Does Edmonton need a national urban park to cherish its river valley
Columnist Keith Gerein states a national urban park is worth exploring, though as the city goes into planning negotiations, he hopes leaders continue to ask whether inviting the federal government into this space is really necessary, or whether a lot of these touted benefits can be accomplished on our own.
He agrees the river valley is YEG’s most unique attraction, the largest urban park in North America, encompassing some 88 kilometres and 18,000 acres, and featuring 160 kilometres of trails. From this perspective, the queries often follow as to whether we are protecting it enough, or whether we are missing opportunities to better take advantage of it.
It is these sorts of questions that are at the heart of new debate on whether the river valley, or portions of it, should be designated as a national urban park. One idea is to form an independent group of various stakeholders to provide oversight of the park, said former MP Linda Duncan, who is a member of the North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society.
“Our concern is the clock is ticking and the feds are dealing with quite a few jurisdictions and they want to add more,” said Duncan, whose society is also seeking a tougher river valley bylaw. “So we need to get on with it. I think it would be regrettable if we missed this chance to have some infusion of dollars to protect the river valley.”
There is enough flexibility at this point that the seven cities expressing interest in a national urban park: this includes Halifax, Montreal, Windsor, Winnipeg, Victoria and Saskatoon, may well reach seven entirely different arrangements with Ottawa. The major carrot is $130 million in federal money, with potentially more to come.
What makes an urban wildlife species a pest for humans
Dan Riedlhuber photo
From the pigeon pooping on your roof to the skunk hiding under your porch, what is it about an urban wildlife species that earns them the label of pest? If an animal is in a wild space, away from human beings, accessing wild food sources, we don’t see them as a problem. But once they interact with people, damage property, raid garbage or pose a potential threat to our livelihoods, pest-perception rises.
In Edmonton, skunks are not a particular favourite in the city. Known to live in highly populated areas often under porches or dens, and to raid garbage, the stinky critter can make its human neighbours fear leaving their homes. But they also provide an array of ecosystem benefits, like eating grubs, which keeps lawns healthy, and eating hornets and wasps.
Pigeons are a species once deemed useful by humans, but not anymore. Sometimes called rats with wings, pigeons weren't always regarded as pests. European colonizers introduced the species of pigeon that are common in cities across North America, bringing them over as sources of food, pets and as messenger birds.
But eventually, their uses in agriculture and for communication were replaced by other things. The pigeon was abandoned once they were no longer of use to humans. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/urban-wildlife-canada-alberta-edmonton-pest-explainer-1.6555194
When the natural resources of lakes in the Beaver Hills were abundant
In 1875, while building the North-West Mounted Police barracks at Fort Saskatchewan, Sam Steele recorded in his journal, “Our food at this time consisted of pemmican and mountain trout. The smallest trout weighed 5.5 lbs and many were over 12 lbs.”
He and his men also ate “large quantities of wild duck eggs obtained from the shores of the lakes in the Beaver Hills . . . and beaver, which when roasted is delicious food.” Large populations of beaver gave the Beaverhill area its name early in the fur trade, but rabbit became a valuable fur export during WW1 when the rabbit population in the Beaverhill subwatershed hit a 9–10 year peak.
During the war, rabbit fur imports to North America from Australia were cut off and the rabbit fur hat industry in New York became desperate. They sent American fur traders to Alberta where they bought 6 million rabbit hides in one year. Dr. Rowen from the University of Alberta counted 32,000 rabbits per square mile during that time.
More about the natural resources of the Beaverhill Subwatershed, beginning on page 213 of Living in the Shed by Billie Milholland, published by the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance. https://archive.org/details/livinginshedalbe00milh/
Could ecological restoration be the new outdoor recreation
Fostering ecological healing on lands that have been impaired delivers multiple dividends. This kind of volunteer work addresses many problems today that we’ve come to call crises: species extinction, climate change, soil loss, and the decline of both water quantity and quality.
At the end of the 20th century, scientists from around the world got together to measure our planet’s health. They reported that three out of every four acres of the Earth’s surface were in a degraded state. The urgent global need to restore our damaged lands and waters caused the United Nations to name this the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.
Although restoration and recreation have much in common, there is a major difference between the two. While outdoor recreation fulfills oneself, ecological restoration gives back to the land. Not that benefiting oneself is bad; one of the reasons we recreate is for the regenerative powers of spending time in nature.
But adding restoration into the domain of outdoor recreation could go a long way to enhance our time outdoors. When a group acts to restore the health of soil, land, plants and animals, people involved always feel better about themselves. https://mountainjournal.org/ecological-restoration-could-be-the-new-outdoor-recreation
Cold Arbour by David Wilson, Muttart Conservatory
https://www.edmontonarts.ca/public-art/cold-arbour
Comment or contribution
Please note that articles may not reflect the position of NSRVCS. River Valley News is meant to be a clearinghouse for the wide variety of opinions and ideas about Edmonton’s River Valley. Email river valley photos, event information, comments, or questions to nsrivervalley@gmail.com
Sincerely yours,
Harvey Voogd
North Saskatchewan River Valley Conservation Society
780.691.1712