Debbie Everts of Grumpy's Greenhouses Gardens Ltd., Pincher Creek talks about some their reclamation work is southwest Alberta. High winds (200 km/hr) and lack of topsoil are some of their challenges. But they got 95% survival rates by using rocks as microsite shelters during establishment. Articulating concrete blocks combined with willow stakes were used to protect pipeline crossings where short term high flows were a problem. Extreme cold combined with a felt matting below the blocks made for challenging installation. Knowledge of essentials for restoration survival lead to innovation on the jobsite. Bio-engineering on the Belly River involved 4 metre long willow stakes with a water filled trench in October. She also describes "palisades" of willows and trenched willows to reduce sidebank erosion. They also made benches and then planted native communities of shrubs, grasses and forbs plus hydroseeding a mulch to keep things stuck (high wind site), Beaver control (fencing to keep out beaver during root establishment) and spring floods can create issues on even the best prepared site.
Dr Steve Tannas finishes by describing a Cows and Fish riparian restoration project.
Dr. Steven Tannas is a Rangeland Agrologist, President of Tannas Conservation Services and Vice President of Eastern Slopes Rangeland Seeds Ltd. His course on native grass and sedge identification for reclamation of oil and gas sites in Alberta was part of the Alberta Institute of Agrologists' Banff Conference, March 26-28. 2013.
