Grassland Birds In Saskatchewan Need Help

After more than 75 years of managing fragile grasslands as productive rangelands for livestock grazing, the federal government announced in the spring of 2012 that it was transferring control of the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) pastures back to the provinces. This was done with no public consultation and little …

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Canada’s Grassland Birds Face Declining Populations

Guest Post by Ted Cheskey,  Nature Canada Manager of Bird Conservation The Greater Sage-grouse is on the brink of extinction in Canada. This iconic prairie bird, known for its spectacular mating dance, will likely vanish if emergency measures are not put in place to protect its grassland and sagebrush habitat. Unfortunately, the Sage-grouse …

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2012 Sage Grouse Population Survey

Every spring anxious eyes turn towards the sage-grouse mating grounds (known as “leks”) of southern Alberta to see whether or not Canada’s sage-grouse made it through the winter. This year’s spring population counts observed only 13 males at Alberta leks, showing no improvement since last year. In Saskatchewan, the only …

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Wednesday Wings: Swainson’s BIF

Posted By Bob Lefebvre Last week I was in one of our large Calgary parks, and there was a pair of Swainson’s Hawks. There was a stiff wind from the south, so I was able to get pictures as they soared almost motionless over my head. One of the birds …

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Whoopers in Flight

Another guest post, this time from Ken Bushman in Saskatchewan, who had the amazing luck to photograph a group of wild whooping cranes in flight. This is not something you see everyday. I showed this photo to the head of the Whooping Crane Breeding Program at the Calgary Zoo, and …

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Hmmm. Uhh. Wha?

Rarely – if ever – do I find myself speechless. Last weekend, I had purposely worked things out so that I had the whole of Sunday to write up a proposal. A proposal that should be done sooner than later. Everything was ticking along to according to plan, when I …

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Premier Redford Cancels Notorious “Potatogate” Land Sale

2011-10-19 Alberta Wilderness Association News Release Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) is delighted to congratulate Premier Alison Redford on honouring her campaign commitment to scrap the notorious “Potatogate” public land sale. A short Government of Alberta news release, October 19, 2011, announced: “Government cancelled the RFP after people expressed concerns that …

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Those Aren’t Geese…

Greater white-fronted geese are mythical birds. A myth perpetrated by the oil industry so that some of us jump in our gas-driven cars and spend hours cruising through the country looking for them when they’re reported on the local bird alert. Again. This was intended to be a post about …

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Aiming For The Wallets

Alberta’s disappearing sage grouse continue to make the headlines. Billboard campaigns are revving up, and more people are paying attention. A lot of people are at the wringing of hands stage, saying but what can we do? Based on past experience, it’s obvious we can’t rely on either the federal …

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