Buck for Wildlife, the program

Buck forWildlife 1939

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FORESTRY. LANDS
AND WILDLIFE
Fish and Wildlife

I am pleased to present the 1988/89 review of the Buck
for Wildlife Program. The Buck for Wildlife Program
was introduced in 1973 to help assure a place for wildlife
in our future. It's goal was, and is, to preserve and
enhance habitat for fish and wildlife throughout Alberta.

The program's success in meeting it's goal has
continued through the 1988/89 fiscal year. During this
period Buck for Wildlife successfully enhanced almost
49,000 acres of habitat for fish and wildlife.

The success of the program has been made possible
by the cooperation of a wide range of government .
agencies, private corporations, sportsmen's clubs and]
concerned individuals. To them, I offer my heartfelt j
thanks. Your efforts are appreciated, ■^'-'"^dt- (

LeRoy Fjordbotten

MINISTER FORESTRY, LANDS AND WILDLIFE

Buck for Wildlife " "

THE PROGRAM

Habitaty a Place
for Wildlife

Habitat consists of the unique
combination of food, water, shelter
and space which fish and wildHfe
need to survive. One of the greatest
threats to Alberta's fish and wildlife
is the alteration and loss of habitat.
Fish and wildlife habitat can be
altered or lost through agricultural
activities, forestry development,
industrial development, recreational
activities, uncontrolled access and
urban expansion.

Because of increasing public
concern over the loss of fish and
wildlife habitat the Buck for Wildlife
Program was initiated in 1973.

Buck for Wildlife
Program

The Buck for Wildlife Program
is administered by the Alberta Fish
and Wildlife Division and is funded
almost entirely through a levy on the
sale of fishing and hunting licenses
and tax deductible donations. Buck
for Wildlife conserves and enhances
habitat through hundreds of habitat
improvement projects throughout
Alberta. Projects are proposed by

individuals, clubs, private organiza-
tions and government agencies and
are approved on the basis of expected
benefits to the resource and to
all Albertans.

PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Since Buck for Wildlife was
introduced in 1973, over 450 projects
have been implemented to improve
habitat for fish and wildlife. This
includes improvements to 42,000
acres of lake habitat, 220 kilometres
of trout stream habitat, 24,700 acres
of big game habitat and several thou-
sand acres of waterfowl and upland
bird habitat. During this time. Buck
for Wildlife has also provided over
190 grants to various organizations to
improve fish and wildlife habitat in
their own areas.

Projects undertaken or funded by
Buck for Wildlife have included:
streambank fencing and stabilization;
fish shelter construction; lake aera-
tion; lake and shoreline stabilization;
pond and reservoir development; fish
barrier construction; lake fertiliza-
tion; shelterbelt planting; wetland
development; nest structure con-
struction; nest cover seeding; pre-
scribed burning; shoreline fencing;
and mechanical clearing.

How you can help

(1) Make a Tax Deductible
Donation

Albertans can support the program
by making donations to the Alberta
Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund — Buck
for Wildlife Program. All donations
are tax deductible and are used solely
for the enhancement and retention of
fish and wildlife habitat in Alberta.

(2) Undertake Your Own Project

You or your organization can help
enhance habitat for fish and wildlife
by planning and implementing
habitat improvement projects of your
own. To make this possible, grants
are available from Buck for Wildlife
for projects which meet program
guidelines.

If you or your organization are
interested in making a donation to
the trust fiind or want to undertake a
project of your own, contact the Fish
and Wildhfe habitat biologist in your
area. See the back cover for places
to call or write.

Streambank Fencing

Dogpound Creek

In 1985, Buck for Wildhfe began
a streambank fencing project on
Dogpound Creek to protect the
streambanks and riparian areas fi-om
grazing and trampling by livestock.
Since then over 3 5 km of stream
length has been fenced. It is expected
that within five to ten years, stream-
bank fencing will result in the resur-
gence of Dogpound Creek as one of
the area's finest brown trout streams.

Fish Barrier

Romeo Creek

A gabion (rock fill) weir was
constructed on Romeo Creek in
1988/89 to prevent the migration of
northern pike fi-om Romeo Lake into
trout stocked Dolberg Lake. The
barrier will allow northern pike to be
stocked in Romeo Lake without
harming the fishery of Dolberg Lake.

Lake Stabilization

Prairie Bluff Lake

Through the cooperation of Shell
Canada, the M.D. of Pincher Creek
and Buck for Wildhfe, Prairie Bluff
Lake was drained and excavated and
dykes were constructed to increase
water depths. Increased water depth
will improve year round oxygen con-
centrations and summer tempera-
tures and enable the lake to support
stocked trout.

Reservoir
Rehabilitation

Goldsprings Park Pond

Initially constructed in 1963,
Goldsprings reservoir has provided
a valuable local fishery for over 2 5
years. In 1988/89, Buck for Wildlife,
Alberta Environment, the Foremost
Fish and Game Club, the Milk River
Outdoorsmen and the County of
Warner cooperated to drain and
excavate organic materials from
Goldsprings reservoir. The project
will improve over winter survival of
stocked trout by increasing water
depths and discouraging aquatic
weed growth.

Prescribed Burns

Sneddon Creek

Buck for Wildlife uses burning
to set old vegetation back to a young,
nutritious growth stage to increase
the quality and quantity of the food
supply to wildlife. During the past
year. Buck for Wildlife completed six
prescribed burns that enhanced 3761
acres of moose, elk and deer habitat.

Instream
Enhancement

Pinto Creek

To improve instream cover for
spawning bull trout (Dolly Varden)
in Pinto Creek, Buck for Wildlife
installed a series of cover units.
The units consisting of submerged
logs, current deflectors and tree
revetments provide shelter close to
exposed spawning beds. This in-
creases the utilization of the beds
and ultimately the recruitment of
young trout into Pinto Lake.

Lake Aeration

Peace River Region

In 1988/89, Buck for Wildlife aerated
seven lakes in the Peace River Region
to reduce the risk of fish kills due to
winter oxygen depletion. Oxygen
concentrations in aerated lakes are
maintained throughout the winter by
injecting compressed air into the
deepest part of the lake. This enables
resident fish populations to survive
for several seasons and greatly
improves sportfishing opportunities.

Cooperative Projects

Eastern Irrigation District
Cooperative Ventures Program

A major initiative between
Buck for Wildhfe and the Eastern
Irrigation District was estabhshed
to integrate both the needs of agri-
culture and wildlife into single
projects. In 1988/89, seven projects
incorporating water control, im-
proved grazing and nesting island
construction enhanced over 1 744
acres ot wetland and upland habitat
tor watertowl, pheasants and deer.

Wetland
Enhancement

Small Wetlands Project

This is a pilot project designed
to secure important wetlands and
increase the landowners' awareness of
the needs of waterfowl. Landowners

are contacted and various wedand
enhancement opportunities are
identified. To date, 27 landowners
have agreed to enhance 1591 acres
of wetlands using rock islands, nest
bales and seeding to provide
nest cover.

Grant Projects

Harold Creek Moose
Habitat Improvement

The Rimbey and Calgary Fish
and Game Clubs and the Hoadley
Trappers Association each received
funding to improve moose habitat by
mechanically clearing 520 acres of
old growth willow. This increases
the food supply to moose by
allowing grasses, shrubs and
young trees to grow.

Buck for Wildlife 1988/89 Projects

A Fisheries Habitat Projects
▲ Wildlife Habitat Projects

• Fisheries Habitat Grants

• Wildlife Habitat Grants

Upland
Enhancement

Feltham Project

The Feltham Project consists
of 450 acres of pristine parkland
habitat situated in an area devoted
mainly to agriculture. Improvements
to the property have included
fencing, access road construction and
the planting of a food and cover crop
for waterfowl and deer. This area
offers enjoyment to a variety of
recreation groups.

Landowner
Habitat Program

Under this program a varieu' of
incentives are offered to encourage
landowners to preser\ e and
enhance wildhfe habitat on their
lands. The intent is to conser\'e the
best of the remaining habitat in
predominantly agricultural areas.

Goals for the program are to
encourage good land management
practices such as rest rotation
grazing, selective hay cutting and
soil conser\'ation strategies in the
agricultural community'. In the first
three years of operation over 25,000
acres of wildlife habitat have been
retained through 170 signed
landowner agreements.

Partial funding for the program
was provided by Wildlife Habitat
Canada.

BUCK FOR WILDLIFE FINANCIAL SUMMARY 1988/89

Riparian
Habitat Project

The riparian zone bordering streams
and rivers is of critical importance to
many fish and wildHfe species. The
unique and productive habitat in the
riparian area provides shade, sheher
and forage for many wildhfe species
and is important in maintaining
water quahty and instream habitat
for fish.

The Riparian Habitat Project
was initiated in 1988 by Alberta Fish
and Wildlife with funding support
from Wildlife Habitat Canada and
Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It's
goal is to preserve riparian habitat on
private lands. Like the Landowner
Habitat Program it offers various
financial incentives to landowners for
the retention of habitat. Initially it
will operate as a three year pilot
program on the middle and lower
reaches of the Battle River.

Revenue

Total revenue for the Buck for
Wildhfe program during the 1988/89
fiscal year (April 1, 1988 to March
31, 1989) was $2.9 million. Of this
amount $1.3 million was generated
from a $6.00 levy on the sale of
hunting licenses and $0.9 million
was generated from a $2.80 levy on
the sale of fishing licenses.
Donations, grants from foundations
and trust fund interest made up the
remaining $700,000 of revenue.

All income is placed in a dedicated
trust fund and can only be spent on
approved Buck for Wildlife projects.

Hunting licenses
Fishing licenses
Others

Expenditures

Total expenditure for the program
in 1988/89 was $3.8 milhon. Of this
amount, $2.8 million was used to
fund 146 wildlife habitat enhance-
ment projects and $1.0 million was
used to fund 96 fisheries habitat
enhancement projects. This includes
approximately $0.6 million in grants
provided to various organizations for
70 wildlife and 3 1 fisheries habitat
enhancement projects.

Buck for Wildlife expenditures
including grants were distributed
among six major project categories:

m Wetland enhancement $1,563,000 (40.8%)

■ Upland enhancement 857,000 (22.4%)

m Lake enhancement 515,000 (13.5%)

B Administration 513,000 (13.4%)

Stream enhancement 215,000 (5.6%)

Project maintenance 165,000 (4.3%)

There were many people and organizations involved
with Buck for Wildlife in 1988/89. Some of these
included: Ducks Unlimited; Trout Unlimited; the
Alberta Fish and Game Association; the Red Deer
River Naturahsts; Shell Oil Ltd.; Proctor and Gamble
Ltd.; Alberta Environment; Alberta Recreation and
Parks; Alberta Transportation and Utilities; the
Municiple Districts of Pincher Creek and Cardston;
Wildlife Habitat Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada;
and the Eastern and Bow River Irrigation Districts.

We would like to thank these agencies and all of the
other individuals and organizations who donated time,
money or equipment to the Buck for Wildlife
Program in 1988/89.

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FORESTRY, U^NDS
AND WILDLIFE

Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division
Regional Habitat Ojfices

Southern Region

Leth bridge Regional Office

Sun Centre

530 - 8 Street South

TIJ 2J8

Telephone: 381-5281

Central Region

Red Deer Regional Office

3rd Floor, Parkland Square

4901 - 48 Street

T4N 6M4

Telephone: 340-5142

East Slopes Region
Rocky Mountain House
Regional Office
P.O. Box 388
TOM ITO

Telephone: 845-8230

Northeast Region

St. Paul Regional Office

Box 1450, Eldorado Building
TO A 3 AO

Telephone: 645-6313

Peace River Region
Peace River Regional Office

Bag 900-26
Provincial Building
T8F 1T4

Telephone: 624-6405