Annual Report - CPAWS Northern Alberta
Annual Report2019-2020NORTHERN ALBERTA CHAPTER
ContentsOverview1A Message from the Chapter2About CPAWS NAB3Who We Are4Staffing Updates5Highlights of the Year6Program Updates7Climate Change Literacy8Alberta Parks9Jasper11Wood Buffalo12Caribou and You13Conservation Planning16Outreach and Volunteering19Volunteer Highlights20Public Outreach21Financial Overview23Financial Status24Funding Sources25Partners26Back cover photo by Gillian Chow-Fraser
Overview
A Message from theChapterThe past year has been both challenging and rewarding. We embarked on renewal of ourfive-year Strategic Plan, experienced success on current conservation campaigns, engaged onimportant emerging issues, moved into a new office space, and responded to the challengespresented by COVID-19 as the fiscal year came to a close.In February 2020 the Government of Alberta’s assault on our Provincial Parks system quickly became ourbiggest focus. Working closely with our CPAWS partners in Southern Alberta, we mobilized Albertansthrough our ‘Defend Alberta Parks’ campaign. A remarkable and unprecedented response provided a strongmessage to the government about the passion Albertans hold for our parks legacy. Encouraged by recentdevelopments around this decision, CPAWS will continue to hold the government accountable forenhancing, protecting, and maintaining our provincial parks system.Prior to our parks campaign grabbing the headlines we were working on several other important initiatives,including our contribution to the Teck Resources decision to withdraw the Frontier Mine proposal; ourpartnership with the Dene Tha’ First Nation supporting the creation of an Indigenous Protected andConserved Area (IPCA) and Indigenous Guardians Program; development of a wildlife monitoring programaround Bistcho Lake; continued work on caribou conservation; holding Parks Canada accountable throughinput on the Jasper National Park 10-year Management Plan; and development of a new five year (2020 - 25)Strategic Plan for the chapter anticipated to be completed in the fall of 2020.In March 2020 we were excited to move into a new office space on the 6th floor of the newly renovatedStanley A. Milner library in downtown Edmonton. This move has provided us with more space and meetingfacilities to accommodate our staff and an opportunity to better connect with Edmonton’s non-profitcommunity, as several other organizations are also located here. Although COVID-19 forced staff to workfrom home a week after the move, we look forward to being in this space more in the near future.This past year we welcomed both new staff and board members while saying farewell to some others. Ourstaff and volunteer board are engaged, skilled and passionate about CPAWS and the work we do supportingthe environment. Volunteers and membership have also grown over the past year, and shown support for ourwork through help in the office, on committees, at events, and through donations. We are deeply appreciativeof the invaluable contributions that all CPAWS staff, board, volunteers, and supporters make to our success.CPAWS Northern Alberta continues to be a credible and respected voice for conservation in Alberta and welook forward with anticipation to the challenges and successes of 2020 - 21.Dr. Kecia KerrExecutive DirectorSteve DonelonChair, Board of Directors2
About CPAWS NABOverviewThe Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) believes that Canada’s magnificentlandscape deserves to be enjoyed by all - now and into the future. That’s why CPAWS is theonly nation-wide charitable organization dedicated solely to protecting Canada’s public landsand waters for current and future generations to appreciate. Since 1963, our organization hasbeen instrumental in achieving legislative protection for over half a million square kilometresacross the country. That’s an area bigger than the Yukon territory!The Northern Alberta Chapter was established in 1968 and we have been leading the way inconservation in Alberta for over 50 years. We aim to protect Alberta’s waters, wilderness, andwildlife between the northern provincial border and Red Deer using a three-prongedapproach: science-based decision making, collaboration and advocacy. Our goal is to conserveat least half of Alberta’s public lands.VisionMissionCore ValuesWe aspire to an Alberta thatembraces conservation andhas a large protectedwilderness network.We achieve conservationand legislated wildernessprotection in Albertathrough research,collaboration, andcommunity outreach.Wilderness, Conservation &BiodiversityCollaborationCommunity EngagementEvidence-Based DecisionMakingAccountability3
Who We AreThe Board of DirectorsSteve Donelon, ChairCindy Olsen, Director (finished August 2020)Donna Tribe, TreasurerBecky Devaleriola, Director (finished April 2020)Ramona Blacklock, SecretaryBrian Steele, Director (finished October 2019)Bryan Adkins, DirectorMyles Curry, DirectorCPAWS NAB staff, board members, and key volunteers gathered at Miquelon Lake Provincial Park in January of 2020 to review and update theorganization’s Strategic Plan. Photo by Bryan Adkins.The Chapter StaffKecia Kerr, Executive DirectorTara Russell, Program DirectorChris Smith, Parks CoordinatorGillian Chow-Fraser, Boreal Program ManagerRyan Cheng, Conservation AnalystTaylor Maton, Conservation OutreachCoordinator and Administrative Assistant (ParksBus Ambassador Summer 2019)Cala Jorgensen, Program Coordinator (outgoingOctober 2019)Helen Yip, Conservation Outreach Coordinator(Summer 2019)Gillian Kerr, Communications Coordinator (Winter /Spring 2019-20)Carlos Bautista, Financial Controller (Contractor)4
Staffing UpdatesWe’re growing!Over the past year, we have increased ourstaff capacity, particularly incommunications and outreach. We are nowjoined by Taylor Maton, our ConservationOutreach Coordinator and AdministrativeAssistant. We also had Gillian Kerr join usfor the winter season as CommunicationsCoordinator. Increasing staffing was a goaloutlined in our 2018 - 19 Annual Report andwe are now better able to tackle the mostpressing conservation projects, while alsogrowing public awareness of ourorganization in Alberta.Team meetings have changed a bit during the pandemic! From top left tobottom right: Tara Russell, Taylor Maton, Ryan Cheng, Kecia Kerr, GillianChow-Fraser, Chris Smith, and Gillian Kerr.Staff timeIn 2019 - 20 we again dedicated 90% of ourtime to our conservation and educationprograms. The “Conservation” categoryencompasses our general conservationwork as well as our climate changeprogram. “Parks and Protected Areas”includes our Bighorn and National Parkswork and the first month of our workopposing the closure and delisting of parksin Alberta. “Collaborative Conservation”involves our multi-stakeholder projectsacross Northern Alberta. The remainingstaff time was spent on administrative andfund development activities.5AdministrativeCollaborative ConservationCommunications and OutreachConservationFund DevelopmentParks and Protected AreasSpecies At RiskPie chart summary of staff time over the period of this annual report.Percentage of time spent in each category was: Conservation (31%), Species AtRisk (23%), Parks and Protected Areas (16%), Collaborative Conservation(11%), Administrative (9%), Communications and Outreach (9%) and FundDevelopment (1%).
Highlights of the YearPushing back against the Teck Frontier oil sands mineTeck’s Frontier mine would have been North America’s largest open pit oil sands mine, proposed justupstream from Wood Buffalo National Park. The mine would have caused significant risks to the park,Endangered whooping cranes, and migratory birds, as well as hampered Canada’s ability to combat climatechange. Our team led the work to enable the public’s feedback during the federal government’s openconsultation on the environmental conditions set out for the mine. We received overwhelming participationfrom Canadians, with the majority stating that the conditions placed on the mine’s approval were notsufficient to mitigate the concerns.In February, Teck Resources Limited withdrew their application for the Frontier oil sands mine. The strongpublic opposition to the mine speaks to the unavoidable adverse impacts of open pit oil sands mines anddemonstrates the strength of our voices as Canadians that care about our natural heritage.Caribou and ice cream: A delicious nationwidepartnershipGillian Chow-Fraser, our Boreal Program Manager,and Ashley Chapman, the Vice President ofChapman’s Ice Cream, celebrating their live segmenton CTV Morning Live to promote the Caribou Barsfrom Chapman’s Yukon line of ice cream products.And no, the colour coordination was not planned!CPAWS partnered with Chapman’s to bring national attentionto our caribou conservation efforts through tasty ice creamtreats. Our staff were lucky enough to meet Ashley Chapman,the Vice President of Chapman’s, and do television interviewsto share our passion for caribou conservation. We areincredibly grateful that the Chapman’s team was inspired byour on-the-ground work to recover caribou across the country,and decided to send some of the proceeds from the sale of theirspecial Caribou Bars to CPAWS to support our work.Global Strike for Climate ActionIn late September 2019, our Chapter took part in the GlobalStrike for Climate Action as part of the culmination of GlobalClimate Week, where 2 million people took part in over 2,400protests around the world. In Edmonton, our team joined over2,000 passionate, concerned citizens at the provinciallegislature to demand action from the government to tackle thechallenges we face addressing climate change. We were thereto both show solidarity with climate activists and to highlightthe impacts that climate change will have on our vulnerablespecies, including caribou, bull trout and many others.CPAWS Northern Alberta at the Global Strike for Climate Action in Edmonton. Pictured here(left to right): Ryan Cheng, Gillian Chow-Fraser, Chris Smith, and Cala Jorgensen.6
Program Updates
Climate Change LiteracyThis year CPAWS Northern Alberta program staff initiated a Community ClimateAmbassador program. The program trained community climate ambassadors in five northernAlbertan towns and cities to deliver adult and children’s education programs to teachAlbertans about climate change, its impacts, nature-based climate solutions, and how to takeaction themselves. The goals of the program were to increase the acceptance and awarenessof climate change and increase support for climate action.The program was ambitious and took longer to initiate than originally planned. Throughout the set-up,CPAWS Northern Alberta produced a training program for ambassadors and a suite of materials forambassadors to use to run their outreach programs. We also disseminated 20 Edu-Kits for in-classroomprogram delivery. The program faced some issues with community climate ambassador retention due tocompeting commitments for our ambassadors and other extenuating circumstances. In the future, we wouldexamine increased incentives for ambassadors.The program was set to end in March 2020; however, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and thedifficulties in conducting outreach, the program was extended until the end of August 2020. So far, theprogram has been successful in reaching over 3000 people.In addition to leading the community climate ambassadors,we expanded staff knowledge on nature-based climatesolutions. Tara Russell was able to attend the first NatureBased Climate Solutions Summit held by Nature Canada inOttawa, Ontario. This event was a gathering ofenvironmental organizations, First Nations representatives,and federal, provincial, and municipal representatives fromacross the country. It was a powerful gathering, withimmense amounts of knowledge sharing. The summitbrought together climate scientists and experts on climateaction with those working in conservation, allowing ideasand crossover points to be shared in front of decision makersand land users.CPAWS Northern Alberta staff and volunteers also produceda nature-based climate solutions factsheet and stickers forour continued outreach program. Delivery of this programhas been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Climate change factsheets and stickers.8
Alberta ParksIt has been a busy year for us on our parks and public lands work, with many changes comingwith the new provincial government. During the election, the United Conservative Partyplatform promised as part of their ‘Common Sense Conservation Plan’ to introduce anAlberta Trails Act and a 30 annual trail permit fee for off-highway vehicles and randomcamping trailers. They also promised to review Alberta Environment and Parks Acts inregards to parks and public land to ‘modernize’ them.Since then, our chapter has collaborated with CPAWS Southern Alberta to preparerecommendations to the government in anticipation of these coming changes. Our work hasincluded conducting extensive interjurisdictional reviews on how other provinces andcountries approach recreation management, collaborating with other organizations to obtaina broad range of input, and communicating our recommendations to Alberta Environmentand Parks for potential inclusion in a trails act. We will submit formal recommendations oncethe government begins consultation. Though there has been no movement yet on theproposed legislative changes to Alberta’s Environment and Parks Acts, we have completed thepreparatory work needed to engage on any changes. Our main focus will be on ensuring thatthese proposed changes do not weaken our parks and protected areas legislation.Photo by Gillian Chow-Fraser9
Bighorn updateShortly after taking up office in the Alberta legislature in mid-April 2019, the new provincialgovernment made the announcement that they would not be moving forward with theBighorn Country proposal that had been put forward by the previous government. We aredeeply disappointed that this important headwaters region will remain unprotected for thetime being, but we haven’t lost hope.Over 5,000 Albertans sent letters of support through ouronline action page or signed hard copies that we deliveredto the Minister of Environment and Parks, with thousandsmore filling out the government online survey in support ofgreater protection for the area in late 2019 and early 2020.Prior to the public consultation period, nearly 20,000people sent in letters or signed postcards as part of our‘Love Your Headwaters’ campaign in support of protectingthe Bighorn.In March 2019, we facilitated an open letter with 44organizations signing on who supported this vision.Signatories included conservation organizations, outdoorretailers, local companies and independent businesses.During our campaign, we had over 180 media mentionsacross video, radio, newspapers, podcasts and online. Webuilt lasting partnerships with outdoor outfitters, localbusinesses, and passionate Albertans, and we managed toraise the profile of the issue to become well recognizedacross the province.And it’s not over yet. While the previous proposal toprotect the Bighorn didn’t go forward, conservation hasnever been about a particular proposal or government. It’sabout coming together to care for our most special wildplaces. We need to continue to build on our recentmomentum, find new opportunities, and build newrelationships to complete the decades-long work so manyAlbertans have fought for.Albertans sent thousands of letters supportingprotection for the Bighorn.10
Jasper National ParkIn April 2019, CPAWS Northern Alberta submitted our recommendations to senior parks stafffor the Jasper National Park 10-year management plan review, which we began engaging on inlate 2018. This is Phase 1 of the new 10-year management planning process for all of the RockyMountain Parks (Banff, Jasper, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks), which we have beenworking collaboratively on alongside CPAWS Southern Alberta and CPAWS National. Thesenew management plans will lay out the direction for park management for the next decade,and thus it is crucial that potential concerns are addressed in this plan to prevent them frombecoming significant issues down the road. We addressed six main topics in ourrecommendations, which covered issues such as ecological integrity, caribou management,fire risk management and mountain pine beetle, human-wildlife conflict, tourism visitationand growth, and landscape management.In March 2020, we sent a more detailed follow-up letter to Jasper National Park senior management as themanagement planning process was placed on hold due to the outbreak of COVID-19. This follow-up letterelaborated more on the original issues we had addressed in 2019, but expanded on them and offeredadditional recommendations on developing a comprehensive human use strategy, preparation for climaticchanges within the park, transparency in decision-making, and addressing cumulative effects. Movingforward, we will continue engaging with Parks Canada on this management planning process, and we plan toengage our supporters on this issue again once public consultation is restarted.During the summer of 2019, our ParksCoordinator made a trip out to the town of Jasperto participate in Parks Day. We were able toengage with over 200 people, ranging frominternational tourists to locals, about ourdifferent campaigns and what we do as anorganization.We hope to continue to expand our presence inJasper as staffing and funding permits. Any timewe can physically get out to the areas we work inhelps to remind us of what we’ve achieved andwhat still needs to be done, as well as allows us toconnect with local environmental organizationswho we collaborate with.11Our Parks Coordinator, Chris Smith, hosting a booth at Parks Day inthe town of Jasper.
Wood Buffalo NationalParkThe proposed Teck Frontier oil sands mine posed the most significant threat to Wood BuffaloNational Park this past year, as it would have been located just 30 km south of the park’sborders. The 290 km2 Frontier mine would have destroyed wetlands, old-growth trees, andcaribou and wood bison habitat. It would have introduced nearly 5,000 hectares of tailingsponds that would threaten migratory birds that fly over the oil sands to reach Wood BuffaloNational Park to breed, and especially pose a risk to the long-term recovery of theEndangered whooping crane.Building on our previous work as intervenors during the mine’s environmental assessmentprocess, we continued to advocate for the mine’s rejection, as it was clear the projectconditions could not reasonably mitigate the adverse environmental impacts it would create.A critical moment was the public consultationperiod in the fall of 2019, when the federalgovernment held a public consultation period forfeedback on the proposed project. After the JointReview Panel for the Frontier project made anunfathomable recommendation for approval, it wasurgent to let the federal government know that thepublic did not want this mine built.A view of the southern edge of Lake Claire in Wood BuffaloNational Park. Photo by Garth Lenz.We successfully engaged with the general public toparticipate in the public consultation period with acomment guide that was visited by thousands ofCanadians. Almost 96% of all commenters whoparticipated in the public comment period called forthe mine’s rejection!In February of 2020, in the days leading up to a decision from the federal Cabinet to approve or reject themine, Teck announced they had formally withdrawn their application for the Frontier mine. In the midst forour fight to safeguard our boreal forests and Wood Buffalo National Park, we found a moment for celebrationand a breath of relief!Still, our work is not done. At the 2019 World Heritage Committee meeting, the UN body warned that“considerably more effort” and “more funding will likely be needed” to appropriately address the needs ofWood Buffalo National Park. Despite the no lo
Annual Report 2019-2020. Contents Overview 1 A Message from the Chapter 2 About CPAWS NAB 3 Who We Are 4 Staffing Updates 5 Highlights of the Year 6 Program Updates 7 Climate Change Literacy 8 Alberta Parks 9 . Spring 2019-20) Carlos Bautista, Financial Controller (Contractor) 4 CPAWS NAB staff, board members, and key volunteers gathered at .
EDMONTON, Alberta TOE 6A5 Phone (780) 438-1460 Fax (780) 437-7125 www.thurber.ca ALBERTA TRANSPORTATION LANDSLIDE RISK ASSESSMENT MR THURBER . Alberta (83-0)." 5. Alberta Research Council, 1976. "Bedrock Topography of the Lesser Slave Lake Map Area, NTS 83 0, Alberta." 6. University and Government of Alberta, 1969. "Atlas of Alberta."
The third annual Rural Alberta Community Physician Recruitment and Retention workshop, hosted by The Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan (RPAP) and the Northern Alberta Development Council (NADC), was held 7-9 November 2010 at the Sawridge Inn - Edmonton South in Edmonton, Alberta.
Alberta Interpretation Act Timelines outlined within the Bylaw shall be complied with pursuant to the Alberta Interpretation Act, as amended, Alberta Building Code In the case where this bylaw conflicts with the Alberta Building Code, the Alberta Building Code shall prevail, Alberta Land Titles
Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association . School of Public Health, University of Alberta Ever Active Schools Kainai Board of Education Alberta Health Services Alberta Recreation and Parks Association Nature Alberta Future Leaders Program, Alberta Sport, Recreation, . and gaming. It is through these opportunities that education occurs.
ALBERTA Philip Lee 1 and Cheryl Smyth 2 1 Forest Resources Business Unit, Alberta Research Council, Vegreville, Alberta Canada T9C 1T4. Present address: Senior Research Associate, Integrated Landscape Management Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9.
1 Alberta Research Council, P.O. Bag 4000, Vegreville, Alberta T9C 1T4 2 Present address: Alberta Conservation Association, 6th Floor, Great West Life Building, 9920-108 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2M4 3 Alberta Conservation Association, Northwest Business Unit, Bag 9000,
Our Board of Directors also encompasses much of the variety found in our region with representation from the College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS), the Association of School Business Officials of Alberta (ASBOA), the Alberta School oards Association (ASA), the Alberta School ouncils' Association (ASCA) and Alberta Education.
ArtificialIntelligence: A Modern Approachby Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, c 1995 Prentice-Hall,Inc. Section 2.3. Structure of Intelligent Agents 35 the ideal mapping for much more general situations: agents that can solve a limitless variety of tasks in a limitless variety of environments. Before we discuss how to do this, we need to look at one more requirement that an intelligent agent .
