Canada’s largest conservation agreement signed

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Published on Wednesday, June 24, 2015

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson
The Neepawa Banner

Hundreds of years ago, buffalo grazed the area known as Big Grass Marsh. Now, with the signing of Canada’s largest conservation agreement, the land will remain in its natural state for now and into the future. 

The agreements were actually signed last winter, however the celebration at the site was held on Thursday, among the chatter of birds in the Big Grass Game Bird Refuge. About 40 people celebrated the culmination of two and a half years of work and the permanent protection of 43,500 acres of municipal land in the Big Grass Marsh area.  The land covered by the Big Grass Marsh Conservation Agreement, located between Plumas and Langruth, includes marshland as well as land that is operated as a community pasture, providing grazing for area cattle.

The conservation agreement allows the land to be grazed and managed as it is currently, but keeps it in permanent cover.  This means that it can never be broken up and cultivated. 

“It’s nice to see that land left”

The project was first brought forward close to three years ago by Richard Callandar, an RM of Lakeview councillor and rider at the Big Grass Grazer Co-op. He had heard about the conservation agreements in place to protect the Langford Community Pasture, south of Neepawa, and hoped that Big Grass could be protected in a similar way. Callander grew up in the area and has worked at the pasture, on and off, for 40 years.

With only one, four mile road in the 43 sections that make up the area, Callander said, “It’s nice to see that land left.”

Callander brought the idea to council and while some councillors were initially uncertain, they all came on board pretty quickly.  He said, “The next meeting, they said, ‘You know, this is a good thing.’” Callander added,  “Quite a few of them [councillors] are cattlemen and how better to preserve nature. Because we don’t have buffalo any more, we can use cattle.”

Callendar added that while he initially brought the idea forward, “I really did nothing but come up with the idea, other people did all the work… Everyone [at the ceremony] had a small part in making it happen.”

Keeping the land as is

The RM of Lakeview approached Manitoba Habitat Heritage Conservation Corporation about protecting their municipal land within the Big Grass pasture.  

Wes Pankratz, a habitat conservation specialist with Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, explains that this was phase one. This initial agreement with Lakeview covers 112 quarter sections, or 17,280 acres.

Phillip Thordarson, who was reeve of the RM of Lakeview and currently sits as a councillor for the Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone, was very pleased to see the conservation agreement come to be. He said that the Lakeview council was supportive of the idea, “They know what the land is like and they appreciate it for what it is.” He added that with amalgamation, it became increasingly important to the council of the small municipality that the land be protected. He said, “The decision to sign was strongly supported by Lakeview council who were concerned that a future council might not value these lands in their natural state and would allow them to be sold off and broken up. We wanted to keep the land as it is.”

Pankratz explained that they were invited to a Lakeview council meeting to answer questions about what a conservation agreement would mean. “They basically wanted to make sure that the pasture was protected from being developed or used for something else.  They wanted to make sure it was going to stay in permanent cover. And that’s what our agreement was. It’s not about making any changes, it’s about keeping it the same,” he said. He explained that the municipality wanted to make sure that they could still do activities such as manage fence lines and control bush. 

Once the council passed a resolution in support of the conservation agreement, the next step was to identify the ownership and legal description of all the parcels of land. Then, a caveat was registered with Land Titles on each of those parcels. The agreements stay with the land, regardless of ownership.

Lakeview councillors then began talking with councillors in the neighbouring municipality of Westbourne and phase two saw the inclusion of Westbourne’s municipally owned land in the area. Westbourne’s conservation agreement covers 99 sections, or 15,800 acres, of pasture as well as adjacent hay and marshland.

David Single, who was the reeve of the RM of Westbourne and is now the mayor of the Municipality of Westlake Gladstone explained, “We wanted to see this land kept as is.”  He said that at their public meetings, they found nobody who thought it was a bad idea. 

“This marsh has ecological benefits, wildlife habitat benefits, benefits to the farmers and tourism benefits. I’m happy to say the RM of Westbourne is pleased to be a part of it,” said Single.

With the work already having been done in Lakeview, Pankratz said that Westbourne councillors were quick to support the project in their municipality. “They were pretty educated about what this was about. We signed [the agreement] within months,” said Pankratz.

The final phase saw Lakeview protect the remainder of their land within the Game Bird Refuge.  In total, the conservation agreements form a block of 43,000 acres, called the Big Grass Marsh Conservation Agreement.

Once in a lifetime

The size of the agreement wasn’t lost on MHHC chief executive officer Tim Sopuck. “In almost three and a half decades in conservation, I know I’ve never been involved in something this big. I can’t expect I’ll have this kind of opportunity again,” he said. He continued, “Most of the time if we do an easement that’s 99 acres or 112 acres, that’s an accomplishment.  If you scale it up, you start to get a sense of why this area is so special.”

Sopuck explained that they often work with those in the livestock industry.  He said, “We have a particular affinity for the grazing livestock industry because that’s where most of the habitat is residing in agro-Manitoba.  Without cattle producers, [habitat would be] pretty hard to maintain.”

The Whitemud Watershed Conservation District helped cover the costs, including staff time and title searches, associated with making the conservation agreements a reality. WWCD manager Chris Reynolds said that for a long time, government funding was not available for projects within the WWCD area so the board began setting money aside in a reserve fund to be used specifically for conservation agreements.  He added that they have a longstanding partnership with MHHC.

The Big Grass Marsh area is of particular importance within the watershed– from the Riding Mountain escarpment, through Eden and Arden, all of the water drains through the marsh. A healthy marsh provides flooding protection for those downstream, improved water quality and provides a home for wildlife and waterfowl.  Reynolds explained, “This is the biggest marsh in the watershed, it’s basically the kidney that we have for the watershed. We have one third of the whole area draining through this marsh, it’s a huge area.” 

Reynolds continued, “I didn’t think in my time here I would ever have seen the Big Grass Marsh actually be protected permanently. It’s absolutely fantastic that this is taking place.”

 John Whitaker, MHHC board chair and an Erickson area producer, praised the municipalities, saying, “The municipalities showed really strong leadership here.” He continued, “These guys are really progressive, they’re looking at the future economic and social health of their municipality. They get it, this has to come from a diverse landscape. A diverse economy is based on a diverse landscape.”

In addition to the habitat benefits, he praised the municipality’s desire to secure the future of the community pasture as a place for cattle to graze and a cost effective way for young producers to enter into the industry.

To see the protection of the land become a reality, Callander said that it felt good, adding that he didn’t realize it was the largest conservation agreement in Canada. “I just think that it was a very good thing and we’re fortunate to have somebody as a tool to use in this province to make it go forward,” he added.

 Thordarson noted that as time goes on and people clear and cultivate fields, more habitat is disappearing.  He added that agricultural lands have different purposes to which they are most suited, and that this land in particular, is best suited to grazing. “People should see the benefits [of cattle ranching], grazing creates better habitat… Cattle are the modern buffalo,” he said.

“Although we were the smaller municipality, we brought the most municipally owned land into the agreement. I’ve said this before and I’m saying it again, there’s an idea nowadays that bigger is better, and in the case of conservation agreements, that’s true. But small communities can do big things,” said Thordarson.

In the coming years, those involved hope to see the remaining land within the pasture protected. About one-third of it is provincial crown land and therefore not currently protected by the conservation agreement. However, work is underway to perpetually protect this land as well with a conservation agreement.

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See a panoramic video of the Game Bird Refuge

Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation CEO Tim Sopuck. Of the signing of the agreement, he said, " “In almost three and a half decades in conservation, I know I’ve never been involved in something this big. I can’t expect I’ll have this kind of opportunity again... Most of the time if we do an easement that’s 99 acres or 112 acres, that’s an accomplishment. If you scale it up, you start to get a sense of why this area is so special.”

Wes Pankratz, a habitat conservation specialist with Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, helped the former RMs of Lakeview and Westbourne develop a conservation agreement to protect their municipal land within the Big Grass Marsh area. Of the the councils, he said, “They basically wanted to make sure that the pasture was protected from being developed or used for something else.  They wanted to make sure it was going to stay in permanent cover. And that’s what our agreement was. It’s not about making any changes, it’s about keeping it the same,”

 Phillip Thordarson, who was reeve of the RM of Lakeview and currently sits as a councillor for the Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone, said, “Although we were the smaller municipality, we brought the most municipally owned land into the agreement. I’ve said this before and I’m saying it again, there’s an idea nowadays that bigger is better, and in the case of conservation agreements, that’s true. But small communities can do big things,”

David Single, who was the reeve of the RM of Westbourne and is now the mayor of the Municipality of Westlake Gladstone explained, “We wanted to see this land kept as is... This marsh has ecological benefits, wildlife habitat benefits, benefits to the farmers and tourism benefits. I’m happy to say the RM of Westbourne is pleased to be a part of it."

The Whitemud Watershed Conservation District manger Chris Reynolds, said, “I didn’t think in my time here I would ever have seen the Big Grass Marsh actually be protected permanently. It’s absolutely fantastic that this is taking place.”

John Whitaker, MHHC board chair and an Erickson area producer, praised the municipalities, saying, “The municipalities showed really strong leadership here.”

During the ceremony, Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation presented a newly created Conservation Achievement Award to the municipality.  Included in the presentation are members of the former councils of Lakeview and Westbourne, as well as representatives from MHHC and the Whitemud Watershed Conservation Disctrict. Back row (from left): Chris Reynolds (WWCD), Kerry Arksey, Arnold Coutts, Jim Rinn Front row: Robert Rogers (WWCD), Dwight Ferguson, Phillip Thordarson, David Single, John Whitaker (MHHC), Richard Callander.

A map shows the area protected by the Big Grass Marsh Conservation Agreement

The festivities included a  trip by horse and wagon through the pasture to the abandoned village of Marshland.

The festivities included a  trip by horse and wagon through the pasture to the abandoned village of Marshland.  In the village's cemetery, lady slippers can be found.

The festivities included a  trip by horse and wagon through the pasture to the abandoned village of Marshland.  In the old cemetery, only two grave stones are clearly visible.

The festivities included a  trip by horse and wagon through the pasture to the abandoned village of Marshland.  Wild roses grow in the village's old cemetery.

The festivities included a  trip by horse and wagon through the pasture to the abandoned village of Marshland.

The festivities included a  trip by horse and wagon through the pasture to the abandoned village of Marshland.  Here, the visitors wait as the pasture’s summer residents pass by.