ATHABASCA – You'll often see them as you turn into Cornwall — sometimes it’s a lone stag wandering the grounds of the RCMP detachment; sometimes it’s a doe and a couple of her fawns near the county offices; and sometimes it’s just a small family of six or seven hopping along through your back yard.
If you love being close to nature, the Town of Athabasca has a lot to offer, no matter what part of town you live in, then again, some move into town to get away from the wildlife.
At the Dec. 20 regular town council meeting, Coun. Ida Edwards introduced Dr. Darcy Visscher, a biologist, researcher and professor with King’s University College, who is interested in studying the community of deer that have come to call the Town of Athabasca home. Council approved the study, provided an agreement can be reached regarding the footage that will be captured.
“The idea in very short form is to set up trail cameras along Muskeg Creek and the Landing trail to understand how deer are entering and leaving town,” Visscher told council via video conference.
Visscher and Coun. Edwards have been in touch for a number of years on the topic, but with COVID and other delays in the last two years, it hasn’t come together. He noted Edwards had initially proposed a very engaged form of research involving many stakeholders, which would have been less scientific and more about understanding biodiversity within the town.
As an urban ecologist though, Visscher said he has repositioned the study somewhat because urban deer are a particularly “important research topic”, and he would like to complete a research paper on the topic.
“The original intent was to be something where we could give it back to the citizens of Athabasca in terms of a report in terms of biodiversity, so they can see what’s going on, on their trails,” Visscher told council. There is valuable research data there, so I would, if I'm going to set up the cameras, squeeze a research publication out of it, looking at how human recreational use of those trails influences the timing and spatial distribution of the deer in particular, but I would ensure that there was a report that we bring back to council, or other stakeholders so that they would have a summarization of the data in a way that's useful, and I would, dearly love to share the images.”
There is no financial commitment to the town, although if they were interested in partnering, Visscher said there are funds available through the Alberta Conservation Association that he could apply for on top of the federal grant money he is already provided. He also has all the necessary equipment as far as the trail cameras and would likely take on a couple research students over the summer to analyze and record the data retrieved from the cameras.
Mayor Rob Balay said he would be very interested in providing an educational component of the study for local students as well, especially since Landing Trail Intermediate School is so near the trails and uses them extensively. Visscher said he would be happy to do that.
He went on to point out there would be signage, which he would install himself, that would notify the public that cameras were being used there. The cameras themselves will be spaced several hundred metres apart, and all Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPP) statutes will be followed.
That was the biggest issue council had however, was how that footage would be used and how it would be disposed of when the study is completed.
CAO Rachel Ramey asked for details on any other agreements he has signed with municipalities for previous research studies, but since all of his other work has been completed on provincial land, once the permits were in place, no other such agreements were necessary.
She also pointed out that part of the trail system is owned by Athabasca University, so another stakeholder would likely have to be involved. Visscher responded that he would reach out to his contacts there and wondered if it may be more expedient to cover just one side of the trails.
“Thank you for considering this, you have this wonderful little system happening in town and I think it has value as a research proposal,” said Visscher, noting he would like to run the study from May 2023 to May 2024. “I think there are probably going to more towns that are dealing with urban animals, and urban deer, in particular, and this could kind of lead the way in embracing them. Or not.”
Council discussed the presentation later in the meeting and Ramey reiterated her concerns about the town’s liability regarding the camera footage.
“I do have some concerns about being on public property and the cameras that will be out there capturing photos of people using our trails. I would want an agreement in place just to make sure that we are not liable for anything, and I do have concerns with half of the trail being on university land. I’m not the researcher but I think it would be important to have that whole area as part of the study,” she said.
“I just want to make sure we’re covered because we’re letting a third party come in and take pictures of people using our public areas, so I just want to be a little on the cautious side with that.”
Balay said he didn’t see any huge downsides to letting the study take place.
“I think there is more of an upside than a downside, so I’m willing to support this,” he said. “I don’t mind us, for once, being leaders in this going forward either. I think that’s something we can be proud of doing.”
Council passed a motion 6-0 to direct administration to enter into an agreement with Professor Visscher to undertake the urban deer study.
