Welcome to Antelope Creek Habitat Development AreaThe Antelope Creek is a success story that dates back to 1986. It is a showcase of how ranching and grazing, irrigation, oil and gas and wildlife and the habitat it depends on can work together for the benefit of all. PartnershipsFrom the beginning, the operating philosophy of Antelope Creek Ranch has been to work with partners. The original four partners set up the management of the ranch, but in the ensuing years, we have had many important partners. The Eastern Irrigation District, the Universities of Lethbridge and Calgary, Public Lands, Encana and Murphy Oil, and many others have helped play a part in making Antelope Creek Ranch the success story it has become. Mission StatementUse the ACR as a demonstrative and educational tool to show land users and resource managers how to manage and integrate agricultural, recreational and industrial use of the prairie landscape to optimize the societal benefits derived from this landscape while maintaining its health and the integrity of its ecosystems. (See also Original Vision Document ) Current Ranch EventsStarting in early August this year the Alberta Institute of Agrology will be conducting a three day course on the 2010 cultivated and grassland reclamation criteria. They are planning 3, three day courses the first one is open to anyone interested, it starts on August 3 2011 and they will all be held here on the ranch. If you are interested please go to the Alberta Institute of Agrology website events calendar under news and career info for registration info.Our bird teams are back again for the summer of 2011 continuing last summers work. Things are going well and we expect they will be finished up by the end of July. It's great having such a big research project on the ranch. We are fortunate to have two research teams on the ranch this summer doing bird research. Dr. Stephen Davis, University of Regina, will have a team of four, researching the effects of oil and gas activity on song bird nesting. The other team will be under Dr Nicola Koper, University of Manitoba, and they will be doing bird point counts on the ranch. Dr. Koper will be working through out Alberta and cooperating with Dr. Davis while on the ranch. On the evening of May 17 2009 there was a grass fire on the ranch fortunately all that was lost was a few acres of grass. We were very lucky that one of the ranch patrons, Blake Mulvey, was dropping off cattle when he looked and saw smoke. We called the fire department and with the help of our neighbors we were able to control the fire before it did too much damage. The area that was burned was in a tree row and sorting pen that get very little grazing. As grass and fire are natural friends this area should be green and lush by mid summer. Check out the photos from the day after. |
