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Grazing leases and Alberta's rich range heritage

Date posted: March 24, 2008

A historical look at grazing leases shows they've played a key role in rangeland sustainability

Alberta ranching homestead

Perhaps the simplest, most direct way to get a sense of the scale of natural grazing lands in Alberta's ecological landscape is to fly over them in spring as the land slips out of its winter sleep and the first gentle green of native vegetation begins to show.

Starting at the province's deep southern borders, these vast native rangelands stretch their way across the U.S border, snake north up along the western and eastern edges of the province's mainstream agricultural base, and link in a ragged network across the top of the northern agricultural boundaries.

For well beyond the past century, these lands, both pure grasslands and more recently grazed forested lands, have anchored a way of life for the ranchers and farmers. In the process they may well have anchored a critical ecological link to the future for all Albertans.

As intensive cropping-based agriculture has nibbled away at converting these native areas to tame crops, grazing leases have protected a vast tract that is now seen as critical to natural ecological systems and the increasingly recognized intrinsic value of provincial wild lands.

Most of the ranchers who ride these lands have always known and appreciated this value. Those people who work closely with ranchers on the front lines of grassland management innately understand this value. But a recently completed report on the history of grazing leases in the province, commissioned for the internal use of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, offers a unique opportunity to pause and reflect on this process.

In today's new era of land and resource management it is valuable for those who live this life of range management and for those charged with maintaining its future.

Protecting native landscapes

The first grazing leases were put in place in 1881. Currently, 5,700 grazing leases cover 5 million acres across the province, the vast majority of which are native landscapes. Many of these natural lands have survived the pressure of immigration, agricultural settlement and crop expansion but they now face new pressures. Residential sprawl, industrial development and recreational demands are currently challenging their protection and management.

Although the native grasslands found in the south are integral to ranching operations, their value goes far beyond that. "This land has incredible heritage value because it provides a connection to the past and what the prairie looked like before the Europeans arrived," says Barry Adams, provincial range specialist with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD). "This landscape also provides important habitat for wildlife including many species at risk.

"A healthy native rangeland helps provide watershed protection, improved water quality and also carbon sequestration," he says. "And on top of all this, recreational areas for the public to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the native land as well as activities such as hunting and fishing."

Research links to a new generation

Public land grazing leaseholders have driven range research developments. During the very dry climate beginning in the 1920s, cattlemen realized the impending deterioration of the rangelands was threatening their operations. They petitioned the government for help in studying the problem and finding solutions.

Leaseholder Roy Gilchrist provided 18,000 acres of his grazing lease along with cattle and winter feed to carry out the studies. As a result and through the cooperation of government and the ranching community, a research station dedicated to studying native rangeland was born near Manyberries, Alberta.

Researchers performed studies on carrying capacity of rangelands and management strategies to optimize sustainable grazing yields. "The stewardship resulting from studies out of that research station is huge," says Brian Laing, Prairies Area rangeland program manager for Alberta SRD.

"Even today, the research station is the one of the few in Canada doing research on native rangelands so the initiative of southern Alberta ranchers all those years ago has proven incredibly beneficial to rangeland managers of today and tomorrow."

Linking with multiple users

One of the realities of public land is that, in most cases, there will be multiple users. Industrial development such as oil and gas development and timber harvesting are important activities that occur on these lands. Also of increasing importance is the recreational merit of the land. Grazing leaseholders have provided stewardship value in managing industrial opportunities and educating recreational users.

The grazing lease structure encourages the cooperation of industry, recreational users and leaseholders to ensure disturbance to range plant communities is minimal and that industry's reclamation and restoration efforts are effective.

"The grazing leaseholders have built up a long-term understanding of the soils, the plant community and the climate so their management experience provides a tremendous asset by way of insight and coaching to users of the public lands," says Adams. "All parties working together ensures the value of the land is protected."

Southeastern Alberta grazing leaseholder Wayne Heller says, "The oil and gas industry in Alberta is important to the public so I'm not about to stand in its way, but as a leaseholder I feel directly responsible for this land and as a result, I do have requests of industry to minimize the impact regarding how they work on the land."

The emerging northern industry

The most dynamic sub-region in the grazing leaseholder network is in the north. Over the last 50 years, leased acreage in northern Alberta has grown to the point where the northern forest pastures nearly match in acreage the extensive leased blocks in the more southerly mixed-grass prairie. Most northern grazing leases are native boreal bush land and some have a small portion of cleared land seeded down to tame grasses.

This northern growth has produced an entirely new generation of rangeland management. Grassland management in the south is not transferable to developing and maintaining the "bush pastures" of the north. Many producers are drawing on a single generation of experience so strategies for rangeland protection and production are still evolving. As well, the typically smaller, more fragmented lease units on northern rangelands face challenges from multiple users such as oil and gas development and recreational users.

From a producer perspective, public grazing lands provide complementary grazing that helps take the pressure off their private lands, says Debbie Stover, Grande Prairie-based rangeland agrologist with Alberta SRD. "Ranchers can use their private lands for hay or forage production for wintertime feeding while their grazing leases are used exclusively for summer and fall grazing. The alternative is the use of private lands for both grazing and winter feed production which can be taxing on the land.

"Resting grazing areas is of integral importance in allowing plants time to recover. Alberta rangelands enable cattle producers the capability to set up a grazing system such as rotational grazing with their private lands so they can apply good range management practices."

Linchpins to a sustainable future

One clear message from history is a tradition of stewardship. Past generations of ranchers have built this and it is being adopted with vigour by the present generation of ranchers. "Our ranch in the Porcupine Hills has been in operation for 118 years," says grazing leaseholder Rick Burton. "My son is a fourth-generation manager. He benefits greatly from the long history of management and the valuable knowledge of this land that comes with it."

"Generally speaking," says Brian Laing "the land base is in good shape and it's due to the ranchers doing a good job and that, in turn, is partly due to the partnership between the ranchers and the men and women in the field who administer the leases."

Perhaps one of the strongest examples of that relationship is the recent development of the 'Grazing Lease Stewardship Code of Practice'. That collaborative document identifies the roles and responsibilities of the grazing leaseholders. It focuses on promoting sustainable use of public grazing land for the long-term benefit of leaseholders, the environment, industry, recreational users and all Albertans.

"The Code of Practice lays out the expectations for both the leaseholder and the government," says rancher Larry Sears, chairman of the Alberta Grazing Leaseholders Association. "These guidelines provide stability in terms of determining responsibilities which, in turn, helps to strengthen the efforts of stewardship made on these lands."

More information

More information on grazing and range management is available from Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. The report An Outline History of Alberta's Grazing Leases was not produced for broad distribution, but a copy is available by contacting the Rangeland Management Branch at (780) 427-3597.

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