Situated southwest of Drumheller, Alberta, made famous by the rich diversity and pristine views of the Red Deer River, the Rosebud River Valley is no less awe inspiring. Stunning scenery abounds amongst badland cliffs and steep native grassland slopes that confine the Rosebud River within its embanked walls. The valley floor is blanketed by rich riparian zones, all of which provide critical habitat to many species that either reside year-round or return on their annual migration to rear new young. Above these abrupt structural features, fingers of cultivated lands spill outwards onto the plains. These cultivated fields are separated from one another other by smaller, but in some cases no less steep, networks of coulees that branch off the main river channel.
In 1909, American settler’s Henry and Maud Clark, arrived to the Rosebud River Valley. They built a small homestead along the river, under towering badland cliffs, protected from the harsh prairie winds above. They started working the land in 1910. Their descendants have continued on ever since. Passionate about protecting this unique prairie landscape and the many species that inhabit it, family members Rick and Linda Skibsted and Richard and Wendy Clark, have led a grassroots conservation effort to protect the Rosebud River Valley alongside their partner Western Sky Land Trust. They have rallied their local community to help establish the larger Rosebud Conservation Area, currently totaling an area of 7500 acres. They have also sought out assistance in supporting species at risk. Nesting Golden Eagles on the Skibsted property have been featured on the CBC Nature of Things. Cliffs on the property provide nesting habitat for this provincially listed species, as well as others like the Prairie Falcon. Federally listed species such as Bank Swallows, Loggerhead Shrikes, Short-eared Owls, and American Badgers, also rely on habitat within this area.
The WFPGI SIP grant is allowing for further investigation of at risk species, including Alberta’s bat population. At least nine bat species, five of which are listed either federally or provincially, live in Alberta. Although some information is known about them, large information gaps still exist.
Funding from this program is connecting stakeholders from various interest groups. Biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Western Canada Bat Conservation Program are working jointly with the Skibsted’s, Clarks, and Western Sky, who in turn are volunteering their time to help deploy and upload data from the detectors to the biologists in an effort to uncover new information. This information will also be shared with the larger North American Bat Monitoring Program.
Some of the questions this work is hoping to help answer include:
In 1909, American settler’s Henry and Maud Clark, arrived to the Rosebud River Valley. They built a small homestead along the river, under towering badland cliffs, protected from the harsh prairie winds above. They started working the land in 1910. Their descendants have continued on ever since. Passionate about protecting this unique prairie landscape and the many species that inhabit it, family members Rick and Linda Skibsted and Richard and Wendy Clark, have led a grassroots conservation effort to protect the Rosebud River Valley alongside their partner Western Sky Land Trust. They have rallied their local community to help establish the larger Rosebud Conservation Area, currently totaling an area of 7500 acres. They have also sought out assistance in supporting species at risk. Nesting Golden Eagles on the Skibsted property have been featured on the CBC Nature of Things. Cliffs on the property provide nesting habitat for this provincially listed species, as well as others like the Prairie Falcon. Federally listed species such as Bank Swallows, Loggerhead Shrikes, Short-eared Owls, and American Badgers, also rely on habitat within this area.
The WFPGI SIP grant is allowing for further investigation of at risk species, including Alberta’s bat population. At least nine bat species, five of which are listed either federally or provincially, live in Alberta. Although some information is known about them, large information gaps still exist.
Funding from this program is connecting stakeholders from various interest groups. Biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Western Canada Bat Conservation Program are working jointly with the Skibsted’s, Clarks, and Western Sky, who in turn are volunteering their time to help deploy and upload data from the detectors to the biologists in an effort to uncover new information. This information will also be shared with the larger North American Bat Monitoring Program.
Some of the questions this work is hoping to help answer include:
- identifying species of bats occurring along the Rosebud River using stationary acoustic detectors;
- capturing acoustic data at several sampling sites along the Rosebud River to use as an index of relative activity of bats and presence of bats in the area. This data will be used to compare with future measures to give an indication of the impact on local bat populations as a result of the spread of white-nose syndrome into the area.
- maintaining acoustic recordings over winter to identify if bats are wintering in the area;
- using the characterization of the bat community to determine priority conservation goals that aim to a) protect key habitat areas b) help build resilience in bat populations facing the threat of white-nose syndrome infection.