On Tuesday we heard a very interesting presentation from Kecia Kerr, pictured, the Executive Director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society of Northern Alberta (CPAWS NAB). CPAWS NAB is a non-profit organization that is science based and collaborates with government, indigenous peoples and local communities to advocate for protection of our parks and wilderness areas. It was established in 1968 and was the first regional chapter of CPAWS. The Northern Alberta branch advocates for the three National Parks in Northern Alberta, Wood Buffalo, Jasper and Elk Island, along with our other wilderness areas. About sixty percent of the land in northern Alberta is public land and twelve percent of this is currently protected in some way. Nationally, ninety percent of land is public and ten percent of this is protected.
The International Convention on Biodiversity goal for protected land, to ensure biological diversity and sustainability is to protect seventeen percent of all land by 2020. CPAWS NAB is currently campaigning to have the Bighorn watershed set aside as protected land. This headwater provides ninety percent of the water in the North Saskatchewan River and none of it is currently protected. The argument for Parks and protected areas is quite strong. Diverse woodlands of this type help to mitigate extreme weather events by acting as sponges to absorb excess water and also reducing the effects of drought. Connected protected areas help to provide refuges for all kinds of wildlife.
She then went on to talk more specifically about Elk Island National Park. Elk Island was first protected in 1899, to provide a refuge for the population of native elk that resided there. In 1906 a fence was built to enclose the park, and it is still the only completely enclosed National Park in Canada. The park reached its current size in 1947. The park is composed of a very unique type of habitat, based on glacial moraine, with lakes, wetlands and mixed forest. It was deemed a Biosphere Reserve in 1916 and is also now a Dark Sky Preserve, where one can view the stars and night sky wonders such as the northern lights. It is home to forty species of animals, two hundred species of birds, one species of reptile and two species of fish.
It has large populations of elk, moose, wood bison, plains bison, white pelicans and trumpeter swans. Because of it’s location, it lies where the natural habitat of the two types of bison overlap. It was first actively repopulated with plains bison in the early nineteen hundreds and then later by the wood bison in 1947. The two types of bison are segregated in separate areas of the park. The wood bison are south of Highway 16. The bison have formed the nucleus of bison populations all over North America and beyond. This park is completely surrounded by farmland, and as such is isolated from other wilderness areas in Northern Alberta. Currently, the park is over populated by bison, elk and moose, and this is causing destruction of the native habitat.
The elk are impacting the forest by eating all of the small shrubs, which then cascades through the ecosystem causing all kinds of problems. The park is currently looking at several options for managing the overpopulation of ungulates. The main options are translocation (which can be quite costly), live auction, lethal reduction and lastly, alteration of the fence to allow movement in and out of the deer and elk, but not the bison. Each choice has its pros and cons and CPAWS NAB is advocating for translocation, recommending the involvement of native peoples in any form of live auction or lethal reduction and advocating for more study on the possible impact of any changes to the fencing.
We can help CPAWS NAB by telling our government representatives we would like to see more protected areas. CPAWS NAB is supported by the Edmonton Community Foundation and also by private donations. As one of our members aptly said, it is reassuring to know that there are knowledgeable people out there who are advocating on our behalf for protection of our wilderness areas.