IDDESLEIGH, Alta. – For many people living in the short grass prairie region of Alberta’s Special Areas, the government’s environmental plan, Special Places 2000, is seen as a threat to their livelihood.
The Special Areas of central southeastern Alberta have been protected for 60 years and assurances that Special Places won’t bar ranchers from pastureland were met with skepticism at a recent meeting held here.
Special Places is part of an international agreement to set aside 12 percent of the public land for environmental protection. It has been a smouldering issue for several years in this region where about two-thirds of the two million hectares of land are leased for grazing from the province.
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People fear such a program could run them out of business if their leases on dryland native pastures are annulled or restricted in an attempt to protect an ecological area or endangered species habitat.
Important issue
Jay Slemp, manager of the Special Areas board, said it is a public land issue that must be addressed.
“Unlike ordinary crown leases which are managed for the benefit of all people in the province, Special Areas exists largely for the security of the residents,” said Slemp.
The Special Areas are governed by a board that reports directly to the provincial government. Tight restrictions on how the land is managed have been in place since the 1930s when many homesteaders abandoned their farms after years of drought-induced crop failure.
Most of those attending the meeting recently received letters stating their leased land was nominated as a special place. They wanted to know how the environmental designation affects their future.
Areas nominated in the Special Areas include the Neutral Hills near Gooseberry Lake, Little Gem Hill, land bordering the Red Deer River from Finnegan’s Ferry to the Saskatchewan border, land running by the South Saskatchewan River, Bow River and Oldman River to the Saskatchewan border and the Buffalo Adlee and Remount Community Pastures.
Murray and Elaine Sankey, of Veteran, nominated a parcel by their own ranch called Little Gem Hill.
This was the only nomination from a resident of the Special Areas, said Slemp. The other nominations came from citizens outside the area.
Little Gem Hill consists of just over a section of native grassland which the Sankeys have grazed for 20 years. They want the land left unbroken and want no future oil or gas exploration in the area. However, they don’t want to give up their grazing rights.
“We just felt that we would like to see it left the way it was before man ever came here,” said Elaine Sankey.
Any area nominated and granted Special Place status is administered by a locally elected committee.
Slemp said the Special Areas board will be involved with the committee, which should represent ranchers, oil companies and hunters.
The local management plans govern stocking rates, duration of grazing, fencing, corrals, haying, weed control, regrassing, brush control, fire control and whether to allow hunting or oil and gas activity on the land. The plan dictates how much public access is allowed onto the lands including opening up areas to recreationists.
“Our view is that they don’t go together just because it’s a Special Place. It doesn’t automatically equal an eco-museum,” said Slemp.
“It is not in the best interest to give recreation equal billing with ranching. If you want it protected our view is to keep people out of it.”
Need legal status
Chris Mills, who sits on the provincial committee to screen special places nominations, said the Special Areas need a legal designation for grazing leases. He proposed a Heritage Ranch designation that recognizes that livestock grazing is part of the ecological balance.
The provincial government has said in the past that it will not accept the concept of heritage ranches, but Mills said that stand may change when a new environment minister is named following last week’s provincial election.
Special Places are selected from the shield, mountains, foothills, grasslands, parklands and boreal forests. There are graduated levels of protection including provincial park, ecological reserve or nature preserve which dictate the amount and type of human activity.
