| | Alberta Fish and Game Association
With its 100th anniversary coming up in 2008, the Alberta Fish and Game Association (AFGA) has a long tradition of habitat stewardship. This volunteer-based, not-for-profit organization is the voice for hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts interested in the conservation and use of fish and wildlife and in habitat protection and enhancement.
AFGA president Randy Collins says, “The strength of the Association is our clubs and our membership. Right now, we have almost 15,000 members and over 100 clubs spread throughout the province from as far north as High Level to as far south as Pincher Creek and Medicine Hat.” Each club has its own projects, ranging from bluebird houses to streambank fencing to bat 5boxes to trout ponds to waterfowl nesting tubes.
“The members are the eyes and ears for all the province. So if there are issues or concerns, perhaps over habitat conservation or wildlife populations, they can bring those forward, and we as an association can take those concerns to [the relevant government agency],” notes Collins. “We take pride in making sure that what goes on outdoors is healthy fish, healthy wildlife, healthy water, healthy habitat. It’s getting tougher and tougher to do that, especially in this day and age with Alberta’s growing population and a growing footprint from forestry, oil and gas, recreation and other activities.”
The Association has several programs for rural landholders because much of the wildlife habitat in Alberta’s prairie and parkland regions is in the care of private landholders. Collins says, “We work with farmers and other people with land, showing them how they can make the place that they inhabit more habitable for all species that are out there.”
These landholder programs include: the Parkland Stewardship Program, which works with landholders in Alberta’s aspen parkland region to integrate habitat conservation as part of sustainable farm production; Operation Grassland Community, which works with farmers and ranchers to sustain a native prairie landscape that supports both wildlife and agriculture; and Habitat Steward and Heritage Farmstead, two landowner recognition programs.
The Wildlife Trust Fund is another AFGA program making important progress in conservation, says Collins. “Under our Wildlife Trust Fund, with donations from our members and AFGA clubs, and through partnerships with other organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, the Alberta Conservation Association, and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, we secure critical habitat with conservation easements. Throughout the province we have now secured nearly 27,000 acres of prime habitat.”
Gerry Pittman represents the AFGA on AESA Council. For more information, visit www.afga.org.
Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta
Enhancing the sustainability and profitability of agriculture in Alberta is the aim of the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA).
This provincial umbrella organization, created in 2003, represents all of the 15 applied research and forage associations in the province. By working together, the associations can coordinate their research, extension and information sharing, resulting in a broader scope and greater impact for their activities. Like ARECA itself, the member associations are non-profit, producer-run agencies.
In just three years, ARECA has come a long way from an idea to an effective organization. “We are no longer just little individual applied research associations representing a hundred producers in an area. We now represent thousands of producers across the entire province. Now if industry or government wants to get information to or from producers or to influence them, they can come to one body,” says Steve Kenyon, who is ARECA’s vice chair and represents the Gateway Research Organization on ARECA’s board.
In an exciting new development, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development recently allocated $2.5 million to the organization for disbursing to its member associations. ARECA is currently working out the details of how the funds will be spent, but the overall plan is to use $1.5 million for capital upgrades, $700,000 for environmentally sustainable agriculture programming and $300,000 for developing innovative approaches for extension programming.
The environmentally sustainable agriculture allocation will allow the member associations to expand their activities in this area. “The applied research [and forage] associations have been promoting environmental stewardship for many years. [For example,] we have the sustainable grazing mentorship program. We’ve partnered with Reduced Tillage LINKAGES on projects to improve all sorts of things. We are partnering with PFRA through the National Farm Stewardship Program to evaluate beneficial management practices promoted by the Canada-Alberta Farm Stewardship Program and the Alberta Environmental Farm Plan Company,” explains Kenyon.
ARECA’s producer-driven approach gives the organization a solid foundation for developing practical, objective information, notes Kenyon. “The number one thing that I like about ARECA is that the research we do and the answers we come up with are 100% unbiased.” He also likes the focus on economic sustainability. He says, “Whenever we do an experiment, we always run the numbers on it after to see: did it work? and did you make money at it?”
ARECA is represented on AESA Council by Debra Lozinski, who is also the ARECA chair. For more information, visit www.areca.ab.ca or phone the ARECA office at 780-416-6046. |
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