CHAIN LAKES, Alta. – When fisheries biologist Lorne Fitch came to southern Alberta in 1976, his boss gave him a tour of his new territory.
Driving around the countryside, Fitch saw dried-up stream beds and creeks reduced to a trickle.
The banks were muddy and pockmarked by hoof prints.
The grass was chewed to the ground and there were few trees.
“Those streams are a writeoff,” his boss said.
Twenty years later, agriculture and government agencies recognize those streams as part of a fragile ecology that must be preserved.
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“In those days, we thought there were a lot of streams but we’ve come to the realization we don’t have a lot of streams,” said Fitch, who works for Alberta Environment.
That worry motivates the organizers of the Alberta Cows and Fish program. It brings together government and organizations like Trout Unlimited and the Alberta Cattle Commission to repair riparian areas before they become cracked mud beds.
Riparian areas are the green ribbons of life that snake across the Prairies.
They are the lands along rivers, streams and wetlands lush with vegetation. They provide forage and water for livestock, and habitat for wildlife and plants.
Many who live near these waterways are investing in the future by preserving what grows beside the river banks.
In Alberta, cattle producers are major boosters of the Cows and Fish program because conserving the waterways preserves their livelihood.
“Like it or not, this issue can have an impact on their future,” said Barry Adams, regional range manager for Alberta Agriculture.
This working relationship is praised by American ecologist Bill Platts.
Platts laid most of the groundwork on how to repair damage done by overgrazing, logging or a developer’s bulldozer. It is a common situation across the dry rangelands of western North America.
Alberta’s Cows and Fish program is unique in the way it features inter-agency co-operation and volunteer effort, said Platts.
Ottawa’s three-year commitment of support is supposed to end in March 1997 but Alberta plans to expand the program from the province’s southwest corner to cover the entire province, said Greg Hale, provincial co-ordinator of the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Program.
The expansion is needed because biologists, ranchers, range managers and water management experts realize they have to fix the entire watershed rather than patching holes, he said.
The Cows and Fish program marks first time fishermen are working with agriculture to restore fish populations, said Kerry Brewin, Alberta manager of Trout Unlimited.
He said agriculture should not shoulder total blame for the decline of such fish species as Bull Trout. Over-harvesting by fishermen, as well as habitat loss due to logging, also are responsible.
Trout Unlimited is interested in overall repairs to riparian areas because some streams are valuable spawning grounds and other areas are used for overwintering.
Reclaiming habitat also lures back amphibians, small mammals and birds.
“It’s definitely showing there is a win-win opportunity for us out there,” Brewin said.
