Critical piece of Alberta prairie preserved

A critical piece of Alberta's native prairie south of Medicine Hat has been preserved.

Photos of Peigan Creek added for this web site.

Thanks to the effort of a number of conservation agencies, the Peigan Creek Conservation Property has been secured as a wildlife habitat.

The conservation area is a 640-acre parcel of land 20 miles south of Medicine Hat. Alberta Fish and Wildlife non-game biologist and member of Medicine Hat's Chinook Pheasants Forever organization Joel Nicholson, who helped co-ordinate the project, said the project filled a real need in the province.

"Parts of the prairie are completely devoid of native wildlife. One of the reasons that we have so many species at risk down in the prairie region of the province is because the majority of it has been modified. If you look at annual crop production and irrigation it is a pretty big modification to the landscape. So do things like encroachment and oil production."

The habitat land was purchased from a landowner with funds raised through the efforts of organizations which include the Alberta Fish and Game Association Wildlife Trust Fund, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Alberta Conservation Association, Lethbridge Fish and Game Association, Picture Butte Fish and Game Association, Zone One Alberta Fish and Game and the Chinook and Calgary Chapters of Pheasants Forever. "We found a land owner who was interested in seeing a piece of property he had managed as a wildlife habitat. He was agreeable to give us enough time to get our funding together.

"We purchased the property and are now in the process of developing a management plan."

Nicholson said that even though the area would serve to protect animal species such as the Burrowing Owl and the Swift Fox it would still be open to the public.