The 2013 Alberta Soil Science Workshop was held from February 19-21 in Lethbridge, with the theme 'Futursol: A New World Order.' Over the course of three days, participants heard from keynote speakers, plenary speakers and poster sessions related to what's happening in Alberta related to soil - from agriculture to forestry to land reclamation. The Alberta Land-use Knowledge Network was pleased to record many of the sessions from ASSW 2013.
At the 2013 Alberta Soil Science Workshop, Rob Dunn introduced the work beginning on a conservation offset pilot in SE Alberta. Working with farmers and ranchers, Alberta Agriculture is coordinating the pilot as it works through the economic models and land agreements to convert cropland into native pasture with habitat for SE Alberta wildlife and native plants. In exchange for this conversion, farmers and ranchers would be eligible for voluntary conservation offset payments from oil and gas firms with developments in SE Alberta. Rob Dunn outlines the framework and partners for the pilot project.
Rob Dunn is an Agricultural Land Management Specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development in Lethbridge, Alberta.