Conservation Blog

Blue Aster Lake and Warrior Rocky Mountain Peak, Kananaskis Country

Defend Our Parks

17 November 2020

BY RICHARD SCHNEIDER

Albertans want more of our natural heritage protected, not less.

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Can Smartphones Kill Trout?

1 November 2020

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

1 November 2020

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

30 October 2020

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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Family at Little Fish Lake Provincial Park

Alberta Provincial Parks and Natural Areas Face Closure: A Nature Alberta Perspective

30 August 2020

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

15 August 2020

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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Recovery of Ord’s Kangaroo Rats on the Suffield National Wildlife Area

30 April 2020

BY PAT FARGEY

Kangaroo rats get their name from their large back legs and feet that they use to hop in a fashion reminiscent of Australian kangaroos. They are sometimes confused with the smaller western jumping mouse, which is also a hind foot jumper.

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Fisher in a tree.

A Story of Mammals in Alberta’s Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve

15 January 2020

BY FRANCES STEWART

I was walking through an aspen forest in the UNESCO Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve (BHB), 50 km east of Edmonton and south of Elk Island National Park. The first rays of sunlight were peeking through the trees and shining off the fresh snow on this crisp January morning. It was silent, still. I could see my breath shimmering in front of me like the beautiful hoar frost on the surrounding branches. A perfect morning for live-trapping fisher.

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