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(Top) Representatives from DUC, Tundra Oil and Gas Partnership and the local RM stand alongside members of the Johnson Family at the dedication site on the Johnson’s bison ranch.
(Bottom) Conservation agreements protect the natural features on the land and ensure a healthy landscape for future generations to enjoy. This agreement is a natural fit for the Johnsons’ bison operation as the existing and restored wetlands provide adequate water for the herd and ultimately maintain and increase the quality of their land.
Elkhorn family honoured for conservation agreement on their land
Brandon, Man., October 15, 2010 — Not new to being a partner in conservation, the Johnson family of Elkhorn, Man. recently signed a conservation agreement with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), protecting 1,040 acres of habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife in perpetuity. An official dedication ceremony hosted by Tundra Oil and Gas Partnership and DUC celebrated this important project on the Johnsons’ bison ranch recently.
Conservation agreements (PDF) protect the natural features on the land and ensure a healthy landscape for future generations to enjoy. This agreement is a natural fit for the Johnsons’ bison operation as the 171 existing and restored wetlands stretching across 10 quarter sections provide adequate water for the herd and ultimately maintain and increase the quality of their land.
“We live in an area with a great deal of marginal land that shouldn’t be annually cropped,” said Darren Johnson. “We have a bison herd that can better use the land and can co-exist with waterfowl and other wildlife. By keeping livestock and other animals on the land improves the soil. We’re not just livestock producers, we’re also soil farmers.”
The Johnsons bought their first cows in 1997 and now have a herd of 300 females. Johnson said they rotationally graze their bison herd like they originally would have 100 years ago by not overgrazing or spending too much time in one spot.
Tundra Oil and Gas and Ducks Unlimited Canada have a unique partnership (PDF) that promotes Conservation Agreements in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to show how profitable business ventures like commercial agriculture and resource extraction can be complementary with maintaining healthy habitats for wildlife and people.
“Owning land is something that comes naturally to people in Manitoba and keeping the land healthy and productive is the life’s work for many landowners, just like the Johnsons,” said Mark Francis, DUC head of habitat retention out of Brandon. “I think everybody’s long-term goal should be to improve the production of their land and conservation agreements, made possible with partnerships like the one we have with Tundra, are tools landowners can use to meet their long-term conservation goals.”
The Johnsons were first part of DUC habitat protection initiatives in 1988 with the construction of the Niso Creek wetland project located on some of their land. Large wetland projects like this were designed to ensure permanent brood rearing sites for waterfowl – especially during years of drought.
The Johnsons have chosen to operate in a manner where farming and wildlife can co-exist, which is not always the case in an agricultural-dominated landscape. Currently more than 70 per cent of the wetlands in southwest Manitoba alone have been totally drained or severely degraded having a profound effect on waterfowl and the ecological goods and services provided by wetlands and their associated habitats. These environmental benefits include groundwater recharge, erosion, flood and drought control, storing greenhouse gases that could otherwise add to climate change and recreation and other ecotourism opportunities.
Several other conservation projects are located around the Johnson farm, providing a mosaic of secure habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.
Funding for this and other conservation agreement projects in the Prairie Pothole Region of Manitoba and Saskatchewan is generously provided by Tundra Oil and Gas Partnership through the Healthy Prairie Landscapes Initiative.
For more information, contact:
Karli Reimer, k_reimer@ducks.ca
National Communications Specialist – Conservation
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Phone: 204-467-3279
