be around 300 square feet and require 600 cubic feet of good soil.

The typical urban tree pits in concrete sidewalks might have a volume of 100 cubic feet. Tree roots are unable to grow properly in these ‘tree coffins’ and are, invariably, short-lived. Each successive replacement tree will also be short-lived. Costs in the long term are higher and environmental and aesthetics losses are also high.” https://speakerscanada.com/keynote-speaker/jim-hole/

Edmonton valley zoo breeding program includes endangered northern leopard frog

Northern leopard frog populations across western Canada started declining sharply in the 1970s, with the Edmonton region population estimated to have been completely lost by the 1980s. Due to upland habitat destruction, wetland loss, pollution, and the spread of diseases, the species is now considered gone from the entirety of the North Saskatchewan River basin.

In late June 2023, two zookeepers made the trek to a protected wetlands area outside of Kimberley, B.C. to release 277 zoo-born and raised endangered Rocky Mountain northern leopard frog tadpoles. This work is part of a breeding program with the goal of preventing the local extinction of the species in order to support the recovery of the broader western Canadian northern leopard frogs, which are considered at risk in Alberta.

The northern leopard frog program was established at the zoo in 2018 as part of the broader Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Team, which runs in cooperation with the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, the Vancouver Aquarium, and the Province of British Columbia. The team is establishing new self-sustaining populations of frogs in BC, conducting conservation research, and maintaining assurance populations.

For every person who visits the Edmonton Valley Zoo, a small portion of their admission goes to conservation.

https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/edmonton_valley_zoo/northern-leopard-frog-breeding-program

New conservation easement in Parkland County near Wabamun Lake

The Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) has announced that a new conservation easement was finalized earlier this year with landowners in Parkland County. This property near Wabamun Lake provides mixed woods habitat for many types of wildlife: moose, deer, bear, dozens of songbirds, and even the endangered Little Brown bat.

In addition to the generous landowners who made this possible, funding support was also received from the Alberta Land Trust Grant. Land Trusts can apply for funding from this provincial program to conserve ecologically important areas to prevent habitat fragmentation, maintain biodiversity and preserve native landscapes.

Conservation easements are an excellent tool for landowners to achieve conservation of their land while still being able to use and sell their land in the future. Ecologically significant lands may also be eligible for significant tax benefits through the Ecological Gifts program, a program of the Government of Canada.

If you are interested in conserving your land with EALT, check out its Planning Your Conversation Legacy guide https://www.ealt.ca/conserve-nature/

YEG will keep control if river valley becomes a national urban park

Miriam emailed “Always interesting news! Would love a follow up on the Edmonton park control issue.”

Still Life by Andrew French, Belgravia Art Park

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/still-life-2

Comment or contribution

Sincerely yours,

Harvey Voogd

North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society

780.691.1712