Multiple Land Use Management: Case Studies on Building Partnerships

As part of the Saskatchewan commitment to the North American Waterfowl Management Plan the Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation (SWCC) is acquiring over 30,000 acres of native vegetation in a contiguous block around the Big Quill Lake in east central Saskatchewan. Some of this range land was in extremely poor condition. This lake is of internationally significant importance to waterfowl, nesting and migrating shorebirds. SWCC goals for this area are to improve the condition and vigour of the range for livestock and to provide and protect habitat for wildlife such as Baird's sparrow and piping plovers. Big Quill Lake is a shallow, saline lake whose waters and mud flats cover approximately 90 square miles. It is a major migratory stopover for shorebirds having recently been dedicated as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site. Prior to SWCC involvement, approximately half of the 30,000 acres was accessible to cattle for seasonlong grazing whereas the other half was vacant but had received some grazing in the past from unauthorized free-ranging cattle. A history of land use was obtained, a range evaluation performed and management plans were developed and implemented. An extensive inventory of the range and its condition was done to develop multiple use management plans. These plans recommended cattle access be removed from approximately 20 miles of shoreline and 7,000 acres with vulnerable forage resources. Water development and fence construction on 84,000 acres on four separate pastures will allow the implementation of deferred and rest-rotation grazing systems. Grazing will be deferred on another 870 acres of riparian habitat. Improved cattle distribution and better utilization of forage resources should allow local livestock producers to maintain a similar number of cattle now as in the past and improve vegetative cover for grassland-nesting birds. The catalyst for this work and the many partnerships that were developed through it was the United States' North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA), which funds 75% of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The initial contributors included the states of Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming as well as the Nature Conservancy and Wildlife Habitat Canada. Local partners included the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) PFRA, Ducks Unlimited, Sask Power, local landowners and grazing cooperatives. SWCC has begun preliminary work on the Chaplin Lake complex. Like Big Quill, shorelines provide prime nesting habitat for the piping plover, an endangered species. Both places are also within the range of Baird's sparrow, a threatened species known to prefer lightly or ungrazed native grasslands. During the peak of the migration in late May Chaplin Lake is a stopover for one half of the entire population of Sanderlings. Chaplin Lake is mined for sodium sulphate and its brine shrimp. Its lunar appearance is misleading as Chaplin Lake is rich in tourism opportunities for bird watching and other natural area interpretation. An Ecotourism study was initiated with the assistance of Gold Corp. and the PFRA's Partnership on Agriculture and Rural Development (PARD). Range evaluation and grazing system designs have been done with the financial assistance of the NAWMP and CWS. Shorebird studies have begun to quantify numbers and species for the lake's WHSRN dedication. This paper will review the rationale, evaluation, planning and partnership building required to implement both projects.

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