Nature Conservancy, Waldron Grazing Co-operative conserving ranch in Alberta's cowboy country
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The Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Waldron Grazing Co-operative, comprised of nearly 80 ranching families, are partnering to conserve the Bob Creek Ranch, located by Highway 22 — the famous Cowboy Trail — in southwest Alberta.
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The ranch spans more than 1,000 hectares, and conserving the land will help create a contiguous block of more than 43,000 hectares of conserved and protected lands within the headwaters of the South Saskatchewan River watershed, says the NCC.
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'It's pretty rare for this part of southern Alberta to have the opportunity to conserve such a large space in one go,' said Jeremy Hogan, the NCC's grassland stewardship director, on Wednesday.
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The conservation project will secure a permanent space between the Rocky Mountains' Livingstone Range to the west and the Porcupine Hills to the east for game species such as elk, moose and deer, as well as threatened species such as grizzly bear, to move through. The ranch is also along a major North American migratory bird pathway, including for the endangered grassland songbird.
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'It's one of the largest settled conservation areas in the country,' said Hogan.
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The conservation easement on the Bob Creek Ranch will allow the landowner, the Waldron Grazing Co-operative, to continue ranching but will also ensure the land undergoes no cultivation, wetland drainage or subdivision.
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The easement will also help conserve the endangered fescue grasslands found on the ranch.
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'Less than 15 per cent (of fescue) remains, and there's only a couple pockets left in Canada,' said Hogan.
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'The biggest area for it that remains is that area in southwest Alberta, so it's kind of Albertans to cherish the place and keep it healthy for everybody.'
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The Bob Creek Ranch project was split up over two phases, and with the first phase now completed, the NCC is now reaching out to supporters for roughly $500,000 in funding to finish it off.
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