In my June Alberta Outdoorsmen column, I discuss how the high cost of food is affecting the conservation of wildlife habitat. In the U.S. the very popular Conservation Reserve Program, which paid farmers and ranchers to conserve wildlife habitat on marginal croplands, is no longer competing favorably with the prices those landowners can get for their crops. In Canada, we do not have a similar program, but we do understand how wildlife habitat on private land is dependent on the goodwill of the landowner and the market place. Instead, we depend on programs that stress land stewardship, and programs like the Alberta Fish and Game Association’s Wildlife Trust Fund that buys land to preserve wildlife habitat.
So, what’s wrong with that?
Tags: Alberta Fish and Game Association, Conservation Reserve Program, cost of food, habitat conservation, land stewardship, marginal croplands, stewardship, wildlife conservation, Wildlife Trust Fund
