History

Poverty Rock, a 2000-acre parcel of land adjacent to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, is purchased by the Alberta government, and will be added to the park.

The Milk River Management Society installs traffic counters to establish current levels of vehicle usage. An old wellsite road gives vehicles access to the edge of the Milk River Canyon, leaving 80 percent of the Natural Area upland free of vehicle traffic. However, EnCana Corporation has developed a number of wells right next door, with gravel track access almost to the corner of the Milk River Natural Area. The Natural Area is currently unregulated with respect to vehicle use. The society is concerned that this could open the area to increased and undesirable use. Formally monitoring vehicle use will provide baseline information so that concerns can be expressed promptly if increases are detected.

Researchers from the U.S. are attracted to the ungrazed spring wetlands in the Milk River–Sage Creek area and conduct detailed biodiversity research in those unique habitats.

AWA becomes aware of a proposal to open the Wild Horse border crossing for 24-hour service and to expand Highway 41 into a major corridor in order to transport heavy equipment to the tar sands via a route other than the existing corridor through the Coutts border crossing. This would have dramatic negative environmental effects on the Milk River–Sage Creek area. AWA responds to the proposal with a Wild Lands Advocate article and letters to the Government of Alberta.

The Milk River Management Society, of which AWA is a member, hires researchers to assess the ecological impacts of fire after a recent burn. The arrival of endangered mountain plovers after the burn in an area in which they had not previously been recorded shows the potential role fire can play in mixed grass ecosystems.

In a letter to Environment Minister Murray Smith, AWA expresses opposition to the pending sale of leases in the Milk River–Sage Creek area.

The Alberta government announces the establishment of the Onefour Heritage Rangeland Natural Area.

AWA requests that Premier Ralph Klein take immediate steps to:

• Stop all industrial activity inside Provincial Parks and Natural Areas;

• Immediately disallow the sale and renewal of any industrial leases inside protected areas;

• Reconvene the legislature with the first item of business being to the introduction of effective park and Natural Area legislation to explicitly rule out industrial activity within protected areas.

AWA announces that at least one petroleum company has requested that the petroleum rights in Milk River and Chinchaga be put up for sale. Although Environment Minister Halvar Johnson dismisses the announcement and claims that AWA is mistaken, AWA produces the leaked government document, dated May 23, 2000, which includes Milk River and Chinchaga on the list of land parcels to be sold in August and September. This results in the removal of two parcels of land from the sale list. AWA calls for transparency and openness so that there is no need to rely on leaked documents.

AWA, Canadian Parks and Wildlife Society (CPAWS), Federation of Alberta Naturalists (FAN), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) send out letters to CEOs of various oil companies requesting them to (1) write to the Premier in support of 10 new parks, (2) ask the government to implement the oil industry’s agreement with conservation groups to phase out existing petroleum developments from all protected areas, and (3) support legislation that protects these parks from industrial development in perpetuity.

Building of the Express Pipeline begins after the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa rejected appeals against the proposed pipeline.

AWA and the Federation of Alberta Naturalists (FAN) appeal to the federal Court of Canada to overturn the decision made by the National Energy Board that determined that the crude oil pipeline project proposed by Express Pipeline is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. Additionally, AWA and FAN would like the issue to be re-assessed and no further permits allowing construction of the pipeline be issued.

In a news release, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund announces that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of AWA and the Federation of Alberta Naturalists (FAN) challenging a decision that would permit a crude oil pipeline to be built through the Milk River area. AWA and FAN allege that the joint National Energy Board/Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel failed to comply with key requirements under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

AWA and other conservation groups want a proposed pipeline rerouted. The proposed pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Casper, Wyoming is slated to cut through nationally significant areas of undisturbed native prairie in the Milk River–Sage Creek area. A four-member joint panel examines the proposal and holds a series of hearings in which AWA’s Cliff Wallis states: “Even with the best reclamation technology we have today, we still do not known how to put it back the way it was.”

AWA, the Federation of Alberta Naturalists, and the Alberta Fish and Game Association sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Express Pipeline to establish an advisory council to consult on the reclamation of disturbed areas to ensure the use of native grasses.

AWA and the Federation of Alberta Naturalists receive $34,240 to assist in the evaluation of the Express Pipeline (owned jointly by Alberta Energy Company Ltd. and TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.).

AWA and the Federation of Alberta Naturalists submit a joint proposal for federal funding to assist in reviewing the application to build the Express Pipeline.

Express Pipeline applies to the National Energy Board for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

The Milk River Valley is nominated for the Special Places 2000 program.

Express Pipeline Ltd. applies for approval of a pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Caspar, Wyoming. The application is later withdrawn.

The Milk River Management Society prepares an Operational Management Plan for Milk River Natural Area and Kennedy Coulee Ecological Reserve, which is endorsed by the Alberta government.

The Milk River Management Society is founded, with AWA being one of the founding members. Other members come from local government, the ranching community, other conservation groups, and provincial agencies. The society holds the lease for the Milk River Natural Area and advises on resource use and management of the Milk River Natural Area and Kennedy Coulee Ecological Reserve. The society is also responsible for administering the grazing contract and long-term research monitoring.

The 10.7-km² Kennedy Coulee Ecological Reserve is established.

Hon. Don Sparrow, Minister of Forestry, Lands and Wildlife announces the establishment of the Milk River Natural Area—the province’s hundredth natural area.

Alberta’s Advisory Committee on Wilderness Areas and Ecological Reserves recommends to the Minister of Recreation and Parks the establishment of a 72 km² natural area/ecological reserve. They also ask for an inventory of special features; consideration of bison for management; revisions to legislation; participation of local residents in developing a management plan; and an integrated plan for the surrounding area. The long-promised integrated plan never materializes but most recommendations are acted upon. Though unsuccessful, the AWA submits a joint proposal with a local rancher to use bison for management.

In response to criticism of sloppy management of Alberta’s first ecological reserve, the Milk River Canyon Reserve, the government appoints a planning committee to aid in the creation of the proposed reserve.

AWA and the Ecological Reserves Advisory Committee convene a meeting with 250 farmers, ranchers, scientists, and environmentalists to discuss the new Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, and Natural Areas Act. Many residents feel that the Act does not ensure that they will have any say in the area’s future. In response to this sentiment and out of recognition of the value of private stewardship, AWA helps create a task force to develop a plan for the preservation of the Milk River Canyon area.

In a letter to the Associate Minister of Public Lands and Wildlife, Hon. Don Sparrow, AWA asks that no hasty decisions be made so that the value of the ungrazed grasslands in the Milk River–Sage Creek area can be assessed.

AWA attends public meetings regarding ecological reserves in Claresholm, Foremost, and Lethbridge. The meetings make it apparent that a local lobby group is seeking grazing privileges in a portion of the proposed Milk River Ecological Reserve.

A Lost River Ranches Grazing Lease Management Plan is released.

The Alberta government commits to undertaking an integrated land-use study. After a year of waiting, conservationists are frustrated to learn that the study is nothing more than a limited area grazing plan. No public input is accepted. The Minister of Recreation, Parks, and Wildlife tells AWA, “The comprehensive land use plan will ensure the preservation of the outstanding natural features.” Instead, there are more roads, fencelines, exploration wells, stock-watering facilities, uncontrolled vehicle access, and grazing in previously ungrazed sensitive areas in the proposed ecological reserve.

Alberta Parks Division undertakes a comprehensive study of the resources in the Milk River area. The study recommends park status for 700-km² area. The Public Lands Division accepts a proposal for an ecological reserve on a tract of land that was formerly property of local ranchers and responsible environmental stewards, the Ross family.

In a letter to Minister of Environment D. Russell, AWA alerts the Minister that the Environmental Impact Assessment Report prepared by Alberta Ammonia does not mention the potential impact of the pipeline on the aesthetic and recreational uses of the proposed Milk River–Lost River Wilderness.

In letters to the Premier, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (now known as the Energy Utilities Board), and the president of Alberta Ammonia, AWA expresses opposition to the proposed routing of an ammonia pipeline through the Milk River area from Raymond, Alberta to Garner, Iowa.

AWA makes a formal presentation to the Alberta Land Use Forum suggesting that the area may be best protected by a Wildland Recreation Area designation.

AWA approaches the Minister of Lands and Forests proposing the creation of a Wilderness Area in the Milk River–Sage Creek region.

As demand for dwindling public grazing lands grows, new legislation restricts the amount of land a lessee can hold. The holdings ranched by the Ross family since 1910 far exceed the new limits set by Alberta Public Lands and, despite protests from Alberta Parks and AWA, large areas are removed from the Lost River Ranch lease. Most deleted lands become a new provincial grazing reserve, while a remote, largely ungrazed area south of the Milk River Canyon is proposed as an ecological reserve.

The PFRA conducts further studies.

A water development committee proposes that the gap near the Milk River Forks (the confluence of the North and South Milk Rivers) would be a good place for a dam. Pursuit of this option is not followed due to reasons such as hilly terrain, lack of local interest, and potential international implications.

Order in Council PC 682 of the Privy Council of Canada rules in part: “So far as the interests of Canada are concerned, it appears that it would be preferable to have a reservoir on the St. Mary River at Spring Coulee Alberta instead of the recommended reservoir at St. Mary Lakes in Montana, and to have a reservoir at what is known as the Forks Site in Alberta on the Milk River instead of the recommended reservoir at Verdigris Coulee.”

Subsequent investigations by the Department of the Interior indicate that the Forks Site would be a much better site than the Verdigris Coulee proposal and more detailed studies are undertaken.

The International Joint Commission makes a recommendation: “The Commission finds … that the quantities of land in this international region susceptible of development far exceed the capacity of the rivers in question even under the most exhaustive system of conservation.… Every effort should be made to obtain the maximum efficiency in irrigation from these waters.… The Canadian Reclamation Service [should proceed] with the proposed Verdigris Coulee Reservoir in Alberta.”

The cultivation of Alberta’s grasslands begins. Most of the Milk River area escapes the plough because of its drought-prone nature.

A Northwest Mounted Police outpost is established at Kennedy’s Crossing, where the Milk River flows into the U.S.

Captain Featherstonhaugh of the British North American Boundary Commission explores the Milk River area.

The Milk River is named by Captain Meriwether Lewis for its muted colour, similar to the colour of tea with milk.