Friday, June 26, 2015 • Vol.26 No.35 • Neepawa, Manitoba #1 in Customer Satisfaction 6 Year Workmanship Warranty
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AUTOMOTIVE:
More power, less pollutants Pages 19-20
Canada’s largest conservation agreement signed
By Kate Jackman-Atkinson The Neepawa Banner Hundreds of years ago, buffalo grazed the area known as Big Grass Marsh. Now, with the signing of Canada’s largest conservation agreement, the land will remain in its natural state for now and into the future. The agreements were actually signed last winter, however the celebration at the site was held on Thursday, among the chatter of birds in the Big Grass Game Bird Refuge. About 40 people celebrated the culmination of two and a half years of work and the permanent protection of 43,500 acres of municipal land in the Big Grass Marsh area. The land covered by the Big Grass Marsh Conservation Agreement, located between Plumas and Langruth, includes marshland as well as land that is operated as a community pasture, providing grazing for area cattle. The conservation agreement allows the land to be grazed and managed as it is currently, but keeps it in permanent cover. This means that it can never be broken up and cultivated. “It’s nice to see that land left” The project was first brought forward close to three years ago by Richard Callandar, an RM of Lakeview councillor and rider at the Big Grass Grazer Co-op. He had heard about the conservation agreements in place to protect the Langford Community Pasture, south of Neepawa, and hoped that Big Grass could be protected in a similar way. Callander grew up in the area and has worked at the pasture, on and off, for 40 years. With only one, four mile road in the 43 sections that make up the area, Callander said, “It’s nice to see that land left.” Callander brought the idea to council and while some councillors were initially uncertain, they all came on board pretty quickly. He said, “The next meeting, they
PHOTO BY KATE JACKMAN-ATKINSON
It total, 43,500 acres of municipal land in the Big Grass Marsh area are now protected by a conservation agreement. The land covered includes the Game Bird Refuge. said, ‘You know, this is a good thing.’” Callander added, “Quite a few of them [councillors] are cattlemen and how better to preserve nature. Because we don’t have buffalo any more, we can use cattle.”
Callendar added that while he initially brought the idea forward, “I really did nothing but come up with the idea, other people did all the work… Everyone [at the ceremony] had a small part in making it happen.” Continued on page 8
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