Attend one or more of these upcoming essential land management and riparian restoration workshops to learn how to identify riparian plants, reconstruct stream banks, mitigate climate change, and participate in restoring your watersheds.
These workshops are led by Sustainability Resources in collaboration with Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society) to discuss forests as an engineering tool, forests for water quality, and forests as a climate strategy. Guest speakers from Natural Resources Canada, Alberta Tomorrow and others will provide participants with a greater understanding of the role of healthy watersheds in mitigating climate change.
- Wednesday August 23rd Riparian Restoration & Land Use Planning with Alberta Tomorrow
- This Riparian Workshop will feature the Alberta Tomorrow Foundation deploying a GIS mapping technology to help participants understand multiple impacts on our landscape by modelling land-use using their free online app. We will travel back in time and then into the future to test a land-use plan. This session will also include an overview of the Water Cycle, the Carbon Cycle, and Photosynthesis, interpreting riparian health with Cows and Fish, and an afternoon in the watershed planting native trees and shrubs to restore habitat and riparian function in the Sheep River Watershed.
- Thursday August 24th Riparian Restoration & Flood Recovery with AMEC Foster Wheeler and Cows & Fish
- This workshop features a 30 minute site tour with Cows and Fish and AMEC Foster Wheeler on the Flood Recovery Project. Participants will discuss engineering designs and river dynamics while stopping to identify plant species. We will also provide an overview of the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and photosynthesis. Interpret riparian health with Cows and Fish and spend an afternoon planting native trees and shrubs to restore habitat and riparian function in the Sheep River Watershed.
- Friday August 25th Riparian Restoration & Carbon Accounting in Forested Landscapes with Natural Resources Canada
- This essential land management workshop is lead by Sustainability Resources with Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society) where we will discuss forests as an engineering tool, forests for water quality, and forests as a strategy to combat climate change.
This workshop features a guest lecture from the developer of CBM-CFS3, Stephen Kull. The CBM-CFS3 is a modeling framework for stand- and landscape- level carbon accounting in forests. We will discuss data and the best conditions for using the Carbon Budget Model, other tools, and overall considerations for carbon modeling.
This workshop will also include an overview of the Water Cycle, the Carbon Cycle, and Photosynthesis. Participate in plant identification with Cows and Fish, and spend an afternoon in the watershed planting native trees and shrubs to restore habitat and riparian function in the Sheep River Watershed.
Stephen Kull began his forestry career working on provincial forest management plans as a forester and data analyst, and migrated to the Canadian Forest Service at Natural Resources Canada. He’s been involved in the domain of forest carbon accounting and management for over a decade, specifically with regards to NRCan’s Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector (CBM-CFS3). He is the lead technical writer for software documentation related to the model, and is the main technical support contact for CBM-CFS3 users around the world. The CBM-CFS3 model has been adapted and applied in over 30 countries.
- This essential land management workshop is lead by Sustainability Resources with Cows and Fish (Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society) where we will discuss forests as an engineering tool, forests for water quality, and forests as a strategy to combat climate change.
- Saturday August 26th Riparian Restoration & Interpreting our Watershed with Harley Bastein, Piikani First Nation
- This workshop features an interpretive walk in the watershed by Harley Bastein, a member of the Piikani First Nation. We will also provide an overview of the Water Cycle, the Carbon Cycle, and Photosynthesis. Interpret riparian health with Cows and Fish and spend an afternoon planting native trees and shrubs to restore habitat and riparian function in the Sheep River Watershed. Harley’s 20+ year environmental consulting career took him around the world. After semi-retiring, Harley founded Buffalo Rock Tipi Camp where he shares his families’ stories, language, and knowledge.
- Sunday August 27th Riparian Restoration & A Review of Carbon Credit Policy
- This session features a Review of Alberta’s Carbon Credit Policy with Bryan Adkins from the Alberta Climate Change Office. We will explore our provincial offset system and any updates occurring in the sector. We will also provide an overview of the Water Cycle, the Carbon Cycle, and Photosynthesis. Interpret riparian health with Cows and Fish and spend an afternoon planting native trees and shrubs to restore habitat and riparian function in the Sheep River Watershed.
Bryan is a Carbon Offset Policy Advisor for the Government of Alberta. His expertise is in linking complex natural resource management and conservation challenges to cross-cutting issues in human development. Bryan specifically focuses on forests, conservation, and achieving sustainable development goals.
- This session features a Review of Alberta’s Carbon Credit Policy with Bryan Adkins from the Alberta Climate Change Office. We will explore our provincial offset system and any updates occurring in the sector. We will also provide an overview of the Water Cycle, the Carbon Cycle, and Photosynthesis. Interpret riparian health with Cows and Fish and spend an afternoon planting native trees and shrubs to restore habitat and riparian function in the Sheep River Watershed.
This year we are enhancing flood recovery projects in Municipal District of Foothills along Three Point Creek and Sheep River.
Sustainability Resources coordinates the workshops with support from federal and provincial environmental grants. These workshops are designed to help elected representatives and government staff to learn how plants clean our drinking water, reinforce shorelines, mitigate flood and drought, and absorb carbon. Each workshop demonstrates how to capitalize on these benefits by implementing an actual enhancement project. Riparian Restoration Workshops are ideal for people working in parks, drainage, land use planning, agriculture, or landscaping, and especially decision making.
We are hiring at-risk youth through the Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS) to plant more trees in the ground! Youth who enter into the apprenticeship program get paid training and work experience, a Certificate of Completion, references, and mentorship.
*These 2017 workshops are provided with the generous support of the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta, with contribution by Cows and Fish, Wright Nursery, and YESS! Since 2014 we have planted over 3000 native trees and shrubs along creeks in Alberta’s foothills and enhanced over 3000m2 of flood-prone riparian areas. Learn more.
NEW: Earn your Certificate in Riparian Restoration Essentials – participants who complete two or more days of workshops in this series will earn a Certificate issued by Sustainability Resources and our Riparian Restoration Partners!
Residents of the Watershed: FREE | Non-Profits/Under-employed: