Conservation Blog
Society of Grasslands Naturalists Raises Concerns About Land-Use Decisions in the Eastern Slopes
The Society of Grassland Naturalists has raised concerns about land-use decisions in the Eastern Slopes. They urge the premier to adopt an integrated approach to planning that involves public consultations.
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Why Are Common Loon Chicks Becoming Less Common?
BY KRISTIN BIANCHINI
Measuring loon productivity is also an excellent indicator of lake health. As top predators, loons are sensitive to damage at lower levels of the food chain. For example, processes that decrease the number of fish in a lake can cause food shortages, especially for young loons. Being a top predator also makes loons more vulnerable to pollutants, like acid rain and mercury.
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A Fisheye View of Cumulative Effects in Alberta’s Southern East Slopes
BY SARAH MILLIGAN
The southern East Slopes region is both busy and ecologically significant. However, no landscape can provide an inexhaustible supply of benefits to humans. And in the southern East Slopes region, there are growing indications that a tipping point has been reached.
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Alberta Parks to Remain Protected
BY RICHARD SCHNEIDER
Break out the champagne, it’s time to celebrate! Minister Nixon has rescinded the government’s plan to delist 164 parks from Alberta’s park system. He could hardly have done otherwise.
Can Smartphones Kill Trout?
BY MICHAEL SULLIVAN
Unlike birders, we fish lovers can seldom go to a lake or river and simply “see” a fish. To see one, we usually need to catch it. The question is: can occasional losses from catch-and-release fishing be safely ignored or are they a cause for concern?
It turns out that this question is harder to answer than one might expect.
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A Dangerous Man with a Dangerous Concept – Brad Stelfox
BY LORNE FITCH
Over time there have been some notably dangerous men and women who have confronted the status quo, toppled conventional thinking, debunked ideologies, and pried off our blinders. Dr. Brad Stelfox is one of these individuals and cumulative effects assessment is the idea he is advancing.
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Alberta’s Conservation Data Centre Needs Help
BY LINDA KERSHAW
Most Canadians aren’t aware of the national network of Conservation Data Centres (CDCs) that operate across the country under the umbrella of NatureServe Canada. Each province or territory has its own CDC, with the exception of Atlantic Canada which has a regional system. Alberta’s CDC is referred to as the Alberta Conservation Information Management Centre (ACIMS).
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Alberta Provincial Parks and Natural Areas Face Closure: A Nature Alberta Perspective
BY RICHARD SCHNEIDER
The Alberta government has announced its intention to remove 164 of 473 sites from the Alberta parks system. This move is part of a broader initiative to reduce government spending.
Nature Alberta is opposed to this proposal for several reasons.
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Making Sense of Recent Shifts in Environmental Policy — And What To Do About It
BY RICHARD R. SCHNEIDER
Twelve years ago, Alberta had an epiphany. We came to understand that the future we were constructing was not the future we wanted to live in. This idea was crystallized in a groundbreaking document called the Alberta Land-Use Framework.
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