ATHABASCA – Recent changes to private land conservation announced by the province of Alberta are opening up new pathways for landowners to preserve natural habitats and riparian areas, but the conservation won’t be as permanent as it used to be.
The Crooked Creek Conservancy Society of Athabasca (CCCSA) helps landowners across the region navigate the process of establishing conservation easements on their property, and they hold those easements once they’ve been established.
“(The changes) won’t affect the local work that is being done in terms of the perpetual easements, but it does limit us to term conservation easements, which is what the government is pursuing right now,” said Rosemary Neaves, CCCSA’s chairwoman.
Currently, CCCSA manages two perpetual easements – meaning the land will be held under the conservation efforts indefinitely – and the changes from the provincial government won’t affect those. Moving forward, landowners looking to preserve natural spaces will be limited to 20 to 50-year easements, after which they would have to be renewed.
The province announced two funding streams totalling $10 million to help support the process. The CCCSA works mostly within the Private Land Conservation Program, formally the Land Trust Grant Program, which provides funding for these easements.
The other system is the Ecosystem Services Grant Program, which helps landowners cover the costs of maintaining conservation lands like grasslands, riparian areas, and wetlands. In Athabasca County, much of that work is done by the Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS).
Heather Stocking, CCCSA’s conservation coordinator, said she felt the changes may increase interest, since landowners will now receive payments from the province instead of a tax write-off for the easements.
“I’m excited at the prospect of working with landowners and helping them put a little more money back into their pockets and protect the environment. It seems to me to be a win-win,” said Stocking.
In order to qualify for a conservation easement, Stocking said the land had to have some type of feature, like a naturally occurring riparian area, as well as biodiversity – the more the merrier in this case.
“You want to protect the property that you have from potential development down the road, and you want to ensure that you can pass this along to your heirs. A lot of people want to pass their land down to their children, and in this economy right now, a little bit of money in your pocket is a good thing,” said Stocking.
Stocking and Neaves said interested parties should reach out to the CCCSA by Sept. 15 in order to meet this year’s Oct. 1 deadline for the program. To contact the conservancy, visit their website at www.crookedcreek.land or check out its office in downtown Athabasca.
