Burke Creek Ranch Recipient of Emerald Award - Land Management
Burke Creek Ranch Recipient of Emerald Award - Land Management Category
This winter we were nominated and short listed for an Emerald Award for Environmental Excellence under the Land Management category. The Emerald Awards are a prestigious environmental awards program in Alberta, that recognizes individuals, businesses, and organizations for outstanding environmental leadership and sustainable practices.
The Land Management category honors initiatives that demonstrate excellence in sustainable land use, restoration, conservation, or stewardship in Alberta. This can include activities such as:
Sustainable agriculture or forestry
Reclamation of disturbed land
Habitat protection or biodiversity enhancement
Innovative land use planning
Traditional Indigenous land stewardship
Urban green space development or management
The goal of the Land Management Category is to celebrate projects or practices that:
Improve the health and resilience of Alberta’s land base
Balance human use with ecological integrity
Promote long-term environmental stewardship
In June we were invited to attend the award ceremony in Edmonton. To our great honour and surprise we were the final recipient of the award! Land Management is only 1 of 14 categories so it was not only exciting to showcase the work and benefit of sustainable ranching to the stage, but equally exciting to hear about so many innovative environmental initiatives going on in Alberta.
Some of he projects and initiatives we have going on that influenced the judges include:
Our rotational grass management grazing strategies
Work with Living Labs to measure and evaluate carbon sequestration
Riparian restoration projects
Limber Pine restoration
Wild Turkey population regeneration
Work on educational outreach projects
Forest management and invasive species control
The Emerald Award recipients receive a $1500 grant to support conservation projects, and a microdocumentary is filmed onsite to showcase the operation and work that is undertaken. We are utilizing the funds to go toward a creek restoration project where we are utilizing beaver dam analogs to entice beaver to move upstream to naturally repair creek banks, as well as riparian plantings and a natural cattle crossing. We are undertaking this project with Alberta Conservation Association and possibly other environmental NGOs. We look forward to sharing the documentary with you next winter, and showcasing this project over the upcoming years.