Conservation on a working landscape
The ground nesting, short-eared owl spotted from the cab of Bruce's tractor. Bruce stopped his tractor, found the nest, and saved the eggs because he could identify the bird and knew its ecology. (Photo by Bruce Boldt)
I want to share an interesting conversation I had with my friend Bruce a couple of weeks ago. We had both recently attended a meeting by the South Saskatchewan Water Stewards about environmental farm plans, decommissioning wells and the threat of...
Fescue friendship
(L-R) Whitney McNinch, Alex Fisher and Ellen Potts harvest plains rough fescue by hand on NCC`s Maymont 5 property (Photo by Kerry Hecker, Environment Canada)
“If you can’t eat ‘em, pick ‘em!” That’s a saying, right? Well, it is now. While conducting my first property inspection of the year, I discovered, to my dismay, the fence at Maymont 5 was not going to hold any...
Progress on the Rice Lake Plains!
Stewardship progress on the Rice Lake Plains, ON (Photo by NCC)
The Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in Northumberland County, Ontario is a key property for grassland birds and tall grass prairie habitats. One threat on this property includes invasive species such as the Scotch pine seen in the photograph. Scotch...
It's never too late to celebrate: A decade of partnership on the Rice Lake Plains
The partners in the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative (RLPJI) must be a busy lot, because we missed celebrating our big 10th anniversary! And we missed it by a country mile. On October 14, 2003 a number of conservation partners gathered at the...
My favourite day in the field
Winter field trip, Elk Glen, MB (Photo by NCC)
As a biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in Manitoba my field work is typically over once there is snow on the ground and ice on the ponds. Most of the time things need to be green or moving to do my work. However my last day in...
The swift fox: A conservation success story
Swift fox (Photo by Karol Dabbs)
Although I work as the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) conservation coordinator responsible for the area in Alberta where swift foxes now live, I have never seen a wild one myself. These are elusive creatures. I did see several being...
A personal prairie legacy: The Tim K. Hodgson Prairie Stewardship Challenge Fund
Tim Hodgson at Horseshoe Dam (Photo courtesy of Tim Hodgson)
Caring for land is personal. Over 10 years ago, I realized native wildlife habitat conservation was the most meaningful thing to which I could contribute my energy, expertise and time. It was 2003, and I was re-evaluating what I was achieving in...
The force of fire on the Rice Lake Plains
Prescribed burn on Hazel Bird property, Rice Lake Plains, ON (Photo by NCC)
Wildfires cause a lot of destruction each summer. There are dramatic videos and pictures in the news every year. So why did the Rice Lake Plains Joint Initiative (RLPJI) partner organizations purposely light several fires this spring? In some...
For the love of prairies: celebrating Native Prairie Appreciation Week
Missouri Coteau, Saskatchewan (Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj)
Uncultivated, wild prairie wool has a certain beauty and grace about it, and somehow also a sense of timelessness. Prairie landscapes are dynamic and always changing in subtle ways, yet remain unchanged in many other ways. There is an estimated...
Heterogeneity in grassland conservation? These university students say yes!
Buffalo Valley, SK (Photo by NCC)
Should heterogeneity be a new buzzword in grassland conservation? OK, maybe it’s not the easiest word to say or remember but according to ongoing research, the answer is a resounding, "Yes." During the winter of 2014, students in a...
