Project Profiles - Canada
The Jewel of Stephenville Crossing
by Gerry Yetman, Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources and Agrifoods
The St. Georges River Estuary, located within the town of Stephenville Crossing, provides important spring and fall staging habitat for a variety of species of waterfowl and shorebirds. Protection of such food-rich staging areas is vital to waterfowl conservation initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador.
In 1995, as a result of community lobbying, a municipal stewardship agreement was signed between the town and Province. Through this agreement, the town pledges to manage wetlands within its jurisdiction with the support of Eastern Habitat Joint Venture partners.
The area known locally as "the prairie" was a brackish pond used as a cesspool by the local hospital. After discontinuing that practice, Stephenville Crossing was left with what they considered to be an embarrassment due to the associated smell and flies. A decision was made to backfill the cesspool and provide a recreation area. By 1996, about 75 percent of the cesspool had been filled and a community playground and ballpark had been constructed.
The cesspool odor was gone, but one legacy remained: a small nutrient-rich wetland that hosted a multitude of waterfowl and other wildlife. The growth of emergent vegetation was luxuriant and the remaining open water sported a thick mat of sago pondweed, well recognized as one of the top-rated waterfowl foods in North America but relatively uncommon in Newfoundland. Broods of American wigeon, northern pintail, and black duck could be found on the wetland, as well as American bittern, killdeer, and red-winged blackbird, muskrat and eels. However, while things improved, the backfilling continued.
The partners reviewed the prairie's current state and decided to preserve the remaining wetland. To involve landowners, whose properties bordered on the wetland, the Province held a Canadian Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat workshop, promoting wildlife habitat and biodiversity. Interest in this workshop and the prairie stimulated the formation of the Stephenville Crossing Environmental Conservation Committee, whose first action was to spearhead the Prairie Pond Project.
With town and partner support, a proposal was accepted by Environment Canada's EcoAction 2000 Program. The cesspool has been transformed into what is now referred to as the "jewel" of Stephenville Crossing. Backfill has been removed to increase open water by 10 percent. Excavated material has been used to contour some of the remaining infill to produce a buffer strip where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants have been planted to provide wildlife cover and food.
Various nesting boxes, bat houses, a unique fence which incorporates log-pile butterfly habitat, and an observation hide for viewing wildlife have been installed. All-terrain-vehicle traffic has been eliminated and an alternate pedestrian route provided.
In Stephenville Crossing, and in other communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, there is great pride in maintaining eastern Canada's unique cultural and ecological heritage for future generations. Community, partnership, stewardship, conservation, and biodiversity are all coming together in a big way thanks to the Eastern Habitat Joint Venture's Plan programs.
For more information, contact Gerry Yetman, Newfoundland Department of Natural Resources and Agrifoods, P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, Newfoundland A1B 4J6, (709) 729-3569, gerryyetman@mail.gov.nf.ca.
A Year In the Life of a Long Point Wetland
by Heather Jackson, Ducks Unlimited Canada
In 1995, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) purchased idle agricultural land in the town of Port Rowan, Ontario, with the idea of building a headquarters site and restoring a 5-acre degraded wetland to provide wildlife viewing opportunities for residents and visitors to the area. With the help of Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), the wetland restoration element of what has become known as the Bird Studies Canada Project has begun paying off for wildlife and people.
The payoff did not come without effort, however. A road and a concrete culvert had stood in the way of the natural flow of Dedrick Creek waters into the wetlands. Over the years of reduced water flow, the wetland succumbed to an overgrowth of cattails, reducing the habitat's value to wildlife. The first step in turning things around involved the removal of the concrete culvert and the installation of a variable-level water-control structure. The wetland's water levels are now managed to enhance and diversify the habitat.
Installation of a small pumping system to draw water from Dedrick Creek has extended the duration in which water remains in the wetland. The design of the water-control structure gives fish improved access to the wetland's spawning and nursery habitat. In addition to the wetland restoration work, DUC created 2 acres of wetland habitat from the idle agricultural field surrounding the existing wetland. This acreage is managed as mudflat habitat for migrating shorebirds.
The BSC wetlands are an important component of the Long Point wetland complex, which is part of the Long Point Biosphere Reserve. The Reserve has received international recognition with the designation of two Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance sites within its boundaries. Long Point's wetlands provide continentally significant staging habitat for waterfowl during spring and fall migration. They also provide seasonal breeding habitat or permanent homes to many regionally significant wildlife populations and to species listed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
The BSC site now provides habitat for resident marsh wrens, red-winged blackbirds, rails, gallinules, herons, egrets, bitterns, and a variety of migrating shorebirds indigenous to eastern and central North America. Also benefiting are muskrats, mink, frogs, snakes, turtles, and fish. Mallards and blue-winged teal are the primary nesting waterfowl species, and wood ducks, northern shovelers, green-winged teal, gadwall, American wigeon, and American black ducks are frequent visitors to the BSC wetlands.
The restoration of the BSC site adds to the values of the Long Point Biosphere Reserve, further enhancing the area for wildlife and people.
For more information, contact Heather Jackson, Ducks Unlimited Canada, (705) 721-4444, hl_jackson@ducks.ca.
Bird Studies Canada Project Partners
Bird Studies Canada
Eastern Habitat Joint Venture
Ontario Power Generation
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Wetland Habitat Fund
Shell Corporation
The Catherine & Fredrik Eaton Charitable Foundation
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Conserving Wetlands at Frontenac's Correctional Institution
by Heather Jackson, Ducks Unlimited Canada
In the heart of the City of Kingston, Ontario, lies a 36-acre degraded wetland. "Not surprising," you're thinking.
A partnership restored the wetland. "Still not surprising," you're concluding.
The restoration project is located on the grounds of the Frontenac Institution, a correctional facility where minimum security offenders are partners in the project. Now, maybe, you're surprised.
The correctional facility includes a farm that provides eggs and dairy products to many of Canada's federal institutions. According to Erling Armson, a biologist with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), "Intensive drainage of the wetland over the last 80 years, combined with grazing by dairy cattle, and cropping of the land immediately surrounding the wetlands, has resulted in a lack of wetland and upland habitat cover."
Partners of the Frontenac Project have restored five wetlands and their adjacent uplands on the pasture area of the correctional facility. They installed five water-control structures to restore and maintain the wetlands' historical water levels. The partners also constructed fencing around the habitat to restrict cattle access. These changes have improved the habitats' quality and species diversity.
Changes also have occurred in the management of the facility's farm operation, with the inmates using a conservation-oriented pasture-management system. "The Frontenac Project is an excellent example of people within the community working together to achieve environmental objectives," said Larry Stebbins, warden of Frontenac Institution. "The project also provides inmates the opportunity to learn more about the environment through their on-going participation in its development and maintenance."
The Frontenac Project also has an educational component that targets the urban and agricultural sectors of the community. Public tours are held throughout the year to demonstrate wetland values and the advantages of using conservation practices that benefit not only wildlife but also agriculture and the community.
This restoration project supports the habitat goals of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan's Eastern Habitat Joint Venture. Management and maintenance of the wetland complex is being undertaken by DUC on behalf of the Kingston Wetlands Working Group. The Frontenac Project is yet another example of Plan partner innovations that protect North America's habitat.
For more information, contact Heather Jackson, Ducks Unlimited Canada, (705) 721-4444, hl_jackson@ducks.ca.
Major supporting partners for the project are
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Environment Canada's Great Lakes 2000 Cleanup Fund
Correctional Services Canada
The Kingston Wetlands Working Group
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Environment Canada
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources
Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority
Kingston Field Naturalists
Frontenac Stewardship Council
Canadian Force Base Kingston
Parks Canada
City of Kingston
Landowner-Inspired Conservation in Alberta
by Kim Kiel, Ducks Unlimited Canada
When local landowner Bill Caine decided to sell his land, he was concerned about conserving his property for future generations. A few phone calls later, a new vehicle for conservation in central Alberta had begun.
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), the Alberta Conservation Association, the Alberta Fish and Game Association, and The Nature Conservancy of Canada together purchased Caine's 1,128 acres of native parkland for wildlife conservation. The Buffalo Lake Moraine Conservation Area, as it is now known, is located within a North American Waterfowl Management Plan priority delivery area that lies north of Stettler in central Alberta. This land has long been recognized for its wildlife habitat values. It is one of only three sections of land in the area with over 75 percent native cover. With the exception of two reclaimed well sites, one section is almost entirely vegetated in native species. At purchase, however, this section was heavily grazed and the stocking rate was twice that recommended for conservation grazing. Surrounding uplands were intensively farmed and only 31 percent of nest-cover requirements were met. The partners knew that purchasing this property would not only increase the duck populations but also contribute to biodiversity conservation.
Although the partnership of four different organizations may have raised a few eyebrows when first presented, it has proven to be a worthy endeavor. Each partner organization plays a specific role in a management agreement with DUC. The Alberta Conservation Association implements the grazing plan, which will reduce stocking rates and improve grassland and riparian conditions. The Alberta Conservation Association and the Alberta Fish and Game Association maintain fencing and water systems, and DUC handles project administration.
The size and diversity of native habitat secured by this project is representative of the partners' commitment to conserving habitat on a landscape basis to provide benefits to many wildlife species. Improved management practices will enhance breeding and foraging habitats for grassland bird species, woodland passerines, cavity nesters, and gamebirds. Marsh birds, such as coots, grebes, sora rails, and marsh wrens, will also benefit from conservation grazing levels and idling of emergent and shallow marsh vegetation zones. These actions will also benefit waterfowl.
"It's a beautiful property," said DUC biologist, Ian McFarlane. "This successful partnership has secured one of the last large blocks of native parkland left in the area." McFarlane is confident that more of these types of conservation initiatives will continue as a result of the successful implementation of the Buffalo Lake Moraine Conservation Area.
For more information, contact Ian McFarlane, Ducks Unlimited Canada, #1 5550-45th Street, Red Deer, Alberta T4N 1L1, (403) 342-1314, i_mcfarlane@ducks.ca.
Clear Lake Complex: Southern Alberta Mulit-Use Project
by Ron Montgomery, Ducks Unlimited Canada
Since the early 1900s, Clear Lake, located between Stavely and Champion, Alberta, has been a place where people came to swim, boat, and fish. It was also habitat for wildlife. The enjoyment to be derived from these recreational pursuits and the lake's benefit to wildlife has always been contingent upon the amount of water available. For the past several years, the lake has remained virtually dry.
For approximately 20 years, discussions and negotiations have taken place among various levels of government and people with an interest in restoring the lake to what it once was. All of the talk has finally resulted in the Clear Lake Diversion Project, a component of the Little Bow Project/Highwood/Diversion Plan. The restoration of Clear Lake will be accomplished through the construction of a south-flowing canal that will take water from Mosquito Creek to the lake. The project's design allows for the enhancement of a number of wetlands along the canal's route.
In anticipation of project construction, Alberta Infrastructure (formerly Alberta Public Works) purchased rights-of-way and other lands containing upland nesting cover between 1988 and 1990. In 1998, the federal and provincial governments approved the water diversion.
Twelve wetland basins plus Clear Lake, for a total of approximately 1,300 acres, will be restored and enhanced to provide foraging, brood-rearing, and staging habitat for a variety of waterfowl and other migratory birds. Approximately 2,300 acres of secured adjacent uplands will be managed for nesting cover. Water levels within the wetland basins will be managed by Alberta Environment in accordance with DUC water-management plans.
Northern pintail, northern shoveller, blue-winged teal, mallard, gadwall, American wigeon, and other duck species are expected to breed in the area. A 1995 wildlife survey in the project area found 26 species of birds listed as threatened in Canada, including the long-billed curlew, ferruginous hawk, upland sandpiper, and Baird's sparrow. A variety of waterbirds, shorebirds, birds of prey, and passerines were also noted, such as pelicans, herons, bitterns, hawks, burrowing owls, and meadowlarks.
Jim Barlishen of Alberta Infrastructure says, "With planning that actively involves local residents and stakeholder groups such as Ducks Unlimited Canada, water projects can meet society's consumptive needs and enhance the environment. By ensuring that dependable water bodies will exist through periods of drought, we can sustain a diverse community of plants and wildlife in this region in perpetuity."
Ducks Unlimited Canada and its North American Waterfowl Management Plan partners are grateful for the outstanding support given by the Alberta Government to conserve the Province's wildlife. The people who will once again enjoy Clear Lake's recreational activities will be grateful too.
For more information, call Ducks Unlimited Canada's Prairie District Office, Brooks, Alberta at (403) 362-4827.
