Conservation directives: an unknown and untested tool When we think of protecting Alberta’s landscapes there are a variety of tools that are quite well understood and used: parks on public land,...
Our North Saskatchewan Region: ELC launches regional plan information website (but will there be a plan?) Where will the province's regional plans be going with the new government? It’s anyone’s guess at...
The Regional ‘Plan to Plan’: South Saskatchewan Regional Plan South Saskatchewan Regional Plan Avoids the Hard Choices In September 2014 the Government of Alberta released the first South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP)...
South Saskatchewan Regional Plan tests the Land Use Framework The Draft South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (Draft SSRP) is a work in progress that must do more if it is to advance...
Optimistic policy is not what Woodland Caribou need The federal Recovery Strategy for the Woodland Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), Boreal population, in Canada was posted recently and the outlook remains bleak...
An approval too far: Cumulative effects must be considered prior to approving activities The Government of Alberta (GOA) has started down the road of managing cumulative effects. It won’t be easy,...
The land gives us more than food, but can the law give back? Published in LawNow, May/June 2012 By Adam Driedzic, Staff Counsel, Environmental Law Centre Set foot on Ruzicka Sunrise Farm and...
Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA): Digging Deeper (Webinar) The Alberta Land Stewardship Act (ALSA), which provides the legal framework for the province’s new land use planning and management system, has been...
Lower Athabasca Regional Plan: Conservation areas mean something A Draft Lower Athabasca Regional Plan has barely been public for a week and already the criticisms sound familiar: Conservation areas are based more...
Alberta Government puts $5m toward conservation easements A recent media release indicates that the Government of Alberta has created a Land Trust Grant program for the purchase and management of conservation...
Grass, sky, gone. The latest ecosystem status and trends report for Canada, released last fall, indicates rapid decline of native grasslands. Grasslands are among the most endangered ecologies in the world...
Property rights vs. planning shouldn’t be a battle to the death What we do with our land is constrained in many ways, whether on our own volition as landowners, through common...