A quick reference guide for those interested in the Alberta Volunteer Stewardship and our organization, the Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association (SAPAA).

1. A Primer on Alberta’s Land Ownership
2. What is Stewardship and Why Bother?
3. Twenty Years Ago – What the Program Looked Like
4. The Need for SAPAA
5. Stewardship on Hold and SAPAA’s Possible Role
6. Stewardship and Next Steps
7. References and Further Reading
   1. Further Reading
      1. An overview of the 2018 Changes to OHS Legislation

A Primer on Alberta’s Land Ownership

• About 60% of Alberta’s land area is public or Crown Land.
• Natural Areas had been in existence since 1963 and were added to and evolved over the intervening years (see A Short Selected History of SAPAA).
• Federal, Municipal, First Nation, and protected-private areas owned by land trusts add to Alberta’s enviable position of being wild and natural.
• Much of the provincial Crown Land is undesignated with portions enjoying varying degrees of protection.
• Ecological Reserves, Willmore Wilderness Area, and Wilderness Areas provide the greatest protection.
• Order-in-Council, and Protected or Consultative Notations applied to Natural Areas having the least protection (but perhaps more than undesignated Crown Land).
• Volunteer stewards registered under the government’s Volunteer Steward Program (begun 1987) have been typically assigned to protected  lands covered by the Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas and Heritage Rangelands Act (WAERNAHR, typically pronounced ‘WERNER’ Act).
• WAERNAHR lands cover an area of about 3,280 Square KM (about half again the size of Luxembourg, see Counting Protected Areas).
• To read more on these designations, visit: Protected Areas.
• To read more on this history of protected areas in Alberta, check out the excellent summary in the January 2022 Newsletter (no. 41).

What is Stewardship and Why Bother?

Definition of a steward: ”person who undertakes the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to their care….”

• Given the size, remoteness, and extent of Alberta’s public land systems, a distributed stewardship program makes sense.
• While Albertan’s are expected to act responsibly on Crown Lands, a philosophy of ‘Trust but Verify’ acts as an early warning system for abuses, issues, and trends. Hence the primary responsibility of stewards has been envisioned as being the “eyes and ears” of the government, keeping the Natural Areas Program staff informed of the status of Protected Areas.
• Knowing that an area is being monitored can help reduce degradation. Stewards have typically been protective of the ecological integrity of their Natural Areas.

Twenty Years Ago – What the Program Looked Like

• The program began in 1987 on WAERNAHR lands; descriptions of the program included:
  • The Alberta Government (GoA) manages a network of parks and protected areas on behalf of the government and all Albertans, to preserve our natural heritage and provide opportunities for heritage appreciation, outdoor recreation and heritage tourism.
  • This public trust is a legacy for which we all share responsibility. We are committed to providing meaningful volunteer opportunities.
  • The stewardship program is focused primarily on our preservation goal, however, it also contributes to the other three goals in a variety of ways.
  • Information collected is used to make decisions about the management of these sites.
  • Mission: Citizens actively involved throughout Alberta’s provincial parks and protected areas to help ensure the preservation, protection and enjoyment of our rich natural and cultural heritage, for all time.
  • Vision: Volunteer Stewards help preserve, protect and promote the natural and cultural heritage and recreational values of Alberta’s parks and protected areas network. They accomplish this through monitoring, education and research as well as providing operational and management support.
• 2001 to 2004 average participation: … the average number of participants is over 275 individuals and 60 groups annually. There currently are stewardship opportunities.
• Further Reading: See 2005 Milestones, p. 6.

The Need for SAPAA

• SAPAA was established in 1999 as a mutual assistance organization for the then large cadre of Volunteer Stewards.
• It only ever represented a subset of the Stewards but had some impact on the program through its newsletter, meetings, and strong personalities driving the organization.
• Initially, the GoA Volunteer Steward Program provided considerable support to its stewards:
  • An annual conference, newsletters, field events and telephone support, as well as responses to the annual reports stewards were required to file.
  • Support for site-based issues was also provided and has continued.
• In 2017 GoA ended the formal Volunteer Steward Program.
• A 2018 change of Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety legislation which made volunteers ‘unpaid employees’ caused the GoA to ‘pause’ the program [3].
• The last volunteer steward was recruited about 2009 meaning there has been no active replenishment of the cadre for more than 15 years [2, p. 12].
• “The pause” simply meant that communications ceased to Stewards.
• The GoA site inspection form remained online until 2023, after which it was quietly retired (but without notice, to the Stewards).
• The result has been that stewards were left in limbo, unclear as to their status and as to whether their site reports were being read.
  • The GoA still responds to land use emergencies and carries out essential management (e.g., dismantling illegal infrastructure or removing trees blocking trails.)
  • Many stewards have continued to visit their sites, and organizations (i.e., groups/societies consisting of multiple stewards) especially. continue active management.

Stewardship on Hold and SAPAA’s Possible Role

• SAPAA was formed to support stewards chiefly because the latter’s priority of maintaining ecological integrity was often at odds with the GoA “multi-use” policy on public lands.
• Industrial dispositions were continued in some protected areas, and others were threatened by adjacent development.
• Ironically, what was initially established as a support and advocacy organization for the GoA’s volunteer stewards is now starting to assume the functions of the Volunteer Steward Program!
• In 2023, SAPAA initiated its own site inspection process and issued the first Annual Report based on these inspections to the Ministers of Environment and Protected Areas and Forestry and Parks (see: Site Inspections).
• SAPAA refined the inspection process in 2024 & 2025 and to date has processed 136 reports (including those collected in 2023, see: 2024 (Interim) Site Inspection Report).
• In both 2023 and 2024 site inspection reports were proof-of-concept; 2025 was full production year although using manual processes.
• SAPAA is developing web and phone based Site Inspection applications with the University of Alberta (see: SIR Dragon – March 19, 2026 – 1200pm).

Stewardship and Next Steps

• SAPAA maintains cordial relationship with the GoA Natural Areas team and Ministry officials, with emails and virtual meetings. 
• SAPAA recognizes the challenge the GoA has with direct-to-Crown volunteers, particularly those going into wilderness areas where phone communication is poor.
• SAPAA also respectfully suggests that the Province is ill-equipped to run a volunteer program; there are too many Ministry re-organizations, budget re-prioritizations, and public policy changes.
• SAPAA recommends the following course of action:
• 1. RE-ESTABLISH A PROGRAM
  • A volunteer stewardship program should be re-established to provide monitoring and status data on Alberta’s protected Crown Lands;
  • In due course, such a program may be extended to non-provincial lands such as municipal, land trust, First Nations, and federal Crown Lands;
• 2. ARMS LENGTH
  • An arm’s- length organization should manage the program with support from the GoA (financial, organizational, legal, etc.) . Key features of the organization include:
    • Technologically-enabled data collection and analysis, making them as cheap and easy as possible.
    • Collaborative and Consortium-influenced. Many fine organizations already exist in Alberta which can be members or contributors to the program.
    • Learning- and fun-focused. Volunteers join out of an interest in natural areas but stay because of personal development and the opportunity to teach and mentor others.
    • Open, transparent, and citizen science-enabled. Within the confines of relevant legislation and agreements, all data will be open by default and available to Albertans, researchers, and government alike.
• SAPAA is ready to provide leadership in such a program and will continue with its own system development, inspections, training, and reporting on Alberta’s Protected Areas.

References and Further Reading

1. Volunteer Steward Handbook – 2005
2. Alberta Environment and Parks Volunteer Steward Program Evaluation and Visioning, Miistakis Institute, February 2022.
3. A YouTube series is available on the @YEGVille – Channel. The specific change is referenced in the Further Viewing section below.

Further Reading

An overview of the 2018 Changes to OHS Legislation