Ten years ago, Gerald Lyon noticed plant communities were becoming less productive and damage to the streambanks was occurring from livestock hoof action and trampling. As a result, he made the management decision to remove all livestock grazing from this pasture in an attempt to recover the upland and riparian vegetation.
The Municipal District of Ranchland is located in the foothills of south-western Alberta. This area includes numerous creeks that form the headwaters of part of the Oldman River drainage. We are a community group made up of ranchers, municipal representatives, agricultural service board members, and agricultural fieldmen that represent the 103 people living in the M.D. After a severe flood in 1995, we saw the need to work together more, and also saw our community as part of the bigger area. The flood helped us recognise that neighbours could work together to manage our riparian areas.
Our group consists of several dozen agricultural families, forming a community-based association of landowners along the lower section of Mosquito Creek. Our approach has been a take-charge, proactive one. We feel that it is in the best interest of our community to become involved in the proactive restoration of water quality in the creek.
We are a group of landowners who live and farm along the Little Bow River, from near the town of High River to the Little Bow Reservoir – a distance spanning almost 55 km. Our Riparian Initiative Program has made our community more aware of their impacts as well as helps us look for some of the potential benefits that come from better riparian and rangeland management practices.
The City of Camrose, located in central Alberta, has been working with the County of Camrose since 1998 to protect the Battle River watershed. The City realizes that by working on watershed issues together with the County, they are not only helping to create a healthy watershed for agricultural and recreational users but they are also protecting the water supply for 15,000 urban individuals.
Composed of farmers, ranchers and recreational landowners, the Beaver Creek Watershed Group is striving to improve riparian health and water quality in Beaver Creek through the collective efforts of landowners along this stream which flows from the Porcupine Hills. The group has taken action to build a strong group of committed individuals with the support of a working group of agency resource people. They continue to focus on awareness, implementing management changes and monitoring.
Using a combination of rest-rotation and time-controlled grazing, Bud Maynard, ranch manager, has been working to improve pasture condition since 1989. In combination with these grazing strategies and off-stream water development, riparian health and grass production have improved, along with an increase in herd size.
Recognising that cattle numbers and stocking rates need to be adjusted to meet pasture and range conditions has enabled Merv Page, ranch manager, to keep the native range in good condition. Use of short periods of grazing during the spring plus access to off-site water maintains the riparian area and streambank, allowing for fall-winter grazing to also fit into the management strategy.
The Halls have been using a time-controlled grazing strategy to provide carefully managed grazing of their riparian pasture since 1994. They want to maintain the pastures along Mosquito Creek to continue to provide pasture during the breeding season and also to produce high quality native grass seed for market.
