The Landscape: Land Use Challenges
The Edmonton capital region, the fastest growing metropolitan region of Canada, is immediately adjacent the Beaver Hills. Although past land use in the Beaver Hills has mainly been restricted to agriculture (grazing), demand for recreational, urban and country residential land use is placing increasing pressure on the area.
The unique qualities and the extensive natural areas of the Beaver Hills are valued by both area residents and Albertans. The shared resources this area offers — clean and abundant drinking water, clean air and biological diversity — are valued components of a currently viable ecosystem. The Beaver Hills Initiative developed from a collective recognition among government agencies and locally-active environmental groups that for this ecosystem to remain sustainable, growth and development must consider these shared resources, and their sensitivity to development.
The Beaver Hills, like all ecological landscapes, function as a unit. The interaction between hydrology, soils, terrain and climate have produced the mosaic of boreal forest and wetlands that in turn support the biodiversity and greenspace we value. In order to conserve these values, land use management must consider both the components and their interactions. The sections below provide an overview of the key components of the Beaver Hills ecosystem, their interactions, and the threats to the system as a whole, as background for the development of future land use policy.