Operation Grassland
Community
Alberta Wildlife Federation, EVERETT HANNA, PROJECT MANAGER
Edmonton, Alta.
Launched in 1989, Operation Grassland Community recruits ranchers and landowners throughout southern Alberta as active conservation stewards of crucial species at risk, while allowing them “to sustain themselves and live productively.” It has established voluntary stewardship agreements with more than 300 landholders, encompassing more than 340,000 hectares of native prairie habitat in the province.
The program’s goal is to conserve prairie habitat and wildlife species, including the burrowing owl, the loggerhead shrike, Sprague’s pipit and the ferruginous hawk. Operation Grassland Community offers education and outreach to increase awareness of prairie wildlife habitat needs, fosters habitat conservation and sustainable agriculture, and helps landholders implement effective land management techniques to meet these goals.
EVERETT HANNA, PROGRAM DIRECTOR
In Alberta, only a small portion of our grasslands remain in semi- or fully intact states, and a large proportion of our species-at-risk exist in these remaining habitats. Most of the province’s remaining grassland region is held in private lands, so a project like Operation Grassland Community, which targets grassland species-at-risk stewardship on private lands, is well suited to this pressing conservation issue. Once people learn about the diversity that exists around us all, a deep sense of care and stewardship often follows and leads to better conservation outcomes. Working to help nature is a win-win.
Doug Clarke Memorial Award
This award was founded in 1982 in memory of C.H.D. Clarke, who devoted his career to the philosophy, science and art of wildlife management. At the time of his death in 1981, he was a director of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. This award is presented to a CWF affiliate for the most outstanding conservation project completed by its clubs or members during the previous year.
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