The Nature Conservancy of Canada has a new regional vice-president for Alberta.
Tom Lynch-Staunton, formerly with Alberta Beef Producers and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, will replace Bob Demulder, who is retiring after 14 years in the role.
Lynch-Staunton, who grew up on a southern Alberta ranch near Lundbreck, said the new job meshes well with his long-time interest in conservation.
“I’ve always been quite passionate about both stewardship and conservation, and I think that stems from being born and raised on the family ranch and then eventually managing that with my brother,” he said.
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“I think during that time understanding how our management … impacts the landscape and riparian areas’ health really solidified in me the importance of managing our environment and our ecosystem well, not only for the benefit of cattle but the benefit of the ranching economy, the ranch business.”
Lynch-Staunton said his work with the beef organizations showed him there are common values between the NCC and the cattle business.
“My main passion is really the conservation of grassland but also the conservation of working landscapes and allowing the ranching community the opportunity to keep managing these grasslands for stewardship and conservation.”
Lynch-Staunton will be based in Edmonton and has plans to visit NCC holdings across the province to see the different landscapes and management issues. He expects his experience in talking with ranchers and other landowners “in a practical sense” will be useful when they approach the NCC about potential agreements.
Among the initial items on his agenda are completion of the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor in the Crowsnest Pass region. Land acquisition and agreements are almost complete, he said, which will allow wildlife better access from the Castle park and surrounding public land to areas north of Highway 3 extending into public lands as far as Kananaskis country.
A second immediate project involves the Keep the Beaver Hills Wild campaign, an effort to expand and connect protected spaces in Alberta’s Beaver Hills UNESCO Biosphere Reserve near Elk Island National Park.
Longer-term initiatives will focus on preserving areas that are under pressure for conversion to farming or other development and ensuring they remain “working landscapes” for landowners that enter agreements with the NCC.
Lynch-Staunton said the NCC has learned over the years how to fashion its policies so they include only those restrictions on land use that are agreed by the parties involved. The idea is to allow people who are already good land stewards to continue their activities while also planning for future conservation, he said.
Demulder said interest from ranchers in NCC projects has increased since Lynch-Staunton signed on in April.
However, funds don’t allow the association to tackle every project that comes along.
“We usually get more people inquiring into the option of doing something with us than we actually have the capacity to get done,” said Demulder.
As he looks to retire Sept. 30, Demulder said a few projects completed during his tenure stand out.
“Some of the bigger projects are always the ones that tend to stay in your mind, things like the Waldron Ranch and the work that that took to get done with our team and the Waldron Ranching Co-op.”
That arrangement involved 30,000 acres in Alberta’s southwest along the eastern slopes of the Rockies and is the largest conservation easement in Canadian history.
“(And) the creation of Birch River Wildland Park up north, with the previous government and the addition of that land to the Wood Buffalo and with the help of the Tallcree (First Nation) and Syncrude that created the largest boreal protected area in the world.”
Demulder said he felt it was time to allow new ideas and new energy into the NCC regional vice-president role.
“I look at Tom and I think, ‘gee he looks like I was, 14 years ago when I started.’
“What I’ve always liked about the Nature Conservancy is it’s kind of like the business arm of nature. We don’t advocate. We basically do the planning and science to decide what’s the best we can do based on the resources we can raise and then we get at it.”
Demulder said awareness about grassland preservation has increased over the past several decades and now conservation agreements are more frequently considered as an option when landowners are planning succession.
