Events
Join us!
Donate
Donate Now!
Contacts
Learn How
Subscribe
Learn How
«

The softly undulating Hand Hills hold the largest intact stretch of Northern Fescue left in the world, massive blooms of western wood lilies and rare populations of piping plover.

AWA’s vision for the Hand Hills Area of Concern is that its remaining public lands achieve legislated protection as an Ecological Reserve to conserve the ecological integrity of the Northern Fescue grasslands and important bird habitat.

    • Introduction
    • Features
    • Concerns
    • History
    • Archive
    • Other Areas
    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern boasts lush fescue grasslands, an increasingly rare sight on the Canadian Plains. Photo © T. Barratt

    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern is an area of Northern Fescue Grasslands, lakes and wetlands, southeast of the town of Drumheller. The area is the largest remaining stretch of Northern Fescue in the world and holds significant habitat for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, and numerous rare or uncommon plant species.

    Status

    There are two protected areas within the Hand Hills area: Hand Hills Ecological Reserve (22 km2), and Little Fish Lake Provincial Park (1.1 km2). These protected areas cover only 7.2% of AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern, a relatively small proportion of the total area. Little Fish Lake is found within an Important Bird Area (IBA), and although Little Fish Lake Provincial Park has been established, the lake itself and its shoreline remain unprotected.

    The remaining area within the Hand Hills consists of a patchwork of public lands and private property.

    Management

    Hand Hills Ecological Reserve is managed under the Hand Hills Ecological Reserve Management Plan, published in 1997, which falls under the purview of Alberta’s Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas and Heritage Rangelands Act.

    Public lands within the Hand Hills are classified under Alberta’s White Area, which are part of Alberta’s agricultural landscape. In addition to agricultural developments, public lands within the White Area are also managed for water, wildlife habitat, resource extraction and recreation. Relevant legislation for managing and administering public lands includes: the Public Lands Act and the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan.

    Area

    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern is an area of Northern Fescue Grasslands, lakes and wetlands, southeast of the town of Drumheller. The area is the largest remaining stretch of Northern Fescue in the world and holds significant habitat for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds.

    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern. MAP © AWA FILES: JPG | PDF

    Watershed

    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern sits within the Red Deer River watershed, draining locally into Willow Creek and found within the larger South Saskatchewan River basin. Little Fish Lake is the only permanent waterbody within the area, found to the southeastern corner of the Hand Hills. Alkaline seepage springs can be found in parts of the Hand Hills Ecological Reserve. Seasonally, wet sloughs, moist meadows and ephemeral streams will surface in the poorly drained, low-lying sites of the Ecological Reserve.

    Geology

    The geology of the area is characterized by that of the gently undulating Hand Hills, although there are a number of incised valleys and steep-sided coulees. The area surrounding Little Fish Lake is capped by a remnant of a Tertiary plateau that sits 146 m higher than the surrounding landscape, a result of the cap preventing the plateau from being eroded by glacial activity. The badlands in the surrounding area are composed of Cretaceous sandstones, siltstones and shale.

    Environmentally Significant Areas

    Many patches within AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern are considered as nationally environmentally significant areas. These areas draw their significance the extensive Northern Fescue plains, significant habitat for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, and numerous rare and uncommon plant species.

    Hand Hills ESAs. MAP © AWA FILES: JPG | PDF

    Natural Regions

    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern falls within the Grasslands Natural Region of Alberta, including the Northern Fescue and Dry Mixedgrass Natural Subregions. The Hand Hills contain one of the largest remaining stretches of Northern Fescue Grassland in the world.

    Hand Hills Natural Regions. MAP © AWA FILES: JPG | PDF

    Vegetation

    More than 250 species of vascular plant have been recorded within the Hand Hills area. While rough fescue is a dominant species in the Hand Hills, the area is also known for its massive wood lily blooms, aspen groves and seepage spring communities.

    Plant communities include mixed grasslands (porcupine grass, spear grass, june grass, northern wheatgrass, blue grama grass, green needlegreass and western wheatgrass), badlands type vegetation (sagebrush, salt sage, long-leaved sage, broomweed), low thickets of wild rose and buckbrush, thickets of mixed tall shrubs (Bebb willow, Saskatoon, red osier dogwood, chokecherry) and dense stands of silverberry.

    Rare species include crowfoot violet, few-flowered rush, yellow evening primrose, mountain shooting star and yellow paintbrush.

    Wildlife

    AWA’s Hand Hills Area of Concern has important habitat for over 130 bird species, including piping plover, ferruginous hawk, burrowing owl, Baird’s sparrow, Sprague’s pipit, loggerhead Shrike, upland sandpiper, long-billed curlew, American white pelican and abundant nesting geese. Harlequin Ducks and Sabine’s gull both been sighted at Little Fish Lake, and Townsend’s solitaires have been observed in the Hand Hills as well as two leks for sharp-tailed grouse.

    The uplands of Hand Hills have high densities of Richardson’s ground squirrel. Other mammals frequenting the area include thirteen-lined ground squirrel, prairie long-tailed weasel, white tailed jack rabbit and American badger.

    A number of reptiles and amphibians also reside in Hand Hills including tiger salamander, Canadian toad, Boreal chorus frog, Northern leopard frog, wandering garter snake, and western plains garter snake.

    Culture

    Indigenous Peoples have used the area for approximately 10,000 years, since the retreat of the glaciers. Evidence of tipi rings has been documented within the area that is now the Hand Hills Ecological Reserve. The Hand Hills fall within the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, including the Siksika (Blackfoot), Kainai (Blood), Piikani (Peigan), Iyarhe Nakoda (Stoney), and Tsuut’ina (Sarcee).

    Activities

    As an Important Bird Area (IBA), Little Fish Lake offers a unique opportunity for birders to observe uncommon species of nesting and feeding shorebirds and waterfowl. In addition to this, Little Fish Lake Provincial Park offers unserviced camping, canoeing and kayaking.

    Lack of protection

    Currently only 1.3% of the Northern Fescue Grasslands Natural Subregion is protected within Alberta. AWA believes protection of the Hand Hills must be expanded to surrounding public lands and the entirety of Little Fish Lake, including its shoreline which provides important nesting habitat for Piping Plover. As this area is one of the largest remaining tracts of Northern Fescue in the world and contains significant habitat for nesting shorebirds and migrating waterfowl, its protection would be a significant contribution to Alberta’s current protected areas network.

    2012

    In December, Suncor submits a proposal to develop a 80 MW wind power project in Hand Hills, near the village of Delia. The construction of 17 wind towers is conditionally approved.

    1999

    AWA requests that the World Heritage Committee consider eight sites in Alberta for the World Heritage Site designation, one of which is Little Fish Lake.

    1991

    Fencing is installed surrounding Little Fish Lake to prevent cattle from eroding the lake’s shores. The shoreline of Little Fish Lake provides important sandy nesting habitat for Piping Plover, a species federally-listed as Endangered.

    1988

    A significant portion of the Hand Hills is protected as an Ecological Reserve; however, grazing persists, causing damage to the sensitive sites surrounding Little Fish Lake.

    1984

    The land surrounding Little Fish Lake is split into five different leases and auctioned to private landowners. Splitting the area greatly deteriorated its natural habitats.

    1980s

    A steady increase in grazing leads to damage of rough fescue in the Hand Hills, dwindling populations of rare birds and wildflowers.

    March 15, 2024

    Action Alert: Bison must be listed as wildlife in Alberta

    Designating bison as wildlife is long overdue. The current classification of a wild species as…

    Read more »

    March 15, 2024

    Joint letter requesting bison be listed as wildlife

    Free-ranging bison, apart from in a few specialized regions, are still considered livestock in Alberta….

    Read more »

    November 21, 2023

    AWA written submission for AUC renewables inquiry

    In response to the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) inquiry into the ongoing economic, orderly and…

    Read more »

    October 30, 2023

    When Protection Isn’t Enough

    Read the pdf version here. When greater sage-grouse was proposed for listing under the United…

    Read more »

    October 18, 2023

    Opportunity to give input in AUC inquiry

    Until November 22, the AUC are accepting comments for Module A of their inquiry into…

    Read more »

    July 30, 2023

    New Rangeland Grazing Framework does little to solve concerns around public lands management

    In April, Alberta released the Rangeland Grazing Framework. The mission of the framework is “To…

    Read more »

    July 10, 2023

    The Cost of Climate Change: Food Production

    Wild Lands Advocate article by: Ruiping Luo Click here for a pdf version of the article….

    Read more »

    May 8, 2023

    Use your voice to help save a critical habitat and wetland in Calgary

    Hello Calgarians, On May 16, our city council will hear submissions on the first development…

    Read more »

    April 6, 2023

    An Update on the Foothills Solar Hearing

    Wild Lands Advocate article by: Ruiping Luo Click here for a pdf version of the article….

    Read more »

    January 9, 2023

    Foothills Solar Project Threatens Frank Lake Wildlife

    Wild Lands Advocate article by: Ruiping Luo Click here for a pdf version of the…

    Read more »

    December 14, 2022

    AWA Comments on the proposed Terms of Reference for the Chin Reservoir Expansion Project

    Please click the link below to view AWA’s comment letter addressing the proposed Terms of…

    Read more »

More logging appeared imminent because vandalized landscapes, just like homes with broken windows, tend to invite more abuse.” Andrew Nikiforuk. This tells it all, whether oil and gas, logging, OHVs etc. already exist, then it seems governments are gung ho to keep going and open it all up to more activity and abuse. . . and why we need AWA more than ever.
- Cliff Wallis
© 1965 - 2024, Alberta Wilderness Association. | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Federally Registered Charity Number 118781251RR0001 Website design by Build Studio
Save Your Cart
Share Your Cart