**PAST EVENT** (AB) Intro to Conservation June 22 2024

Saturday, Jun 22 - Sunday, Jun 23, 2024
Cost: $15+tax
Experience Level: Beginner

Event Details

This event is taking place on the territory of the ɁamakɁis (Ktunaxa),
ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ ᐊᐢᑭᕀ Nêhiyaw-Askiy (Plains Cree), Ĩyãħé Nakón mąkóce (Stoney), Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ), Tsuut’ina, Michif Piyii (Métis), and Cree nation.

Due to limited spots, we ask our allies to please let BIPOC folks register for this event first. We will update this page and post on socials should spaces for allies become available.

We’re excited to be working in partnership with Trout Canada Unlimited Canada to bring our community outdoors and learn more about the conservation efforts of TUC and how it helps restore and rehabilitate the watershed in Alberta.

This is an amazing opportunity to engage with Conservationists, learn about their efforts, and how to be a part of the change. If you’re interested in learning more about conservation efforts and spending a day on the field doing hands-on restorative work with the Colour the Trails community, then this event is for you!

We believe in giving back, learning, connecting, and exploring opportunities in outdoor and conservation areas. While this event entails physical work, it is important to see what effort goes into maintaining natural areas. We have done trail work in the past in BC, and it is fulfilling to see positive impact of your work.

We will join Trout Unlimited Canada (TUC) in restoring degraded stream habitat in Elk Creek and Radiant Creek in central Alberta! These creeks are home to threatened populations of Bull Trout, which are in danger of disappearing from the watershed if habitat conditions do not improve. At both creeks, historic floods have caused parts of the creek to become unnaturally straight, simple, and wide. Some reaches become dry seasonally, leaving trout stranded in isolated pools.

To help rehabilitate critical fish habitat, TUC and volunteers will build beaver dam analogues and post-assisted log structures in degraded stream reaches. These structures mimic natural beaver dams and woody debris accumulations, and help kickstart stream recovery processes. TUC has been paving the path for the use of these novel techniques for stream restoration in Alberta, and we would love to have you along for the ride!

There will be a variety of volunteer work available, from carrying twigs and smaller woody debris, working in the stream, to helping out with heavier wood loads varying from 15-50lbs. TUC staff will be on hand all day to direct and support our efforts! Check out the first half of this video to see what the work looks like.

After the day of conservation work, we will be camping at Elk Creek for the night and departing back to Calgary on Sunday June 23.

Details:

Date: June 22- June 23 2024

Location: Elk Creek and Radiant Creek in central Alberta

Event Schedule

7:00am MST Departing Calgary

10:00am Arriving at Elk Creek

11am Introductions, Conservation Q & A

11 am – Conservation work

12:30 pm Lunch

1:30pm – 4:00pm Conservation work.

4 pm depart for Overnight camping at Elk Creek Campground,

June 23rd at 10 am: departing to Calgary

What to Bring:

Lunch, water, snacks
If staying overnight, enough water for 2 days, lunch, dinner, breakfast.
Weather appropriate clothing
A change of clothes in case someone takes a tumble in the creek
Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses (optional but recommended)
Good hiking/work shoes or rubber boots, if folks would prefer to not be in the creek
All PPE to participants, including work gloves, hard hats, and waders will be provided.
Camping gear if staying overnight (sleeping bag, mat, tent, camp stove, fuel). If you don’t have these let us know and they will be provided.

Transportation and Camping

Please note, this event is a 3 hour drive one way from Calgary. Each participant will be responsible for getting to this event. You can organize carpooling through our Private Facebook Group. If you are carpooling with someone, please make sure to chip in for gas. We will also be coordinating through an email thread once registration is complete.

While camping is not required, it is recommended given the distance from Calgary. However participants are welcome to drive out for the day and drive back to Calgary on the evening of June 22, 2024.

After the day of conservation work, we will be camping at Elk Creek for the night and departing back to Calgary on Sunday June 23. Colour the Trails and TUC will cover the donation fee for the campground. Tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stoves and fuel will be provided, upon request.

Please note this is an unserviced campground. All garbage must be packed out, and you must bring your own drinking water. Vault toilets are available onsite, however you must bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

Please refer to the amenities available as per Alberta Parks website: https://albertaparks.ca/parks/central/elk-creek-pra/information-facilities/camping/elk-creek/

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Requirements: 18+

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Community Guidelines:

Inclusion Policy:

At Colour the Trails, we are dedicated to fostering an environment that champions inclusivity, respect, and equality. We want to make it clear that we will not tolerate any form of anti-Blackness, anti-Indigenous attitudes, racism, homophobia, ableism or transphobia within our organization or community. We firmly stand against discrimination and prejudice, and we are committed to creating a safe and affirming space for individuals of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, abilities, and gender identities. Together, we strive to promote unity, understanding, and support for all trail enthusiasts, regardless of their background or identity. As a Black owned and Black led business, we recognize the greater prevalence of anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity and will always prioritize support and protection for Black and Indigenous communities.

Photo & Video Release Consent:

By purchasing a ticket you grant permission for Colour the Trails and sponsors to use any portion of the photos or videos from this event that have been taken by Colour the Trails videographers and photographers for the purpose of sharing experiences with the community and encouraging future participation in events which can include but is not limited to, print or digital versions, social media and websites without any more compensation or recognition given. Colour the Trails will not use the photographs in a manner that would exploit or cause malicious representation toward you.

Please contact [email protected] BEFORE the event if you do not want to be photographed or on video during an event.

Cancellation Policy

Participants are encouraged to communicate any cancellations or changes to their event attendance at the earliest convenience. This helps us manage our resources effectively and gives us the opportunity to offer the spot to other interested participants on the waitlist. We sincerely appreciate your cooperation and understanding of our cancellation policy. By adhering to these guidelines, we can continue to provide high-quality events and opportunities for all participants that is a fair and equitable system for event sign-ups.

Regular One Day Events Cancellation Policy

This policy applies to smaller one-day events. We would like to emphasize that even when the participation fee is low ($10-100) it is important to show up as last moment cancellations make us look bad as a group in front of partners that help us to create affordable events.

Cancellation At Least 7 Days In Advance: For cancellations made at least 7 days in advance of the scheduled event, no penalties will be incurred. Participants can request a full refund. In some cases when we pre-pay for spots with our hosts, we might need to fill in the spot in order to issue a refund.
Cancellation Within 7 Days: In the unfortunate event that a cancellation is requested less than 7 days before the scheduled event, or no shows the following policy will apply:

Refund: Cancellations made less than 7 days of the event will not be eligible for a refund.
Penalty: A three months ineligibility to attend future events. We leave a right to cancel any registration of the person under penalty in this time frame. After the three-month ineligibility period has elapsed, participants can once again sign up for future events without any restrictions.

Content Creation Statement

We ask to respect our work and not create content to promote any other brands or organizations during our events. Our team is putting a lot of energy and time into creating community spaces with little support and unrelated organizations should not benefit from our hard labour. You are encouraged to share about Colour the Trails work as it shows the welcoming and safe space we are creating and word of mouth helps our community to grow!

Please refer to our community guidelines for a full description of our policies and standards for community engagement.

FAQ

Who are Trout Unlimited Canada? Is this a fishing expedition?

This is not a fishing expedition! Trout Unlimited Canada is committed to tackling the pressing challenges facing our nation’s rivers, lakes, and wetlands through a variety of innovative programs and initiatives.

They have been working for over 50 years to conserve, protect, and restore Canada’s freshwater ecosystems and their coldwater resources for current and future generations.

What’s the likelihood that I encounter fish and other wildlife?

The area that we are working in is pretty open, so we are extremely unlikely to encounter any wildlife, especially with our group size. Even the cows give us a wide berth. We won’t be handling fish at all as part of this project, and the water should be pretty turbid, so it’ll be impossible to see the fish, either.

How do we get to Elk Creek and Radiant Creek? Are we hiking in or is it a drive up to the site?

The work and campsite is about a 3 hour drive from Calgary. We will be driving out, and carpooling to get there, We will be camping at Elk Creek and working in Radiant creek which is about a 10 minute drive from the campground. Everything will be accessible by a vehicle, so no hiking in is required.

Elk Creek Campground:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BL9cidHTBjiKs5QT7?g_st=ic

Radiant Creek worksite:

(52.04588517844449, -115.55373785343045)

Coordinates can be searched in Google Maps

What kind of conservation work will we be doing?

At the workday, we will likely be building more PALS, or post-assisted log structures, vs beaver dam analogues (BDAs). They’re in the same toolbox as BDAs, but mimic accumulations of large woody debris, like logjams and overhanging trees. Here’s a video showing one of TUC’s PALS in Radiant Creek during the spring snowmelt season last year. If you watch the centerline of the stream, you’ll notice that during this flood event, the PALS cause the stream to lengthen on the upstream end, and a new gravel bar has formed on the old stream channel.

What will the day in the field look like?

Why is this conservation work important?

These efforts are necessary to help rehabilitate critical fish habitat, TUC and volunteers will build beaver dam analogues and post-assisted log structures in degraded stream reaches. These structures mimic natural beaver dams and woody debris accumulations, and help kickstart stream recovery processes. TUC has been paving the path for the use of these novel techniques for stream restoration in Alberta, and we would love to have you along for the ride!

Do I need any gear or experience?

No, this event is beginner friendly and all PPE gear will be provided along with camping equipment for those who require it. PPE gear includes hard hats, safety glasses, waders, hearing protection, and work gloves for everyone. People are free to use their own PPE if they don’t want to share, too.

We will be using a hydraulic post-pounder during construction, and anyone working with or around this machine will need hard hats and hearing protection, but it’s not needed for anything else.

Just bring yourself, a positive attitude, and get ready to do some hands-on learning with the rest of the CTT community!

What does the cost of the event ticket go towards?

The $15.75 fee covers camping rentals (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, camp stove, and fuel) and a donation to the Elk Creek Campground.

Want to Learn More?

Here’s a blog post from the early days of the TUC project

https://tucanada.org/2021/08/04/building-p-a-l-s-with-our-pals/

An updated blog on the progress from 2022

https://tucanada.org/2023/01/11/radiant-creek-2022/

Check out these informational videos!

Here’s a video from Alberta Native Trout featuring Trout Unlimited Canada on the restorative work being done.

Here is a great video showing how beaver dams can change an area and make it more resilient to wildfires.

This is also a cool video showing how a degraded stream (eroding banks, single channel, little riparian vegetation) changes when beavers move into an area. You can see that not only is there immensely more water where the beavers are, the stream is also more complex, with all sorts of pools and side channels, and there is more and greener vegetation in the riparian area.

PAST EVENT (AB) Intro to Conservation June 22 2024