Volunteers from a trail maintenance event at Pipestone Creek this fall.
What a field season we’ve had this year! The EALT team still had lots to do this fall with restoration work alongside other regular stewardship projects. Check out these highlights from EALT staff and volunteers.
Restoration
A major project throughout this year has been at our new property on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River, upstream from Big Island Provincial Park. This property is not yet open to the public while we work to restore the property to native vegetation; however, teams of volunteers have already been hard at work starting the restoration process.
Activities to restore this land include:
Invasive plant control
Slope stabilization and shrub planting
Tree and shrub planting
Junk and barbed wire removal
Indigenous community engagement
We have compiled some of our favourite photos from this project. Some of these photos were also taken by the Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society.
Restoration takes time and support, and we would like to thank Environment and Climate Change Canada, Edmonton Community Foundation, TD Friends of the Environment, the Agroforestry and Woodlot Extension Society, and all our volunteers for their support of the project. Updates for this property will be posted on this page. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on announcements and see volunteer opportunities for this land.
You can support the ongoing stewardship of this new conservation land by donating to our Action Amplified campaign.
September
As the season winds down, EALT staff try to give each conservation land one last trail trim for the year. Additional to our staff mowing visits, we hosted 3 different volunteer events for trail maintenance. Thank you to those who joined us at Pipestone Creek, Boisvert’s GreenWoods, and the Lu Carbyn Nature Sanctuary!
We hosted our much anticipated annual nest box cleaning and monitoring event at Bunchberry Meadows. Thank you to those who joined us to clean close to 100 boxes at the land! Many of our lands have Conservation Land Stewards who will clean and monitor nest boxes this time of year.
October
The Smith Blackburn Homestead had extra attention this season as there were multiple events hosted at the land. Once the leaves have fallen, volunteers can easily navigate the land and notice junk or barbed wire. An old barbed wire fenceline was removed at an event this month.
The following week, volunteers joined us at the land for one last pollinator garden maintenance day. Mulch and tarps were added to the edges of the garden, and any remaining invasive plants were removed. Mulch and leaves were added to the surrounding planted trees and shrubs to retain moisture and allow them to survive the winter more easily. Thank you to Classic Gardens for donating some more shrubs to add to this garden!
Moose antlers on display at the Land-based astronomy event.
A land-based astronomy event was also hosted at the Smith Blackburn Homestead in collaboration with the Telus World of Science Edmonton and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The event was open to various Indigenous Community groups including the First Peoples House, kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre, and the Métis Nation of Alberta. The event was planned to support the resurgence of Indigenous Astronomy and aid in the strengthening of connections in amiskwaciy.
Citizen Science volunteer holding a snake. Photo by Brett Bolkowy
The cooling weather and dwindling daylight marks the annual return of EALT’s gartersnake relocation season. Each fall sometime between late August and mid October, gartersnakes migrate to their overwintering sites (hibernacula) to escape freezing temperatures. This can be a harrowing task for snakes, as they often need to cross roads and face other hazards to get there. You can check out this video from CBC showing how EALT has created a solution for one hibernaculum that was in a hazardous spot. You can learn more about other citizen science opportunities on our Citizen Science volunteer page.
Thank you to our volunteers
We hosted our Volunteer Appreciation event this fall at the Smith Blackburn Homestead. With 2058 volunteer hours so far in 2024, the time and dedication shown by our wonderful supporters is significant.
As a charity, EALT relies on the generous support of donors, and though this typically references monetary donations, we also recognize that time is another precious resource that our supporters generously share with us. Without them, our work simply would not be possible. We express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who volunteered this year.
Here are some photos sent in by volunteers from this year!
Volunteer photos submitted by: Cathy Chan, Mallory Chipman, JoAnne Beaulieu, Shawna Lake, Harry Spaling
