The Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association (SAPAA) appreciates CBC’s coverage of volunteer stewardship efforts in Alberta. SAPAA is collaborating with the government to revive stewardship initiatives and encourages public support through donations and volunteering. Plans for 2025 include enhancing partnerships and improving site inspection processes for natural area protection.

The Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association (SAPAA, pronounced SAhhPA) welcomes the initiative shown by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in its recent story: Volunteer Alberta stewards still monitoring natural areas years after government program faded.

In particular we wish to thank Madeline Cummings, the primary reporter behind the story, for her tenacity, thoroughness and interest in this topic.

1. How to Help Stewardship in Alberta
2. Learning About the Past
3. Learning About the Future
4. SAPAA’s Peer and Member Organizations
5. Want to Talk?

How to Help Stewardship in Alberta

Stewardship is ultimately about ensuring Crown Land is available for future generations. SAPAA is in very early stages of working with the Alberta Government to create an arms length organization or some other structure to re-initiate Stewardship.

If you want to help out, consider doing the following:

• Visit our website and research protected areas.
• Consider joining a local society supporting a particular area or areas.
• If you want to support a Stewardship program financially, consider donating to Nature Alberta designating funds for “SAPAA and Stewardship”
• If you have technical skills (botany, birding, computers, geography, etc.) and want to join a fun and proactive group, contact president@sapaastewards.com.

Learning About the Past

If you want to learn more about the legacy Stewardship Program, we suggest this excellent article “Early History of the Alberta Protected Areas System by Peter Achuff” in the No. 38 (April 2021) edition of our newsletter. If you want to learn more about our little organization’s history, please see Patsy Cotterill’s article: A Short Selected History of SAPAA from the No. 51 (October 2024) newsletter. A short summary of SAPAA and Stewardship program is also available: Volunteer Stewardship – Backgrounder.

Learning About the Future

While the above two articles focus on the past, at our November 30, 2024 Annual General Meeting, SAPAA adopted ten priorities that will shape our activities for 2025. The board is currently working on the details behind each of these. SAPAA Newsletter No. 52, November 2024.

1. Support Legacy Stewards. Interactions with the government through communications, and programming. Current examples: website, site inspection form, emails, and newsletters.
2. GoA Relations. Maintain a productive working relationship with Ministries and the Minister(s) of the day. 
3. Cultivate Peer Relationships. In particular with Nature Alberta, the Land Stewardship Centre, the Alberta Wilderness Association, Alberta Conservation Association, and CPAWS (South and North Alberta).
4. Site Inspections. Continue to develop and refine the site inspection process. Align questions with GoA priorities, continue Ministerial reporting, and increase inspection submissions.
5. Communicate WAERNAHR. Communicate to the responsible Minister(s), peer organizations, and the public the existence and state of these sites.
6. Google Map. Create a new Google map owned by SAPAA.
7. Mini Conference. Run a mini conference for SAPAA members and friends. 
8. Stewardship Best Practices. Identify and communicate best practices to members and peer organizations. Topics include administration, safety, science, and technology. Best practices come from Alberta, across Canada, and globally.
9. Membership Benefits. Increase the value of a paid SAPAA membership through programming, access to resources, discounts, etc.
10. Operations. Sustaining our current operations to support our volunteers and give them a best in class experience while delivering program excellence.

SAPAA’s Peer and Member Organizations

SAPAA is just one organization of many who are working to protect our natural areas at a local, provincial, national, and international level. Please consider volunteering or donating to these organizations: SAPAA Members – Partners in Protected Areas.

Want to Talk?

Feel free to reach out to president@sapaastewards.com if you have any questions, thoughts or comments.

PS. If you want to read the back story behind the spent shells in the story, see this blog from YEGville.ca: Guns, CBC, and Natural Areas – 2024-11-15 | YEG Ville.