Introduction

Survivor Of The Glaciated High Plains

The Milk River-Sage Creek area of concern is a diverse area encompassing the Milk River Canyon and associated badlands as well as some of the most extensive native mixed grassland, silver sagebrush and ephemeral wetland habitat in Canada. It is one of the least fragmented, most extensive, and most geologically and biologically diverse grassland landscapes on the glaciated plains of North America. Its uplands, wetlands, and valleys constitute one of the largest undisturbed grasslands in Canada. The 3,760 km² Milk River-Sage Creek area is a natural diversity hotspot in the grasslands of southeastern Alberta.

For generations, this wilderness has been protected by its isolation and by grazing patterns that have perpetuated the richness and diversity of the native grassland. Those factors are changing rapidly. There is a high degree of urgency to protect the area. The extreme southeastern corner of Alberta was once the forgotten corner but it is forgotten no more. Recent activity by oil and gas companies around the Cypress Hills gives every indication that it will turn parts of the study area into highly developed landscapes like the rest of Alberta.

The future of the area as wild place and as a refuge for native plants and animals that have long disappeared from much of the Great Plains rests in our hands.

“The area abounds in unique and rare natural phenomena, but it is the variety in both the rare and the common features that gives the area its tremendous value. Resting atop a badland butte and gazing across the Milk River canyon and rolling grasslands, one can contemplate the natural majesty of the Great Plains. For anyone who has heard the melodies of grassland birds riding the warm summer breezes or watched as a Golden Eagle drifts low over a coulee rim, Milk River-Sage Creek will always be one of the world's special places.”

   - From: MILK RIVER-SAGE CREEK, SURVIVOR OF THE GLACIATED HIGH PLAINS. A report prepared for World Wildlife Fund Canada, Edmonton by Cottonwood Consultants Ltd., Calgary, AB (2000).

Status

Within the 3,760 km² Milk River–Sage Creek area of concern, 195 km² (less than 1 percent) is protected under various provincial designations:

• Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park = 17.2 km²
• Kennedy Coulee Ecological Reserve = 10.7 km²
• Onefour Heritage Rangeland = 111.7 km²
• Milk River Natural Area = 55.4 km²

Although there are a few pockets of privately held land, most of the area is public land, leased out to a variety of leaseholders. Some of the leaseholders, notably those with larger holdings, have a long history of efforts to conserve the native grasslands. More recently, some holdings have been purchased by private individuals with the specific intent of protecting the grasslands for biodiversity.

Vision

Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) has been concerned about and working on protection of the Milk River – Sage Creek area since the 1970s. This involvement has led to the establishment of a significant but small (less than a township) grassland protected area along the Milk River Canyon and Kennedy Creek. We believe this area is of significant concern and as a diverse area encompassing the Milk River Canyon and associated badlands as well as some of the most extensive native mixed grassland, silver sagebrush and ephemeral wetland habitat in Canada it must be protected.

Special thanks to Peter Lee, World Wildlife Fund Canada and Duke Hunter,
Alberta Environment