This edition provides notice of the November 25, 2023 AGM and a special resolution proposed to set aside Article 2.8 for one year. Updates on the Stewardship pilot program, membership renewal and a suggestion to expand the Stewardship base round out this edition. This newsletter can also be downloaded in pdf.

1. Editorial
2. Business for the November 25 SAPAA AGM
3. Membership Renewal
4. Special Resolution: Article 2.8 President’s Term (1-time exception)
   1. Motion: Special Resolution, Exception to Article 2.8
5. SAPAA – What Next for Our Little Society?
   1. Where to From Here?
   2. Motion: Investigate Merger with a Peer Organization
6. Editorial Team, Links and Resources at a Glance:
7. A Few Bonus Pictures!

Editorial

by Patsy Cotterill

A Happy and Healthy Fall to everyone.

We have timed this newsletter to serve as a notice for the SAPAA AGM upcoming on Saturday, November 25th. We hope many stewards will join us by Zoom on that date to catch up with SAPAA business and even possibly join us on the board (although I realize that because the AGM is an opportunity for board renewal this acts as a deterrent scarier than Hallowe’en for some people!).

Thank You Hubert. It is true, we are in need of a couple of new directors, and even more important, a new president, as Hubert cannot continue in this position per our bylaws; his terms of eligibility expire this society year. Hubert would be happy to hand over the reins, although this would not mean that he would abandon SAPAA, which he has served with dedicated leadership for so many years. He would ensure that any new incumbent could count on his assistance and experience, and the support of the whole board.

No Travel, No Food. The advent of Zoom-like technology has made it much easier to hold meetings with members from far-flung districts, obviating the need for travel and reducing the time spent – bonuses, that is, unless you are something of a socialite, enjoying traveling, socializing and eating other people’s food!

New President? Just in case a new president cannot be found immediately, however, we are making a provision to change the constitution so that the term of eligibility can be extended for another two years. The wording of the change can be found in this newsletter. If you have any objections, please let us know and send in your vote, by emailing.

Membership. With the financial year concluded at the end of September, it is time once again to renew annual memberships. A reminder of how to do so is given below. If you need to revise your contact details or new issues have come up with your site that you want to make a note of, please consider filling in and emailing the form on the website.

Pilot Project. The site visits involving seven stewards who volunteered to vet the new Occupational Health and Safety and Site Inspection forms with government staff as part of the new stewardship pilot program took place in September as arranged. An important goal was to determine how reporting would fit with the steward’s on-the-ground site experience, and staff returned to their offices with a plethora of comments and suggestions. Some impressions of stewards’ experiences have been compiled by Hubert in a following article.

Website. Finally, we recommend that you give the website a look-over on a regular basis. The website team, and particularly webmaster Frank, have been busy putting more content onto the web. We have been experimenting with our own (SAPAA) site inspection form, but are still working out the kinks in how to present and store that information. One idea has been to convert the form into a readable format and add it to the site page under the heading “Further Reading.”

As usual, we welcome your feedback, including information on any Protected Area you may visit or any intriguing piece of natural or political history you come across, as well as your contributions to the newsletter and website. If you have further questions, including about board responsibilities, please feel free to contact us at one of the addresses shown below.

See you virtually on November 25!

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Potential Stewards and Steward Potential

by Patsy Cotterill

Finding New Stewards. Many Natural Areas are frustratingly remote and difficult to access, but many others are less so, and the beautiful landscapes of which they are a part have attracted nearby small-scale settlements, acreages and small holdings. This has set me wondering whether the provincial government, in the past, in the heyday of the Volunteer Steward Program, made sufficient effort to recruit stewards from among these local residents. After all, these would be the perfect people to monitor the welfare of these parcels of Crown Land and act as the government’s “eyes and ears.”

Research or Recreation? Although I am constantly impressed by how much is known about Alberta’s vegetation and wildlife, I also think that with these Protected Areas the government is missing out to a considerable extent on ecological monitoring and research opportunities provided by these reserves that exist both unchanged and changed over significant periods of time. Instead, at least the accessible ones, seem to serve mostly as places for recreation. There is maybe nothing wrong with that, especially in a surrounding agricultural landscape of privately owned land, with limited scope for public outdoor recreation, but could they be so much more?

Building Citizen Scientists. What if a revamped Stewards Program supported and mentored citizen science projects that were more than simple monitoring of the site a few times a year? And further, what if Protected Areas could serve as locations for public nature education and literacy? What if they could be sharper tools in the nature education toolbox?

Richard and Vera DeSmet, stewards of Halfmoon Lake, have certainly gone above and beyond in their efforts to engage the local schoolchildren in their Natural Area, as well as involve the local community. They are a shining example of how natural areas can provide more than a place for regular all-terrain-vehicle riders and occasional hikers, birders and botanists.

Wagner Natural Area Society makes similar efforts to provide nature education to the public that patronizes its Marl Pond Trail in ever greater numbers, as well as engaging in hands-on management. No doubt the stewards of J.J. Collett Natural Area and many groups in the south could be similarly cited. Nevertheless, we assume that the number of Protected Areas with stewards is only a small proportion of the sites that exist. (Steward statistics are hard to come by.)

‘Shelfware*’. A couple of decades ago there was a project to create booklets compiling lists of plant species found in some of the most popular provincial parks. The idea was to compile these lists using local input, but it was found that there was not enough botanical expertise among the public for this to happen and it was left to two or three botanists to compile as well as format the booklets. A good deal of the necessary field work was done on a volunteer basis because of limited budgets. These booklets now sit unused in the personal libraries of some naturalists, another example of a good idea that could have contributed to the biological literacy of a wider public but languished through lack of wider support and continuity.

There is Interest. SAPAA is now asking itself: can it do anything to increase the number and interest of stewards of natural areas? If nothing else, the involvement and dedication of volunteer stewards seems a good way to prove to the provincial government that these Protected Areas deserve to remain on the landscape. Look what happened when the government tried to divest itself of its parks and natural areas!

[* Borrowing a term from the technical world of software purchased but never used.]

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Alberta Government’s Stewardship Renewal Project

by Hubert Taube

Some progress can be reported on the Government’s stewardship renewal project. As you may recall, it was initiated in the fall of 2022, and based on work by the Chief Scientist’s Office.

The Miistakis Institute in Calgary was contracted to prepare guidelines (completed at the end of 2022 , but as yet unpublished) to design a renovated program. This included design of a new form for the Inspection Reports and an outline of a Safe Work Plan template.

Six Stewards. During the summer months of 2023 Government staff prepared a plan to subject these forms to field testing at a small number of sites in cooperation with SAPAA stewards. Six stewards agreed to participate, mostly in the Edmonton area: Hastings Lake, Heatburg, Northwest of Bruderheim, Halfmoon Lake, Wagner and Carnwood Modeste. The field tests generally lasted for about two hours with two government staff present for each site visit. Most of the staff were new to the Stewardship program.

Comments – Site Visits. The Six participating SAPAA members provided me with their comments on their interactions about the forms and about the program as a whole.

• Most stewards were very appreciative that finally government staff were available for a site visit, most often for the first time ever.
• In general, there was a degree of satisfaction with the form, although a number of unclarities were pointed out. For example, does the report refer to current visit and location, to a collection of recent visits, or to a longer past history and body of evidence?
• Better pinpointing of the actual area visited (e.g. via geo-locaiton) for future reference.

More General Questions raised by the Stewards, and expressed to the staff included:

• What is the significance of renaming the inspection form to Crown Land Protected Area Site Inspection Report?
• Will staff designated staff be assigned to overview selected areas of the Province?
• Will government staff prepare summary reports, perhaps annually, to cover the whole of the Province?
• Is there a review of the rationale of the general protection program; in particular, are there any initiatives to convert PNT and CNT protected lands to full O/C status?
• Can the Protected Areas program be incorporated into the 30 x 30 goal of the 2022 Global Biodiversity Forum (targets 2 and 3: 30% of land protection by 2030)?

What Next? Although not clearly articulated, there was some indication that the Government will review the results of the field tests and a virtual review session will be held with participants later in the year.

Unfortunately this report contains a good number of conditional statements. Its tentativeness reflects the current state of the renewal project.

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Wagner Open House, October 29

supplied by Dave Ealey, President

Come and join the Wagner Society at their annual Open House on Sunday, October 29, 2023, 2- 4 p.m. at the Pioneer Centre, 301 Jesperson Avenue, Spruce Grove.

Hear guest speaker Kelsie Norton, Watershed Planning Coordinator with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, and view displays highlighting activities of the Wagner Natural Area Society over the years. Help us celebrate with snacks/refreshments and door prizes.

Please register for this event at: info@wagnerfen.ca.

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Business for the November 25 SAPAA AGM

Notice of AGM, Nov 25, 1000-1130h (Virtual)

Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association: Notice of Annual General Meeting and a Special Resolution Vote.

• Who: All current members (2023-2024 paid membership), and invited non-voting guests.
• When: November 25 2023,1000-1130h.
• Where: Virtual meeting, Join online meeting.
• Agenda (Draft):
  • Acceptance of Agenda, Additions to Agenda, Acceptance of Minutes of 2022 AGM
  • Business Arising from Previous Minutes
  • President’s Report (Hubert)
  • Membership/Financial Report (Patsy/Myrna)
  • Update on Website Initiatives (Frank):
  • Site Descriptions and SAPAA PA Inspection Reports
  • Special Resolution, Exception to Article 2.8 (Frank)
  • Nomination and Election of Board Members
  • Discussion of Future Initiatives
  • Motion: Investigate Merger with a Peer Organization (Frank)
  • Adjournment

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Membership Renewal

Annual membership renewal remains at $15 per individual, family or group steward and includes a $5 insurance fee the society pays to Nature Alberta.

E-transfer are preferred (treasurer@sapaastewards.com) but if paying by cheque, make it payable to Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association (in full, the bank is persnickety) to c/o P. Cotterill, 7401-156 Street NW, Edmonton, AB T5R 1X4.

The membership year runs from October 1 to September 30. If you have changes to make to your information or wish to provide additional information, please provide updates by completing and emailing /mailing the Membership Form available on the Home Page.

Thank you.

Patsy Cotterill, Membership Secretary
(Note: membership and treasurer duties have now been split up. Myrna Peters is now the treasurer.)

Special Resolution: Article 2.8 President’s Term (1-time exception)

The following provides notice to SAPAA members of this proposed special resolution to be considered at the November 25, 2023, SAPAA Annual General Meeting.

Background Information

SAPAA membership notes the following:

• The watershed discussions proposed by a motion to potentially fold SAPAA into a sister organization,
• The dedication and experience of the current president, Hubert Taube,
• Hubert is willing to stand but happy to support another individual who wishes to be President,
• The current challenges SAPAA has in attracting new members and members of the board, and,
• Article 2.8 of the SAPAA Bylaws which restricts the President’s term to a maximum of two, 2-year terms.
• Article 3.5 requires 21 days advance notice to members of any special resolutions and the requirements for a 75% majority.
• Article 9.1 outlining how SAPAA bylaws may be altered.

Motion: Special Resolution, Exception to Article 2.8

Frank Potter, Vice-President and Webmaster, moves the following:

• Without creating a precedent,
• SAPAA set aside Article 2.8 for the balance of the 2023-2024 society year and permit Hubert Taube to be re-nominated for the position of President.

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SAPAA – What Next for Our Little Society?

Bylaws of the Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association are well crafted. The purpose of the Society holds Alberta’s Protected Areas at its centre. Despite this excellent constitution, SAPAA spends considerable energy focusing on the Government of Alberta’s Volunteer Stewards Program (and its various incarnations). This places SAPAA in a quandary – what happens if the Program withers or outright disappears?

Four Possible Futures SAPAA can pursue, each with its own merits and challenges.

STATUS QUO. SAPAA can continue to wait for direction from the Government. Unfortunately, this places the Government Stewards Program at the centre of SAPAA’s attention to the detriment of focusing attention on the Protected Areas.

WIND DOWN SAPAA. Two-thirds of all non-profits registered in Alberta have since disappeared. Given the near-disappearance of the original program, no one would blame SAPAA for shutting its doors and starting to wind down in an orderly fashion.

This suggestion is galling in two ways. First, it is defeatist and, more importantly, it abandons the Protected Areas and the real intent of SAPAA as defined 20+ years ago.

SAPAA 2.0. A variation of the Status Quo is to pivot SAPAA further away from the original government program and towards a more independent entity whose primary focus is on the Protected Areas. SAPAA has implicitly adopted this option, at least for the past three-years. For example, a refreshed website, first attempts at online site inspection reports, and participation in the Miistakis Report and re-engagement with the government.

Preferred but Challenging. While SAPAA 2.0 is the preferred direction, it has challenges. Without overt government support of the Protected Areas, this is a hard ‘product’ to define and ‘sell’ to prospective members. The average citizen is interested in the Natural Area close to home, and less interested in an abstraction of a system of sites. Any reconstituted organization still needs time, talent, and treasure – and at least the implicit support of the relevant Ministries.

MERGER. A fourth option would see SAPAA disappear as a registered society but its purpose and focus on Protected Areas would continue under the umbrella of another organization. SAPAA would fold its assets and membership list into a sister organization (unidentified at this point) with the proviso that the volunteers, programs, and purpose would continue.

Details to Be Negotiated. This might result in SAPAA becoming a sub-program with its own organizing committee (akin to the current board), issue its own newsletter, and continue to have a liaison role with the provincial government. This suggestion begs the question, would another organization want to take on the additional tasks and responsibilities with little in return such as new memberships or the like?

Where to From Here?

A Tricky Relationship? Finding a parent organization that allows SAPAA to continue its programmatic work on the Natural Areas while reducing/eliminating administrative activities may be the ideal scenario and yet completely unrealistic! Taking the pessimistic view and assuming that such a partnership is not forthcoming, SAPAA is left with the three other choices.

Status Quo, the Choice of Inertia. It is the easiest and likely the worst choice. It leaves the Protected Areas in limbo and fails to honour the aforementioned time, talent and treasure past volunteers have invested in SAPAA and these areas.

To provide SAPAA membership with the best possible information, the following motion is made to find out if SAPAA’s future holds three or four possible directions:

Motion: Investigate Merger with a Peer Organization

Frank Potter, Vice-President and Webmaster, moves the following:

• The SAPAA membership is in agreement with SAPAA starting discussions with organizations, of the board’s choosing, for the purposes of folding SAPAA into one or more such organizations;
• Any resulting action is subject to ratification by the membership via a special resolution.

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Editorial Team, Links and Resources at a Glance:

Editorial team: Patsy Cotterill, Frank Potter, Hubert Taube.   

• List of Alberta’s Protected Areas.
• Connect & Read.
• Online Steward Reporting form.
• New and Renewal of SAPAA Membership.
• SAPAA’s FaceBook Group.
• Land Reference Manual | Alberta Parks.
• This Newsletter can downloaded in pdf.

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A Few Bonus Pictures!

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