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SAGE CREEK IMPORTANT
BIRD AREA
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
 Download
the entire conservation plan (31.9 MB pdf
file)
Prairie ecosystems
are among the most threatened ecosystems in
North America. In the Prairie Provinces, about
24% of the mixed prairie remains in its native
state. Loss of prairie habitat is primarly as
a result of intensive agricultural practices.
Much of the remaining native rangeland has been
degraded fragmented, which has reduced habitat
quality for many species. It is therefore not
surprising that a large percentage of nationally
designated “at risk” species occur
in prairie habitats.
The Sage Creek region in the extreme southeastern
corner of Alberta represents one of the largest
contiguous blocks of native dry mixed grass
prairie remaining in North America, and is therefore
of great importance for biodiversity conservation.
The following eight “at risk” bird
species are known to occur in the area: Burrowing
Owl, Short-Eared Owl, Ferruginous Hawk, Loggerhead
Shrike, Long-billed Curlew, Mountain Plover,
Greater Sage Grouse, and Sprague's Pipit. Each
of these species faces pressures in the Sage
Creek area from a variety of sources, including
the encroachment of intensive agricultural,
oil and gas development, tourism, and global
warming.
In Addition
to the bird species, there are several other
“at risk” animal and plant species
that contribute to the unique ecological value
of the area. The southeastern corner of Alberta
represents the northern extent of the ranges
of various species (e.g., Eastern Short-Horned
Lizaerd, Prairie Rattlesnake, Swift Fox, Great
Plains Toad). These species are therefore of
very limited distribution in Canada.
Because of the
large “at risk” bird species that
occur in the region, the Sage Creek area was
recently identified as an Important Bird Area
(IBA). The IBA program is an international initiative
that seeks to identify and protect sites important
to the conservation of birds worldwide. The
program also recognizes that if bird conservation
initiatives are to be successful, a balance
must be struck between existing land uses in
an area, including the socio-economic needs
of local landowners, and bird conservation goals
and objectives
The sage Creek
IBA Draft Conservation Plan, developed by graduate
students from the university of Calgary in co-operation
with local stakeholders, outlines an inital
series of goals, objectcives and actions by
which the bird species in the Sage Creek IBA
will be conserved. The vision statement developed
in co-operation with the initial Sage Creek
IBA Stakeholders Group is as follows:
Because
the Sage Creek IBA represents one of the largest
contiguous blocks of dry mixed grass prairie
in North America and supports a variety of “at
risk” bird species, the Sage Creek IBA
Stakeholders Group will work to maintain both
the long-term ecological health and biodiversity
of this unique prairie ecosystem and the associated
ranching communities.
Goals and Objectives
The initial goals,
objectives, and actions of the Sage Creek IBA
Draft Conservation Plan were designed to provide
concrete steps by which this vision might be realized.
Four broad goals will guide the activies of the
Sage Creek IBA Stakeholder Group:
GOAL
1: Share
information about Sage Creek IBA with landowners,
leaseholders, and other stakeholders in the
Sage Creek IBA.
GOAL
2:
Promote research, monitoring, and restoration
activities aimed at the conservation of biodiversity,
and birds particularly “at risk” species
and their habitats in the Stage Creek IBA.
GOAL
3: Protect
and conserve native biodiversity, focusing on
bird populations and “at risk” species
and their habitats in Sage Creek IBA. This goal
consists of preventing or reducing four types
of impacts that may adversely affect bird populations:
A) habitat loss, fragmentation, and deterioration;
B) disturbance;
C) invasion of non-native species;
D) direct mortality.
GOAL
4: Over
time, expand the number of participants (paticularly
landowners and lease holders) in the Sage Creek
IBA Conservation Plan.
These goals, which
are further subdivided in this Plan into a series
of achievable objectives and actions, may grow
and change as they are implementd, as new participants
are brought into the program, and as other issues
come to light through additional research or
changing socio-economic conditions. Implementation
of the objectives and actions listed in this
Plan may fall to other agencies or be done in
a coordinated fashion with other organizations
Other
Conservation Initiatives
Numerous conservation
initiatives have focused their efforts on the
Sage Creek region in the past. the majority
of these were initiated by government organizations,
althogugh several were initiated by non-government
conservation organizations (e.g., Ducks Unlimited
Canada) or government/non-government agency
partnerships (e.g., the Cows and Fish Program).
Where possible, this Draft Conservation Plan
will seek to dovetail with the goals and objectives
of these initiatives, and will seek the support
of federal programs working towards similar
goals
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