I’m looking forward to my term as President of our Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society. I wish to thank Arlen Todd for his sage advice and coaching during the last year.

Over the past thirteen years, this group has evolved and grown to become an effective organization representing Alberta’s wildlife professionals and students. For many of our members, me included, the March annual meeting and conference continues to be "the highlight event" of the Alberta Chapter. Hosting successful conferences year after year is probably the single most important reason leading to the growth and success of the Chapter.

Every year a large number of "willing members", about 50 in total, participate in the planning, organizing and delivery of the annual conference. This year’s organizing committee and its teams did an exceptional job! Congratulations and thank you for your good ideas, for your hard work and for making this year’s conference a big success! My special thanks to the University of Alberta Student Chapter for hosting a very entertaining "welcome mixer" on Thursday evening. The students also did a great job chairing the regular sessions.

On the business side, thanks to our corporate sponsors for their generous donations. These donations allow the Chapter to keep the registration fees at a reasonable level. This year’s conference made a surplus. Any surplus funds along with membership fees are an important revenue source for maintaining the Chapter’s operational budget over the year.

Our annual auction was a financial success ($3625) and a lot of fun for all who participated. Pierre Tremblay, our volunteer auctioneer, was a real entertainer and got the crowd bidding on every item. Thanks to all the members who donated items and a special thanks to "the bidders with the deep pockets". All proceeds from the auction are dedicated to the ACTWS scholarship program.

The results from the evaluation forms (see below) show that most members are satisfied with the conference format. However, your executive will continue to improve on past meetings by trying new ideas in the future.

Best wishes,

Jack Nolan, President

Plans are moving ahead for the Annual Conference of the parent society in Calgary (Alberta) during Sept. 18-22, 2004. Contracts are in place with the Hyatt and Marriott Hotels, and the Telus Convention Centre (all in downtown Calgary). The Program Director of The Wildlife Society (TWS), Sandra Staples-Bortner, will also be contracting with Heritage Park as the venue for the closing barbeque function (Sept. 22, 2004).

The Arrangements Committee consists of a chair, vice-chair, and chairs for twelve subcommittees. A brief synopsis of the duties and structure for each of the twelve subcommittees is as follows (further details are available on request in the Annual Conference Handbook):

I have been proposed and affirmed by the Alberta Chapter of TWS (ACTWS) as the Arrangements Chair; I am responsible for recruiting the vice-chair and twelve subcommittee chairs. A number of members of the Alberta Chapter of TWS have already stepped forward and offered to serve on the Arrangements Committee, or offered to help out in other ways. I deeply appreciate that, and will be following up with those individuals in the near future. Elston Dzus and I have also contacted the Manitoba Chapter of TWS, and are exploring what roles Manitoba members are able to fill and are interested in filling from a distance. In the meantime, I need additional members of ACTWS to step forward and volunteer to serve on the Arrangements Committee, or on the subcommittees themselves. If you are willing to serve in either of those ways, but haven’t yet talked with me, please do so (see contact information at end of article). If you have already talked with me about getting involved in local arrangements but haven’t yet specified how, I’ll be talking with you further in the near future. As chair of the Arrangements Committee, I will also assist the subcommittee chairs with recruiting individuals to serve on their subcommittees.

If you are willing to step forward and be on the Arrangements Committee or on one of its subcommittees, please contact me by June 15, 2002. Positions available include vice-chair, chairs of the twelve subcommittees, and members of the subcommittees, as outlined above. Individuals who are willing to work only on-site during the conference will be recruited later. If you want additional information, please contact me at any time.

Members of the Arrangements Committee must be able to commit a substantial amount of time to the conference over an 18 month planning horizon. Also, it is highly recommended that committee members attend one of the previous years’ conferences as observers (i.e., either Vermont in 2003, or Bismarck, North Dakota during Sept. 24-28, 2002). All members of the Arrangements Committee will be formally appointed by the incoming TWS President for 2003-2004, Dan Decker. All members of the committee who are wildlife professionals must be members of the parent society of TWS (this is required in the by-laws).

I look forward to working with you to make the 2004 conference of TWS a great success!

Many thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the members of the Organizing Committee whose hard work helped make the 2002 AGM the success that it was. Please see page 13 for a list of volunteers.

• Meeting called to order by President Arlen Todd at 10:44 AM

• 50 people in attendance.

• Agenda was approved.

• Acknowledgements of service to Chapter in past year by Arlen.

• Motion to adopt minutes of 2001 Annual Business Meeting. A.Todd/ J. Nolan. Carried.

• 2001 Financial Statement and Auditor’s report. Motion to accept. M. Pybus/ B. Stelfox. Carried.

• Treasurer Dave McKinnon described GIC assets held by Chapter.

• Jack reported on the 2002 conference planning, budgeted for 170, expected 200 particiants. Corporate donations were at same or higher levels than previous Chapter conferences. Thanked Ken Kranrod, Robert Anderson and Ian Ross for fundraising efforts.

• Fee increase for this year to $100. Student rate kept low $40. 31 presentations, 15 posters. Acknowledged student participation. Auction raised $3625.

• E. Dzus – Commended conference for excellent content and organization.

Written Reports were accepted with the following discussions. L. Roy/B. Stelfox. Carried.

Hunting on Game ranches: Margo – If we wait longer we won’t get any input. Lee Foote – Possible to poll the true opinion of the membership? Chapter can offer a voice of reason on the issue. Strongly encouraged the formulation of a statement from the Chapter to the Government. Mike Dorrance – 1) When Game farms were given their approval it was with the limitation that there would be no hunting. 2) Nothing positive for game management. 3) Denigrates hunting, an important management tool. 4) Potentially inhumane method of slaughter for captive livestock. Dave McKinnon – Our position against game ranching is on record. Board shied away from wading into this debate on the issue of hunting ethics – this is more in the realm of the AFGA. What should our position be if other than a reiteration of our previous position?

Ernie Ewaschuk on the Alberta Endangered Species Conservation Committee. Submitted a list to Dave Prescott of the listed species. Recovery teams are currently preparing action plans. Ernie expressed optimism that committee is working well. Margo – Link to these lists should be available on our webpage.

Blair added an oral report on the changes to the tech scholarship proposed by I. Ross. Tech scholarship will be awarded in March to suit the college semester system.

Education and Information

Troy S. thanked Anne Hubbs for her leadership in this area.

Awards – Harry Stelfox. Acknowledged Eldon Bruns for past work as chair of this committee. There were four nominations for the Rowan award. Unanimous decision. Remaining 3 will be put forward next year. Evaluations committee examined the issue of there being a built-in bias towards a research career vs. an operations/management career. A bias was not evident to the committee. Input is invited for future considerations.

Membership - James Allen presented notice of the membership drive in Evie Merrill’s absence. Discussion of out of province members: Does residence outside the province relinquish voting rights in ACTWS? Both Margo and Mike considered it worthwhile to consider soliciting new members from outside the province in the section.

Motion for acceptance of unwritten reports. B. Glasgow/R. Bjorge. Carried.

Items of discussion: Recommended that host chapter does not hold chapter meeting in year of hosting major conference. Should another month be considered? Opinions were voiced that conference stay in March. Should a virtual conference be considered? Not desirable. Big part of our meeting is the once a year chance to gather face-to-face. A virtual business meting may be possible. How do we change officers in 2004? Our nominations and election is conducted by mail now. That doesn’t have to change. Concern that the same people leading subcommittees would be potential board members and that would be an drain on resources.

Discussion was closed in interest of time and referred to the Board for further consideration.

Fish, Fur and Feathers - Review by Arlen. Presentation to Fish and Wildlife Historical Society by the ACTWS of $5000 accepted by Petra Rowell. Petra spoke about the project and asked the following questions for members to answer. In your opinion what is the most significant event 1) in the past 100 yrs of wildlife management in Alberta? 2) during your career? 3) What has been your most significant contribution? (see page 15 for photo).

Lorne Fitch acknowledged.

Results: New members appear in bold.

Past-president: Arlen Todd

President: Jack Nolan

President-elect: Mark Boyce (acclaimed)

Secretary/Treasurer: Chris Shank (acclaimed)

Directors: Blair Rippin, Anne Hubbs, Ron Bennett, Mike Norton

The Alberta Chapter of the Wildlife Society gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors of the 2002 Annual Conference:

Dr. Ludwig Carbyn (Lu to most of us) has made outstanding contributions to the management and conservation of wildlife and their habitats, during a long and distinguished career in Alberta. Lu’s professional career has been largely spent as a biologist and research scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service from 1967 to 1997, and continuing to the present as an emeritus research scientist.

Lu has authored and co-authored 136 publications and reports, including both popular and scientific articles (and six books). He is internationally renowned for his work on wolves and other carnivores, and has made a very large contribution to the understanding of wolf-prey interactions. He has also contributed to the literature on bird communities, wildlife diseases and parasites, small mammals, and vegetation associations.

Lu has made truly exemplary contributions to various conservation organizations and initiatives, including but not restricted to the following: Canadian member of Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) – 23 years: Predator Technical Committee of Western Wildlife Directors – 11 years; technical advisor to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wolf Recovery team – 5 years; directorships on both of the Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists and the Advisory Board of the Boreal Institute for Northern Studies – 4 years each; Swift Fox Recovery Team – 4 years; Alberta representative to the Wildlife Society of Canada – 2 years; and Natural Areas Committee of the Edmonton Natural History Club – 5 years.

Finally, Lu has made notable contributions in teaching, and in international service. He has supported the thesis work of a total of 10 graduate and undergraduate students, and has had five international assignments (Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, USA).

(Read by Alistair Franke in Lu’s absence)

I am deeply honoured to receive this award. It is so much more meaningful to get recognition in my home province and from my peers, than when it comes from further afield.

I would like to reflect a bit on our society and the bigger picture. I remember well some 36 years ago when I first came to Edmonton, participating with my fellow graduate students in the Zoology department in dealing with conservation issues. Our two main professors were Bill Fuller and David Boag, both recipients of this award. The wildlife group was housed in a grey stucco World War II army duplex, on 112 Street, just east of the education building.

Our social centre was the Tuck Shop located across the street from St. Stephen’s College. As students we had informal get-togethers with David Boag and Bill Fuller and dealt with various conservation issues. It was a quasi-conservation club. One of the big issues was keeping the Winter Olympics out of Banff National Park. As students, we also felt very privileged to be participating in the then Canadian Society of Wildlife and Fisheries Biologists – known also as CSWFB – the forerunner of our society.

Many of our meetings were in private homes. For us graduate students, it was always great to meet practicing wildlife biologists. As I recall, there were only four: Bob Webb, John Stelfox, Bill Wishart and George Mitchell. Fisheries biologist Martin Paetz figured prominently as well amongst that group of provincial biologists, professors and graduate students. With the environmental movement we went through some agonizing times, including a name change to the Canadian Society of Environmental Biologists or CSEB. With this name change we lost momentum and ‘esprit de corps.’

It was not until Bill Glasgow took a leadership role and with the support of many others, particularly Margo Pybus, Mike Dorrance and Bill Samuel, established the Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society. What a good move that was! We can all be proud of the achievements of our Society. For the students of today, in particular, we need to continue to provide a vehicle to nurture growth and excellence in the profession.

A nice thing about our work is that we love what we do. I might suggest that we always keep the bigger picture in mind. We are in our field of expertise because we want to further the science of wildlife biology and to apply our findings to conservation. Striving to publish the results of our work, all the way from peer-reviewed journals to provincial and local natural history outlets, is important. There is little point in carrying out work unless you publish it in one form or another.

Above all else, never underestimate the power of the individual. I was lucky to have had many role models in my career, and it was my professor the late Douglas Pimlott who drove that point home to me through his work and dedication. To all students and young biologists – I say, ‘believe in yourself and stay focussed, no matter what the distractions.’

Thanks again for this award.

Jack Nolan’s career in wildlife management and research spans more than three decades and four different agencies, at both the provincial and federal levels, and all right here in Alberta. Throughout his career, Jack has demonstrated a particular strength in pulling all the pieces together – money, people, equipment and the good will needed to develop and deliver a variety of wildlife projects. It is this organizational capability and collegial personality that Jack has brought to his various contributions to the ACTWS over the past 12 years. These contributions include: a) helping to lay the groundwork, as a charter member, in establishment of the Chapter in 1990, b) helping with the organization and running of most annual meetings since the first meeting in Red Deer in 1990, including registrations, fund-raising auctions, and judging student presentations and photo contests, c) serving as director and chair of the nominating committee in 1992, d) serving as secretary-treasurer in 1995 and 1996, and e) serving as president-elect in 2001. Overall, Jack has been a strong and consistent player in bringing the ACTWS to the significant stature and role it now provides for the wildlife profession in Alberta.

Thank you very much for selecting me as this year’s recipient of the Dedicated Service Award. It is indeed a pleasure and a privilege to receive this award. What makes this presentation special for me is that many of the past award recipients have been colleagues that I have respected and looked up to for many years. It’s truly an honor to be recognized as a member of this group.

Thank you,

March 9, 2002

The Alberta Chapter annually presents academic student awards to promote interest and reward excellence in the field of wildlife conservation. This year there were three $1000 awards offered to successful candidates enrolled in (a) technical programs (Goddard Award), (b) university undergraduate programs, and (c) university graduate programs.

Posters advertising the awards were posted in late fall 2001 at all institutions where eligible students were enrolled. Deadline for receiving applications was mid-January 2002.

For the academic year 2001-2002 there were 21 applications for the three scholarships - 16 from students in technical, 2 from university undergraduate programs, and 3 from university post-graduate programs.

ACTWS member committees reviewed student submissions for each award category and awards were presented to successful candidates at the ACTWS annual conference at Edmonton in March 2002.

Successful candidates were:

• Robert (Bob) K. Goddard Memorial Scholarship - Jacqueline Kostal, Lakeland College

• University Undergraduate Scholarship – Stephen Taerum, University of Alberta

• University Post-Graduate Scholarship – Paul Frame, University of Alberta

Congratulations go out to the successful candidates and thanks and appreciation go to the students who participated and to the selection committee members who were considerably challenged by the high calibre of applicants.

I am proud to announce that we raised $3625 from the silent/live auction. A total of 78 items were donated for the auction and we would like to thank all the donors for their contribution to a worthy cause. We do have some very talented ACTWS members and thank them for spending the time making a one of a kind masterpiece. I would also like to thank the auctioneers, Mr.Tremblay and his wife, for doing a great job bringing in good dollars for the live auction items. Great job to all the fierce bidders that brought excellent prices for live auction items. I would to thank Brent Calverly, Margo Pybus, Jan Ficht, Dee Ryerson, Kurtis Saker and others that make the auction a success. Overall I think it was a fun and successful auction.

The photo contest was a great hit again this year, with numerous excellent submissions. Results of the contest.

From: Michelle Hiltz
Chairperson, Audit Committee
Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society

To: Arlen Todd
President
Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society

Date: February 28, 2002

AUDIT OF THE FINANCES OF THE ALBERTA CHAPTER OF THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2001.

Mr. David McKinnon (Secretary/Treasurer) of the Alberta Chapter of The Wildlife Society asked that I chair an audit committee to review the finances of the Chapter for the 2001 calendar year. The audit committee consisted of Larry Roy, Sharon Kendall and myself. Mr. McKinnon provided the attached financial statement and all relevant materials and financial records for the purposes of our review including a Bank Confirmation provided to Mr. McKinnon by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

Arlen Todd and I attended the Northwest Section of the Wildlife Society’s Annual Meeting held in Spokane, WA April 17-19, 2002. Although the meeting was somewhat thinly attended, the diversity and quality of the presentations were very impressive. The overall theme of the meeting was "Adapting to a Changing Society: The Future of Wildlife Research and Management", and this was quite well-introduced during the plenary session by speakers such as Tom Beck from Colorado Division of Wildlife and Wayne Pacelle, Senior Vice President of Communications for the Humane Society of the United States.

Wayne Pacelle, in particular, made some very interesting and controversial appeals to the wildlife profession regarding advocacy for the humane treatment of wildlife, habitat conservation, recognizing the public interest in general, and stopping activities such as cougar hunting with hounds. His statements were somewhat anthropomorphic and had limited applicability to the larger objectives of population and habitat biology, yet it was quite refreshing to see him there. It was an opportunity for biologists to directly address a series of arguments for wildlife that required a cool, objective response backed by science and reason. It tested our professional resolve as managers, researchers, and advocates of the resource.

Pacelle quoted poll results indicating that much of the public in the US shared similar viewpoints to that of the Humane Society. This stimulated the question of whether or not the biological profession is addressing the public interest appropriately, or whether the profession is not doing as well as it could be in educating the public on wildlife biology and conservation. I heard statements made by biologists following the presentation such as "That guy is encyclopedic in his ignorance of biology" to "These are the kinds of arguments we have to address if we want our profession to thrive and be respected". Either way, Pacelle’s presentation made us think.

The following day was rich with sessions on transportation networks and wildlife habitat, tools for management (DNA, GIS and other tricks and gizmos), multi-species approaches to viability in conservation planning, forest pathogens and natural disturbances into wildlife management, and an inspring speech by Jack Ward Thomas, Endowed Chair, Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of Montana, on professional credibility and ethics for wildlife biologists. Dr. Thomas was referring to the "Lynxgate" issue, where in December, 2001 the Washington Times reported that government biologists studying lynx conspired to plant lynx hairs in a habitat survey to satisfy the interests of an illicit environmental agenda. Very quickly the media, politicians, special interest groups and industry accused the biologists of fraud and demanded investigations and hearings. A subsequent investigation revealed that the biologists submitted control samples to test the accuracy of the DNA lab and determine the probability of false positives. They did not conceal this fact and the US Forest Service determined that the biologists had not violated the law or attempted to bias the survey results (US Forest Service Investigation Report: 5 USCS 7512).

Dr. Thomas points out that despite the ruling by the US Forest Service, the professional reputation of biologists was questioned and damaged. Dr. Thomas emphatically expressed the principle of professional credibility with the following: "Our profession is relatively young. The founders, using science as a base, informed the public and political decision makers of the direct and indirect effects of humans on wildlife and wildlife habitat. Through hard work, bit-by-bit, they established the credibility necessary to inspire people to listen, heed their message, and entrust them with the authority and responsibility to care for wildlife and their habitats. That credibility was paid for in the currency of thousands of professional lifetimes spent building a scientific foundation and in the application of expanding knowledge and experience in assessment and management". He went on to say that this credibility was threatened by the lynx scandal and that biologists should re-evaluate their commitment to upholding their professional ethics by doing the following:

3. Condemn violations.

Dr. Thomas then asked that biologists learn from this event and "move on". Although the scandal was a US matter, the applicability of ethics and the responsibilities we have to the profession and the public are very relevant to us in Canada as well. Words well heeded indeed.

Following the Thomas speech were some very inspiring presentations given by prominent biologists. One I particularly enjoyed was Jon Haufler of the Ecosystem Management Research Institute in Montana, who’s presentation was entitled "Planning for Species Viability: Time to Shift from a Species Focus". Dr. Haufler outlined the various approaches of species vs. ecosystem/community approaches to wildlife management and discussed the relative merits of each. He concluded that the future success of viability assessments will depend on using a variety of approaches and tools, but first a well-thought out strategy needs to be developed by the managing agency that clearly defines goals and objectives of species viability.

Although I did not attend the evening banquet and did not hear the featured speaker, I understand that it was a success.

The last day of the meeting involved a very interesting mix of topics including carnivore research, marbled murrelets and the session I chaired, a mixed-bag of presentations under the glamorous title: Contributed Papers. Alberta’s own Bob Lessard, a Ph.D student under Fiona Schmiegelow at the U of A, gave an excellent presentation titled "Using spatial game theory to predict the behaviour of a multi-species predator-prey system". Bob’s presentation was well received and very timely as it focussed on the interactions between caribou, wolves and moose.

In conclusion, I would say that the meeting was very much a success. I thoroughly enjoyed the quality and diversity of the presentations as well as meeting our counterparts in the south. I would encourage other members to attend these meetings, organize a session, deliver a presentation, or just schmooze with our colleagues.

All the best,

It’s been a good year and students were able to participate in a variety of projects ranging from bighorn sheep surveys and deer ecology work to fish rescues and rattlesnake work. The current executive is convocating this year and a new executive has been elected. Thank you to everyone who supported our chapter in terms of supplying projects and to those who participated in the projects. I will be working out of Lethbridge this summer, so if there are any questions regarding the chapter or interest in obtaining some volunteers please feel free to contact me. Thanks again.

It’s that time of year again, the time of change. The birds are back, green grass is making its way to the surface, blue skies are teasing studying students, and some students are preparing for their final farewell from LCC. The 2002/2003 Wildlife Society Student Chapter executive committee has been selected. We would like to thank last year’s executive committee for doing an amazing job. Without your hard work and dedication, the society would not be as healthy as it is now. The torch has been passed to a new team of dedicated individuals who are determined to keep the society a success.

Thanks,

Vice-President: Mecah Klem

Jaymes Going, scoutman18@hotmail.com

Bob Wesley, special_bob25@hotmail.com

Treasurer: Tyler Waldron

Jarod Dashwood, jarods@hotmail.com

Sylvia Vachon, silly000@hotmail.com

Membership Director: Tyrell Helmsley

Hello all! Just letting you know about next year’s executive for the U of A Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society:

President: Stephen Taerum, staerum@ualberta.ca

Vice President: Janet Ng, jwn@ualberta.ca

Treasurer: Tammy MacMillan, tammac@telusplanet.net

The remainder of our executive positions will be chosen next year.

Stephen Taerum, President, U of A Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society

A North American Waterbird Conservation Plan is near completion and a regional conservation plan for colonial and non-colonial waterbirds in Alberta is currently under development. The regional plan covers 39 breeding species in the grassland, parkland and boreal transition zones of the Canadian prairie provinces and the prairie pothole region of the northern United States. The working group which is putting the Canadian content of the plan together includes representation from Canadian Wildlife Service (lead), Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and many other agencies.

The document will summarize the state of our knowledge of waterbirds (habitat requirements, populations, trends, distributions) and will identify key information gaps. Several high priority species have been identified through a formal status assessment process. Priorities for research, monitoring, and conservation action will be discussed. The document will also include a preliminary listing of "key sites" for waterbirds, and detailed species accounts. One of the biggest needs is to begin monitoring of populations.

A pilot project will be undertaken in summer 2002 to conduct surveys for noncolonial marshbirds. Possibilities for monitoring of key colonial breeding sites could involve volunteers or regional staff of several agencies. The NPPW Conservation Plan is currently in draft form, with completion expected later this year. For more information, contact Gerry Beyersbergen (780-951-8670, gerard.beyersbergen@ec.gc.ca) or Mike Norton (780-951-8687, mike.norton@ec.gc.ca).

Please send any references of recently published articles to sue.cotterill@gov.ab.ca. Articles of interest include those authored by ACTWS members on Alberta wildlife.