Wabamun Whitewood Conservation Properties
by Brad Fenson, habitat co-ordinator, the Alberta Fish and Game Association (a similar article will also be published in Outdoor Edge, May/June 2004, a newsletter of the Alberta Fish and Game Association)
The collaborative effort of the Alberta Fish and Game Association (AFGA) membership, community service clubs and TransAlta has allowed the AFGA Wildlife Trust Fund to secure one of the largest conservation properties in central Alberta.
The Wabamun Whitewood Conservation Properties are located just north of Wabamun Lake and Highway 16. The area is a transition zone between aspen parkland and the boreal forest, providing a unique blend of habitats that benefit a wide range of wildlife and provide incredible biodiversity. The terrain is gently rolling with densely wooded uplands and productive sedge wetlands. The properties border the Whitewood Mine, used for coal extraction, enabling TransAlta to produce electricity at their Wabamun facilities.
This isn’t the first property the AFGA Wildlife Trust Fund has secured on this landscape. In 1997, TransAlta helped secure the East Pit Lake property for conservation by working with the AFGA and local affiliate clubs. The 312 acres comprising the East Pit Lake property provide recreational angling, nesting cover, wintering range for ungulates and a wide range of other benefits for conservation.
In early 2003, the Stony Plain and Spruce Grove clubs brought a referral to the Wildlife Trust Fund for a property neighboring East Pit Lake. The project was seen as a positive initiative and staff and volunteers went to work raising funds to move forward with the purchase. The half section contains 251 acres of native habitat with white spruce, aspen, willow, Saskatoon, chokecherry, wild rose, sedge meadows and wetland basins.
Funds came in from 20 different sources including 18 AFGA clubs and zones, as well as the Stony Plain Elks, TransAlta and Alberta Sustainable Resources Development. The incredible support allowed the AFGA Trust Fund to secure the property and before long we were working on additional properties on the landscape.
TransAlta offered to donate a quarter section of land directly west of the property we just completed purchasing. A second property listed for sale was looked at adjacent to the TransAlta quarter and before we knew it our project had grown from a half section to four quarters. With the club support we were able to put an offer on the additional property for sale and it was secured in September 2003.
In total, the AFGA Wildlife Trust Fund now owns, or has secured, 844 acres in the Wabamun area. The region is blessed with an abundance of wildlife, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose, elk, ruffed grouse, ducks, geese, woodpeckers, songbirds and a host of other flora and fauna.
There will be a ceremony celebrating our conservation achievements in June 2004. We look forward to seeing our affiliate clubs and members and conservation partners from TransAlta at the event to share our success and appreciation.