Centennial Project Update

Gloria Beck, Guy Greenaway, Bob Mills and Eric M updated the club on the progress of the Rotary Wetland Legacy Project, our Centennial Legacy. This is a partnership with the Legacy Land Trust, Ducks Unlimited, County of Red Deer, and Bob Mills.  

Guy, executive director of Corvus Centre for Conservation Policy, described our project as an example  "Visionary Conservation".  It recognizes that the decisions made today are done with an awareness of the long term effects on biodiversity and conservation of nature. He also shared how conservation efforts have progressed from the preserving of small pieces of land (eg National Parks and forests) to examining ways to protect novel and unique land use systems that are the result of complex land uses, climate changes, and the urbanization of many areas.  Visionary conservation efforts are long term projects and often evolve at a slow rate.  

The Slack Slough project is part of the Greenway connection that begins close to the Oxbow Dog Park.  The slough was recognized as early as 1923 as an area to be preserved for its ecological features.

The club designated Slack Slough over 5 years ago as their centennial legacy project with the hope that an interpretive centre could be built to promote education.  As the project progressed it became evident that timelines and scope would need to be modified due to its complexity.   

The project will now be completed in stages, with the first stage nearing completion. Due to the efforts of the members of the partners, the land will be preserved in perpetuity as part of a conservation area. Benches will be installed as well as a 8' x 16' metal sign to mark the project as the Rotary Wetlands Project.  Community donations have also contributed to the project.  The Centennial Committee will hold a celebratory event once the sign is in place.   They will also be seeking information from the club regarding the direction of next stages of the project.

Thanks are to be extended to Gloria and her team as they have been tirelessly working on this project, meeting weekly and monthly to ensure that the goals of the club were furthered.