River Valley News - Oct 3/24

City provides update on the national urban park initiative

At this time, the Edmonton National Urban Park (NUP) initiative remains in the pre-feasibility phase. The partners are exploring what the next phase of the initiative, the planning phase, would entail and what the partnership should look like moving forward.

The NUP Partner Committee is monitoring political developments at the provincial level, particularly Bill 204 (the Municipal Government [National Urban Parks] Amendment Act, 2023) and Bill 18 (the Provincial Priorities Act, 2024) as these may impact the next steps in exploring a national urban park in the Edmonton region.

Bill 204 came into effect in May 2024, and requires municipalities to meet specific conditions before beginning negotiations with the Government of Canada on the creation of a national urban park. The conditions referred to in the bill have not yet been provided. City Administration is waiting for the information required to move this project forward and this has impacted project timelines.

Project partners recognize that Bill 204 may change the Government of Alberta’s role within the NUP Initiative and will work with it to understand the actions required to comply with this new legislation. The partner committee is eager to receive input from the province and looks forward to advancing discussions about a national urban park in the Edmonton region once further information has been provided.

https://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/initiatives_innovation/national-urban-park

Blanket flower a beautiful herbaceous perennial native wildflower 

Gaillardia Aristata, commonly known as blanket flower, is an herbaceous perennial wildflower in the daisy family native to Alberta and the rest of Western North America. The genus name Gaillardia was named in honour of Gaillard de Marentonneau, a patron of botany in the 18th century. The species name aristata is from the Latin word arist meaning bristle, which refers to the hairy stems and leaves the plant possesses.

Blanket flowers have an extended blooming period from June through September. You will find blanket flowers in open prairies, meadows, and on hillsides with full fun and dry soil, ranging from the Northwest Territories all the way down to Arizona.

Indigenous peoples across western North America traditionally use this plant for medicinal properties: the Stoney steep and drink tea made of the flowers to relieve menstrual problems, and the Blackfoot use the root to help relieve stomach pain and discomfort. Recently, the seeds of the plant have been used in wildflower sod for native plant rehabilitation and restoration of natural areas.

Blanket flowers produce a lot of nectar, which attracts many pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and beetles, which use it as a steady food source through summer. Its importance as a food source is not limited to insects, as birds enjoy eating the seed heads of the flowers. https://inaturalist.ca/posts/81016-plant-of-the-month-common-blanketflower-gaillardia-aristata#

October autumn colours bike tour

River Valley Alliance invites you to bring your bike or e-bike to the Terwilliger Dog Park on Sunday, October 20 from 10:30am to 1:00pm and enjoy a beautiful autumn ride through Edmonton’s stunning river valley. Registration is required.

This 25km bike tour offers the perfect opportunity to experience vibrant fall colours as it crosses four uniquely different bridges, passes through meadows, and traverses’ various forests. The route has a few small hills, making it accessible yet invigorating for all participants.

A helmet and bell are mandatory for all participants. Please make sure your bike is in good working order. An RVA member will be available to help with any bike issues and will have a first-aid kit. Wear weather appropriate clothing and bring a water bottle to stay hydrated.

The bike tour begins and ends at Terwilliger Park. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow cyclists, enjoy the beautiful fall colours, and experience the best of Edmonton's River Valley. Register at https://rivervalley.ab.ca/events/fall-colours-bike-tour/

Chief Ketchamoot part of the heritage of the Beaver Hills

Beaver Hills Biosphere Region Association recently received a Heritage Award, in the Heritage Awareness category from the Government of Alberta, for the Beaver Hills Biosphere Video Project. The Heritage Awards, which are presented every two years, recognize the people, organizations and communities that are actively engaged in heritage promotion, protection and preservation.

One of the videos is about Chief Ketchamoot who came to help the local Cree against their traditional Blackfoot enemies. Beaver Hills was abundant with buffalo, moose, deer, beaver and thousands of all kinds of waterfowl. The Blackfeet were raiding the south end of Beaver Lake around 1860.

Not wanting to lose this great hunting ground, the Cree persuaded Chief Ketchamoot to come from Ft. Pitt, northeast of present-day Lloydminster, with 400 Cree warriors. They were joined by local Cree and travelled southwest, passing through Camrose to south of Wetaskiwin where they fought the Blackfeet at Battle River.

The Blackfeet were routed, Chief Ketchamoot remained in the Beaver Hills and was buried on the banks of the creek that bears his name, Ketchamoot Creek at Beaverhill Lake. Video at https://vimeo.com/902447163

YEG river valley stillness, Rhonda Taft photo

Comment or Contributions

Please note articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley.

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River Valley News - Sept 26/24

Why do leaves change colour

Bencito the Traveller photo

Leaves change color when chlorophyll, a substance plants use to turn light into sugar that makes a leaf look green, is breaking down and the plant is not rebuilding replacement molecules as the days get shorter. Other pigments, a class called the carotenoids, show as yellow and contribute to the appearance of orange and brown.

Carotenoids are always on some level in the leaf, but instead of being overwhelmed by the green as they are in the summer, they appear as the chlorophyll, and thus the green, fades away. Reds are from a more ‘expensive to make’ pigment, anthocyanin, and they develop in fall. The reds and yellow together give us the orange fall colors in some tree species.

The big factors that affect the colours we see are the length of day, temperature and the weather. The change in the length of day triggers several processes to get ready for the autumn and winter. These changes can influence the shift in color to occur. Temperature can induce or accelerate those changes. Light also plays a role. Light energy is used to make anthocyanin, so sunny days can intensify the color development.

Wind and rain are mechanical forces which can cause the leaves to detach and fall. Since different tree species hold their leaves and lose their leaves in different ways, wind and rain can influence what is present in the plant community color palette on a landscape scale. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/why-do-leaves-change-color

Animals use different tactics to prepare for winter

Tony Leprieur photo

Animals need to prepare for the winter months to come. This doesn’t look the same for all animals as they’ve evolved different techniques to brave the cold and survive. Migration is common in birds, who can fly long routes across the globe pursuing warmth. Migration for elks means spending the colder months at lower altitudes, where the weather is slightly warmer.

Many animals who stick around for winter months spend their time hiding or resting in protected environments, like nests in trees or holes in the ground. Moles, who already burrow underground during warmer months, move their tunnels deeper underground to stay away from the freeze, and store snacks for rainy days in special, secret storage tunnels.

Mice, shrews, and voles spend most of their time under the snow, in subnivean tunnels in the layer between the ground and the snowpack. Here, it’s cozy as the outside world freezes over, and food is readily available in the form of plants, seeds, shrubs, and sticks left scattered around.

Other animals hoard food. Many species of squirrel forage for extra acorns, nuts, seeds, and mushrooms during the fall, hide them in secret spots, and then go back to eat them throughout the cold months. These animals like to scatter their stashes, hiding their provisions in hundreds of hollowed-out nooks and crannies in trees or underground. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/6-different-tactics-that-animals-use-to-prepare-for-winter

Fragaria vesca, refers to the fragrance of wild strawberry

Fragaria vesca, Fragaria is from the Latin fraga the classical name used for the strawberry fruit, referring to its fragrance. Strawberry is from an old Anglo-Saxon word streowberie derived from the age-old practice of laying straw around cultivated plants to keep the fruit off the ground, or to describe how the plants are strewn across the ground.

Wild strawberries are perennial herbs that grow from a fibrous root with short rhizomes or creeping roots. They have long, slender, leafless runners, often reddish in colour, which root when they contact the soil to form new plants. Wild strawberries grow in open, well-drained places in lowland to subalpine zones. These plants can be found in fields and meadows, in disturbed areas, and in open forest.

Wild strawberry fruits are eaten by several birds and mammals, which disseminate the seeds in their droppings. Squirrels like to feast on the strawberries. Deer also favour the plants. Strawberry-leaf tea is a good vitamin C supplement. It also has various medicinal uses. For example, the root is a strong astringent and is used as a treatment for diarrhea and other digestive orders.

Herbalists suggest a tonic made from the leaves is good for the female reproductive system and to soothe inflammations of the skin and eyes. Large amounts of strawberry fruit in the diet are said to slow dental plaque formation. https://plantwatch.naturealberta.ca/choose-your-plants/wild-strawberry/index.html#

53 Degrees 30 North by Thorsten Goldberg, Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/53-degrees-30-north

Comment or Contributions

Please note articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley.

Email river valley photos, event information, comments, or questions to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Forward this link to anyone you think may want to sign up for this newsletter https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/newsletter-signup

River Valley News - Sept 19/24

Tiger salamanders make mass appearance in Edmonton Area

CTV News Edmonton photo

Salamanders breed in the spring and lay their eggs in local bodies of water. Once hatched, the legless larvae, similar to a tadpole, feed on invertebrates like mosquito and other insect larvae. In August they emerge transformed into four-legged terrestrial replicas of their parents.

Despite tiger salamanders being one of the province's most common amphibians, and one of the largest salamander species in North America, they're rare to see. It was impossible for Chelsea Brown not to notice them after a large number appeared in mid-August.

"In the lawn, in our rock garden, the neighbour's driveway, across the street, crossing the street, hanging out at the corner, all along the sidewalk going down to the lake here behind me. It was absolutely crazy." The invasion lasted around two days in full force, with numbers dwindling to almost nothing by the end of the week. 

It's this time of year when salamanders are most likely to become trapped in window wells, sump pumps and buckets, according to the Edmonton and Area Land Trust. Most salamanders will leave on their own. If one does get trapped in your yard, you can gently scoop it into a bucket of water and release it near a lake or pond.

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/craziest-thing-i-ve-ever-seen-elusive-salamanders-make-surprising-mass-appearance-in-edmonton-area-1.7038920

Philadelphia fleabane supposedly can repel fleas.

Erigeron philadelphicus or Philadelphia fleabane is a native, somewhat weedy, perennial herb. Cows graze this plant for forage and deer use this plant for food. Butterflies, bees and moths pollinate the flowers. The plant will grow in a variety of soils; however, it requires soils that are moist and moderately well drained. It grows best in full sun but will tolerate dappled shade.

The genus name, Erigeron stems from the Greek eri, "early" and geron "old man," probably because of the plant’s hairy appearance. The common name fleabane is from Old English and it refers to the plant’s odor, which supposedly can repel fleas.

Indigenous people used Philadelphia fleabane for a variety of medicinal purposes including epilepsy. A poultice was made from the plant to treat headaches. The roots were either made into tea or chewed to treat colds and coughs. The smoke from incense made from the plant was inhaled to treat head colds. It was mixed with other herbs to also treat headaches and inflammation of the nose and throat.

The tea was used to break fevers. The plant was boiled and mixed with tallow to make a balm that could be spread upon sores on the skin. It was used as an eye medicine to treat dimness of sight, as an astringent, a diuretic, and as an aid for kidneys or the gout. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/cs_erph.pdf

Motorists east of Edmonton told to look out for snakes

Hil Reine photo

Alberta Parks has issued an advisory for Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area and Miquelon Lake Provincial Park, east and southeast of Edmonton, respectively, due to garter snakes on the roadways.

“Please watch for and avoid the garter snakes on our roadways. Due to migrating back to their local hibernacula, snakes will be crossing and stopping on roads more often during the fall season,” the advisory stated.

If you spot one or more slithering around in those areas, there’s no reason to fear them. While they may try and bite you if you pick them up, they are not poisonous and have tiny teeth that probably won’t break your skin.

https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/garter-snakes-edmonton-alberta 

Betty Stanhope-Cole park honours outstanding amateur golfer

Ted Harrison photo

Just east of the bridge adjacent to Concordia University of Edmonton, there is a small park overlooking the Highlands Golf Club. It has a view of the river valley and southeast Edmonton. It is named for Betty Stanhope-Cole, a long-time, highly accomplished, former member of Highlands Golf Club. Throughout the fifties, sixties and seventies Betty dominated Alberta’s golf scene and made her mark both nationally and internationally.

Bob Stanhope was supposed to have a golf lesson at the Grierson Hill. He was unable to make the lesson and Betty’s mother suggested that she go in her father’s place. “I got hooked,” Stanhope-Cole said. She ended up working at the driving range for the summer, which gave her the opportunity to hit golf ball after golf ball, the basics for the rest of her career.

Betty was named Edmonton’s Outstanding Athlete in 1957, but her competition for the award that year proves just how impressive Stanhope-Cole was. “I could not believe that I won,” Stanhope-Cole, still with disbelief in her voice years later. “There was Jackie Parker (star Edmonton Eskimo) and there was Matt Baldwin, who had won the Brier.”

Stanhope-Cole had become the first woman from Western Canada to win the Canadian Ladies Amateur Championship earlier that year, which was clearly a significant factor in deciding on the winner. In 1991, Betty was made a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. Betty Stanhope-Cole died January died January 27, 2017. https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2015/12/08/betty-stanhope-cole/

Travail in Tandem by Father Douglas, Belvedere LRT Station

https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/travail-in-tandem

Comment or Contributions

Please note articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley.

Email river valley photos, event information, comments, or questions to nsrivervalley@gmail.com

Forward this link to anyone you think may want to sign up for this newsletter https://www.edmontonrivervalley.org/newsletter-signup