Conservation Blog

What Happened to Sustainable Forestry?

10 November 2021

The progress we’ve made in advancing ecological forest management is now under threat. The Kenney government is planning to boost harvest rates by 33%, far past sustainable limits. Click to read more and find out how you can help make a difference.

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"Ironstone Man" and some enthusiastic audience volunteers at Dinosaur Provincial Park. Kiva Olson.

Park Interpretation in Alberta

2 November 2021

BY KATE CORRIGAN, GLEN HVENEGAARD, ELIZABETH HALPENNY, AND CLARA-JANE BLYE

If you have a story of how an interpretive experience connected with you and your family and value personal interpretation as part of defending our parks, please reach out to our provincial decision-makers and tell them so.

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Black-footed Ferret Kits. Ryan Moehring.

The Case of the Missing Prairie Bandit

2 November 2021

BY ARYA HORON

One hundred years ago, the prairie bandit was abundant across North America grasslands. By 1979, scientists believed it was extinct. This led to the question: where did the prairie bandit go?

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Grizzly Bear by Rick Price

Bear Tracks

2 November 2021

BY COLLEEN CASSADY ST. CLAIR

How can we protect grizzly bears from trains in the mountain parks?

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Greater Sage-Grouse by Ron Hayes

Dancing Without a Stage – The State of the Greater Sage-Grouse

1 August 2021

BY TIMOTHY SHAPKA

As of 2020, the Alberta population of greater sage-grouse was estimated to be 72 individuals — down from the thousands that were present when we started keeping track in 1968. Timothy Shapka reviews the causes of the decline and what is being done to recover the species.

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Alberta Environmental Policy Update – July 2021

1 August 2021

In this post we examine the changes in Alberta environmental policies that have occurred over the past year.

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Figure 1. Temperature zones in Alberta, comparing today with predicted temperature distributions in 2080 under the best-case and worst-case scenarios. Adapted from Schneider 2013.

Life in a Warmer World

1 August 2021

Time Travelling into Alberta’s Future

BY RICHARD SCHNEIDER

How warm is it going to get, what will the ecological responses be like and where do we go from here?

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Rare Alberta Birds Get Close Scrutiny

22 July 2021

The Alberta Bird Record Committee (ABRC) is the body responsible for evaluating records of rare birds in the province. It periodically publishes the results of its deliberations, and its newest report, the thirteenth in the series, is now available. The report documents the Committee’s decisions on almost 90 records of bird rarities that have been recorded in the province over a span of about six years.

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Elk bugling in the mist
A bugling elk (Cervus canadensis) by Nick Parayko

Out of Sight: How Scientists are Listening in on Nature in Alberta

22 July 2021

BY RICHARD HEDLEY

Imagine being a biologist: do you want to go on a long difficult journey to reach a site to conduct a breeding bird survey at dawn…or wheel your rollie chair over to your desk to use an acoustic survey? What are the cons of this scenario, if any? And how does it stack up to traditional surveys?

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Bumble bee by Richard Schneider

Plight of the Bumble Bee

21 July 2021

BY NICHOLAS BOYCE

There is a good chance you have heard the slogan “save the bees” somewhere, perhaps on social media or on a flyer at the local coffee shop. But to clarify, which bees does this sentiment refer to? Which bees need saving? Read about the plight of the bumble bee, who cares, what is being done and, most importantly, what you can do to save the bees.

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