Operation Grassland Community
Report to the Burrowing Owl Recovery Team
October 21, 1996
Lloydminister, Alberta Canada
The Burrowing Owl Recovery Team meets once a year and is made up of scientists, researchers and invited guests from across Canada. The Recovery Team is the working arm of Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife (RENEW) which responds to status reports commissioned by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada(COSEWIC). Operation Burrowing Owl (OBO) in both Alberta and Saskatchewan are invited guests at the meetings each year and provide input as to their activities during the previous year.
Census and OBO Newsletter
- 1996 OBO newsletter developed by Saskatchewan with input and co-editing by Alberta
- newsletter package sent out to OBO members
- 95 postcards returned, 82% in total have responded to census as shown in table and graph
Renewals
- A summer assistant was employed to negotiate 63 OBO agreements due for renewal in 1996
- 46 renewed with 17 cancellations as follows;
1996 OBO Agreement Cancellations
| # | Reason |
|---|
| 11 | No owls |
| 1 | not interested |
| 5 | sold land |
Media/PR/Networking
- OGC interviewed for articles on Furadan ban in Alberta Report and Leader Post
- new display purchased and set up at Alberta Fish and Game Association (AFGA) Annual Conference, Edmonton and Calgary
Sportsman Shows, Brooks Environment Week, The Wildlife Society (TWS) Northwest Section Conference in Banff
- public/slide presentations at TWS Northwest Section Conference in Banff, Grassland Naturalists,
University of Calgary - Biogeography course
- attended meetings Prairie Biome Delivery Committee and Prairie Conservation Forum
- copies of 1995 Final Report sent out to all partners and Recovery Team members
- marketed OGC shirts and caps as fundraising initiative
Pipelines
- representing AFGA on Express Pipeline Environmental Advisory Committee
- representing AFGA on Palliser Pipeline Round Table
- Contracted by Express Pipeline, Tera Environmental Consultants, Harbour Petroleum, and
NOVA for various wildlife surveys, burrowing owl monitoring project and nest box installation which
have become an unexpected source of funding for OGC.
Other
- added herptiles as profile species of OGC, promoting Alberta Environmental Protection's (AEP)
Amphibian Monitoring Project, attend DAPCAN/Working Group of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation in Canada (WGARCC) conference in Calgary
- working with AEP staff at Dinosaur Provincial Park and Canadian Wildlife Service on a Prairie Rattlesnake Telemetry
project in Dinosaur Provincial Park
- working with Ducks Unlimited and North American Waterfowl Management Plan as lead partners, initiated the Loggerhead Shrike Trail
- moved office from Brooks Pheasant Hatchery to Eastern Irrigation District office in Brooks
- a full time "fundraiser" will be hired
- received endorsement from AFGA Executive that the association supports the continuation of
OGC for next 5 years (1997-2001) and that D. Scobie will remain as coordinator, dependent on
the availability of funding.
1997 - Burrowing Owl (BUOW) objectives
- renew 19 OBO agreements that will be due for renewal
- maintain 227 existing agreements and conduct annual census of OBO members
- produce OBO newsletter with co-editing from Saskatchewan
- continue networking with multiple agencies
- develop and maintain OGC home page (by end of 1996)
- support and cooperate with BUOW habitat selection criteria study
- continue to work cooperatively with industry on BUOW issues and studies
Support - 1996
- 1997
(no funding confirmed)
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