An authority on Alberta’s Trumpeter Swan Recovery Plan outlined the organization’s study during a presentation at the Beaupré Community Hall on Nov. 24.
Len Hills, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Calgary, discussed the recovery plan, first prepared under the supervision of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development’s (ASRD) Fish and Wildlife division in 2008, for about an hour.
A proposed development of an AltaLink electrical substation near Beaupré Lake, located about 16 kilometres west of Cochrane, has citizens concerned and wanting more information.
“These beautiful birds have always used Beaupré Lake as a rest stop on their migration route,” Hills said. “Many of us see them on the lake every year but know very little about them. This is our chance to change that.”
“He is a recognized authority on the subject,” said Pauline McGregor, president of Beaupré Community Association. “When I talked to Len about it, he said ‘I don’t mind if there are two people there, as long as they’re two people that are interested.’ But we’ve had quite a lot of interest. More trumpeter swans are killed by running into an electrical wire than by any other method. That is why we all got interested.”
The trumpeter swan is the largest of all North American waterfowl, with an average adult weight of 26 pounds for males and 22 pounds for females. They were first listed as endangered in 1987, but are now listed as a threatened species.
“Recovery plans establish a basis for cooperation among government, industry, conservation groups, landowners and other stakeholders to ensure these species and populations are restored or maintained for future generations,” said Hills, who was part of the ASRD’s swan recovery team created in 2003.
“The overall goal of the recovery program is to restore species identified as threatened or endangered, to viable, naturally self-sustaining populations within Alberta.”
For more information, visit www.srd.alberta.ca
