The Fish Creek Provincial Park was established in the late 1970s thru a vision of Peter Lougheed. He halted the newly proposed plan for the Deerfoot to run right thru the park and in doing so has preserved this environment for years to come. The park is different today with the huge population growth in the city.
Friends of Fish Creek began almost thirty years ago. They now have 6.5 staff members. Thru the hard work and dedication of approximately 250 volunteers per year volunteer hours add up to 10,000 hours. They operate under a cooperative agreement with Alberta Environment and Parks. Thru a vision of the volunteers who saw a gap, the Society was borne.
As Rotarians, we are aware of the work involved in grant writing and reporting, the same is true here. There are so many corporate supporters. They come bearing donations, sponsorships and sweat equity. Right now, Friends of Fish Creek have 800 members who also donate their time, talent, and treasurers. Public outreach, events and fundraisers are especially important. Every year, they host 20 different programs and events. The range is from photo contests to popup blitz outreach in the park to teach users about sharing the trails, safety and where the official trails are. There is no shortage of work to be done in the park.
The wellness program will kick off this week. It is another way of engaging people thru mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Offerings include nature and meditation walks, yoga, safety in nature. These social enterprise programs offer non-designated funds, unlike grants. Funders are more interested in funding something new, other than the operating costs. Education programs also fall under social enterprise programs. Birding is immensely popular. Covid is always front and center changing and adapting to ways programming can be offered – the online speaker series is an example. Or not offered as in-person school group education programs.
The next category, watershed stewardship, is huge and is the bulk of what the society does. All the work in the outdoors. Includes riparian stewardship, such as tree wrapping, tree planting, park clean up, park watch, weed control. The list is lengthy.
The Enhanced Partnership with Societies Pilot Project (EPP) utilizes a sizeable government grant received in 2020. It will increase the capacity as a non-profit organization and develop partnerships to enhance expertise and knowledge. On the plus side, there is giving back to the community, leveraging what programs can be offered, opening underutilized facilities. One project is to open the Bow Valley Visitor Center to the public using volunteers to staff the facility at peak times.
Poplar Forest Stewardship is another project. In the early 2000’s a researcher discovered the poplars were not naturally regenerating as the forest should. This is due to a lack of silty, sandy soil and the choking out of baby seedlings by an invasive grass called brome. To diversify the age of the poplars trees with their own watering system are being planted. Included under this project are beaver co-existence and tree wrapping.
Three other programs under EPP include Learning Naturally which has gone to virtual learning for schools. Weed Watchers identifies over 40 different invasive species, maps out the location and manual pulling begins. Invasive Species Management has five pilot projects working with various partners to control specific invasive species.
Shana pointed out that the impact of volunteers helps to maintain a healthy, functional eco-system, but of equal importance is the impact on the volunteers themselves in giving back. Covid had the volunteer program shut down in many areas which was hard on the volunteers. We, as Rotarians, understand this too well!
There are several ways to support Friends of Fish Creek thru membership, donations to the truck fund, dedication benches, bricks and gifts, sponsorship of events or entire programs, and group stewardship activities. The Jobber House is currently undergoing renovations.
Q: What are the challenges the park faces with wildlife?
A: This is a matter of educating the public on what to expect in the park. The park is the largest east/west corridor that funnels wildlife from the foothills and back.
Q: Can you explain the digital mapping program?
A: The digital app allows us to take stewardship results and digitally map them. This then allows us to prioritize and plan where we do stewardship work. It also provides hard, robust data to measure the impact of our efforts.
Q: Can you explain the volunteer opportunities for riparian work?
A: There is rewilding work which involves repair and restoration of the banks along the creek. As a result of overuse by humans there is soil packing. To negate this, the soil is broken up and native trees are planted to provide more stability.
Q: If you see a damaged bike path who should you call?
A: The bike paths are the responsibility of Alberta Parks.
Bob Acton was the thanker. He commented on how much he had learned about what the Friends of Fish Creek does. The work done benefits the environment, a new area of focus for Rotary, but also the people – again a parallel for Rotary volunteers.
Announcements
- Bill Quinney gave a re-cap of the fence build for the Reset Society last Saturday and Sunday. Volunteers include Claude Massé as the key person and foreman, Bill Quinney, Maury Quinney, Rod McMahon, Don Edie, Bill Fitzsimmons, Gord Cox, Terry Felton, Steve Strang, Darren Grierson, David Wartman, and David Impey. The pictures David took told the whole story. Pat Fitzsimmons was a god end bringing lemonade to the hot and tired workers - a welcome reprieve. Will we ever know if the lemonade was spiked?! Well done, everyone!
- Don Edie told us that membership fees are due by June 22. If you are waiting for the last minute to pay, now is the last minute!! Check your ClubRunner email for your invoice. If you have any questions, please contact Don Edie or Karl Herzog.
- On July 20 and 21, there will be a golf game or two at Trickle Creek near Kimberley. Accommodation has been arranged by Bob Pearson and Malcolm Harrison at a reduced rate. Spouses and everyone are welcome – perhaps a hike if you are a non-golfer.
President Bill thanked team 3 for hosting the meeting today. Team lead is Garfield Ganong, Zoom host: Don Edie, chat room monitor: Des DeFreitas, greeter: Marie Rickard, speaker Intro: Gord Cox, speaker thanker: Bob Acton.
Next week’s meeting will be the gavel turnover from President Bill to President-elect Marlene. The countdown has begun.
Meeting adjourned at 1:23 pm.
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