In this edition: updates on SAPAA activities, Patsy reflects on the value of a Site Visit, and the Alberta Wilderness Association reports on the state of the Beehive Natural Area (and shares some incredible photos!). Members are encouraged to reclaim past site reports and renew their memberships before SAPAA’s November 29 Annual General Meeting. This newsletter can be downloaded in pdf format as well as the AWA Trip report discussed below.

1. Editorial: Bellis and Other Activities
   1. Site Inspection Reports (SIR)
   2. SIRs and iNaturalist
   3. Students and Other Efforts
   4. SAPAA Strategic Plan
   5. Focus on Peer Organizations
   6. Why We Visit Protected Areas
2. Feature Article: AWA Visits the Beehive
   1. 2025 – Beehive’s Turn
3. Reclaiming Site Visits
4. Oct 2 CoP Event – Frank
5. Membership
6. Editorial Team, Links and Resources at a Glance:
7. Some Bonus Photos

Editorial: Bellis and Other Activities

by Patsy Cotterill

SAPAA has been on active duty this summer. We have maintained and updated website pages, worked with students, produced two webinars, and kept finances in order. Core to our work are site inspections.

Site Inspection Reports (SIR)

132 site reports have been completed by 19 people in the last three years in addition nearly 3,000 reports have been submitted to the province since the legacy program’s inception. If you don’t see your name, it is part of the ‘redacted’ category. To reclaim your reports, see the article below.

SIRs and iNaturalist

The board wishes to thank David F. and Tony B. who have created a SAPAA project in iNaturalist. They are still tweaking it, but whenever you make an observation within a protected area, it goes into the SAPAA Protected Areas in Alberta · iNaturalist Canada. Past President Hubert is part of this team and has been reviewing and checking our web pages to ensure all the links are current. Thank you, gents!

Students and Other Efforts

To supplement our volunteer core, SAPAA currently has three student projects underway. An improved database for SIRs, marketing material for peer organizations, and a nearby resident communication kit are scheduled to be delivered in time for the student field trip in December. If any of the above projects interest you, reach out to our President, Frank.

Over the summer, two student projects were run. Grant MacEwan University evaluated the costs and risks of our volunteer safety program and students from Ontario researched eligible grants.

SAPAA Strategic Plan

In late August SAPAA began developing a comprehensive document, 2025-2027 Strategic Plan, which summarizes SAPAA’s current status, its activities for 2025 and its plans for the next two years. It will be presented to the Provincial Ministries shortly for comment and will be reviewed at our AGM in November. Once the review process is complete, it will be available to the members. At that time, we encourage all members and interested parties to review it prior to the November 29 2025 Annual General Meeting.

The plan contains a candid analysis of the challenges SAPAA faces, including the acknowledged fact that it does not have the capacity to replace the government’s former volunteer steward program.

Nevertheless, SAPAA plans to continue to support legacy stewards and to provide services that will encourage site visits and reports and the long-term enjoyment and protection of our Protected Areas. The SAPAA board realizes that we have little power to persuade random members of the public to visit sites, especially if these are remote, without amenities and lack financial incentive.

Focus on Peer Organizations

We will now focus on appeals to members of like-minded organizations: nature, scientific and outdoor recreational organizations with whom we can share a community of practice. An example of a potential partnership is with Paddle Alberta and is described in the post Paddling Toward Stewardship.

Speaking of organizations, a special thank-you goes to the Alberta Wilderness Association’s backpacking team whose report of their trip to Beehive Natural Area in August is our special feature in this issue. 

Please remember to renew or join SAPAA ahead of our virtual Annual General Meeting on November 29. We’ll be in touch with a reminder!

Why We Visit Protected Areas

Finally, please see the trip report to the Bellis Lake complex last month. It was a wonderful day and a reminder that visiting a protected area is away to recharge and re-energize.

Bellis Lake NA, September 22, 2025

Manna and I also were able to visit with long time Stewards Richard and Vera DeSmet at Halfmoon Lake Natural Area. Nature and a cup of tea – it was a great trip!

Feature Article: AWA Visits the Beehive

The Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) is the legacy Government Steward for two sites, Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve and Beehive Natural Area. Since the early 1990s, AWA tries to visit one or the other on alternate years and report on their status.

2025 – Beehive’s Turn

2025 was Beehive’s turn and what glorious weather the three AWA’ers had to explore this Alberta gem. Their full report from this summer trip is available to read including many stunning photos of the flora and fauna. While human disturbances were evident, particularly near the main roads, for the most part, AWA has rated this NA a 4/4 on the Naturalness score.

A huge thank you to AWA for sharing the report and in particular to Sara H., Lindsey W., Cameron H. for making the trip last summer (although, based on the photos, we are just a bit jealous…).

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Reclaiming Site Visits

As of writing, more than 3,100 site inspections have occurred. This includes inspections submitted to the province since 1988 through to SAPAA’s more recent efforts. The lion share has been done by someone named ‘redacted’…

To meet privacy legislation, the province needed to remove the name of the Steward prior to giving SAPAA historical inspection data. To date, Tony, Hubert, Myrna, and the Alberta Wilderness Association have ‘reclaimed’ their reports. That is, they authorized the province to release the individual records to SAPAA.

If you also want to reclaim your reports, visit this post and follow the instructions. Family members can reclaim reports on behalf of individuals who can no longer provide such authorization.

Reclaiming 40 Years of Stewardship

Oct 2 CoP Event – Frank

“Stewards helping Stewards” extends to organizational stewards. One of SAPAA’s objectives is to present information to help organizations. The theme of the most recent webinar was ‘Taking Nature for Granted: Best Practices in Grant Management‘.

Presentations from SAPAA (thank you, Tyler) and the Alberta EcoTrust Foundation (thank you, Carolina) helped participants to better understand the grant life cycle. A panel discussion covered a number of topics including:

• A scan of potential granting organizations.
• Technology and Grants.
• What funders want to see in an application.
• The benefits and perils of Artificial Intelligence in applying for grants.
• What happens if an organization cannot deliver on what it committed to?

Notes are in progress and should be ready in a few weeks. In the meantime, the deck is available for download.

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Membership

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-transfers are preferred (treasurer@sapaastewards.com), particularly with the current Canada Post situation. If payment is made by cheque, it should be made payable to Stewards of Alberta’s Protected Areas Association (in full, the bank is persnickety) to c/o Patsy Cotterill, Membership Secretary. For privacy reasons, please contact the membership secretary for the address (see why we prefer e-transfers!).

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 a Membership Form.

Thank you.

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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 be downloaded in pdf.

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Some Bonus Photos