Habitat development continues to grow

Times Reporter

 

On April 27, the Partners in Habitat Development, PHD, were presented with a cheque for $5,000 from the Wheatland Conservation and Wildlife Association. 

“We fundraise throughout the community all year long, we have a couple of main events for suppers. A lot of the money that we raise at these suppers we put into conservation,” said Clint Lariviere, Environmental Chair for the Wheatland Conservation and Wildlife Association. 

“Essentially every year we try and donate some money to the PHD and lend equipment,” said Lariviere. 

The PHD is a habitat initiative based on the partnership of different organizations, including the Western Irrigation District, WID. The organizations work together to establish, and enhance, wildlife habitat within irrigated regions of southern Alberta. 

“There’s a lot of habitat that’s kind of incidental because of seepage and whatnot that would disappear because of more efficient canals and pipelines. So we’re trying to see if we can mitigate for some of that loss through projects along canal right of way and pivot corners on farmers land, things like that,” said Rick Martin, Wildlife Projects Manager with the Eastern Irrigation District and PHD member.

Since 2002, since the inception of the PHD program in Strathmore, the PHD has been a sort of umbrella corporation to work with the districts. PHD works in the community with the landowners and directly through the irrigation districts, and Lariviere said it was easier for them to coordinate through them. 

The main idea behind the PHD is to have everyone working together as a group instead of different groups all doing the same thing, just separately. 

“It costs money to do the types of things we’re doing. If everybody works together it makes it a whole lot smoother,” said Martin. 

PHD will put trees on any landowner’s property if they have land they can’t use and want to do something with. The one thing the PHD does request is that it’s fenced off so cattle can’t trample it, or eat it. 

“What we have found is an awful lot of landowners like wildlife and want wildlife habitat, an awful lot of them don’t know what to do and then they don’t have time to do it. So by this partnership, we’re able to fund summer students to help actually put it in the ground,” said Martin.

The students will research what types of tree suit the area, and berry producing shrubs. They aren’t doing farmyard improvements; they are here for wildlife purposes. 

The first PHD project within Strathmore was in 2002, and since then 32 additional projects have been completed. A total of 53,000 trees and shrubs, and 14 kilometres of fencing projects have been established in the area. There are another 10,000 trees and shrubs to be ordered in 2011. The WID and the Wheatland Conservation and Wildlife Association have been two of the main supporters to the PHD in Strathmore. This year they will be adding a new partner to the program with a project planned for the Severn Dam and associated wetlands in cooperation with Wheatland County. 

“We’re always looking for interested landowners that want to get involved,” said Erwin Braun, General Manager for the WID. 

If people are looking to get involved they can join their local Conservation and Wildlife Association, or to find out more about the PHD program, contact the WID at 403-934-3542.