Paying for Conservation

Municipal powers to generate revenue for conservation

The Issue / Idea

Municipal governments are responsible for a wide variety of conservation and environmental outcomes. From park lands to environmental reserves, from weeds to biodiversity, municipalities have a myriad of environmental obligations that cost money. This project asks the questions: what powers do municipalities currently have to generate revenue for local conservation costs? What additional options should (could?) municipalities have to do so?

The Project

This project sets out the provisions of the Municipal Government Act that allow municipalities to generate revenue, from property taxes to special taxes to opportunities to raise revenues using land the municipality already owns. The scope and application of these revenue generation options are outlined. This project also considers examples of legislative approaches in British Columbia and Ontario and whether they could have any application in Alberta.

Paying for conservation: Municipal powers to generate revenue for conservation

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Environmental Law Centre

Status

Completed in

May 2021

Supporters

Max Bell Foundation

Anonymous Foundation

Municipal Planning and Environmental Autonomy

An update on provincial paramountcy and its implications for progressive environmental planning and decision making

The Issue / Idea

The Municipal Government Act (MGA) enables municipal powers over land use planning which has direct implications for the environment. At the same time the MGA limits the ability of municipalities to meet their planning objectives by curtailing municipal powers with respect to the environment where provincial authorizations are also at play. To what extent can provincial authorizations undermine municipal decision-making on the environment?

The Project

This project highlights select legislative changes to the MGA and discusses how they may undermine municipal autonomy over environmental outcomes. Some of these legislative changes occurred as recently as 2020 while others date back to the early 1990s. This report describes these changes and the resulting implications for municipal planning and decision-making. The question that underpins the report is whether we have gone too far in limiting municipal powers to set a planning agenda that acts to protect the environment.

Municipal Planning and Environmental Autonomy: An update on provincial paramountcy and its implications for progressive environmental planning and decision making

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Environmental Law Centre

Status

Completed in

May 2021

Supporters

Max Bell Foundation

Anonymous Foundation

Roadside Management for Pollinator Habitat in Alberta

A review of current research and management that promotes roadside pollinator habitat

The Issue / Idea

Managing and/or restoring roadsides for pollinator habitat.

The Project

Pollinators contribute to food security, biodiversity maintenance and ecosystem resiliency in addition to their social and cultural value. However, pollinators, particularly native populations, are declining around the world due to threats from habitat loss and land use practices. Roadsides, and other marginal lands, are not traditionally managed to support biodiversity or pollinators. However, these lands provide a unique conservation opportunity to continue serving their traditional purposes, while also supporting native pollinator populations.

Roadside restoration for pollinators was identified as a topic of interest to municipalities in Alberta through Community Conserve. We initiated a survey to determine what type of projects municipalities in Alberta are currently undertaking to support pollinator populations and conducted a literature review to summarize beneficial management practices in roadside maintenance and restoration for pollinator habitat. As well, relevant case studies and resources were gathered to guide municipalities interested in pursuing roadside pollinator projects.

Roadside Management for Pollinator Habitat in Alberta

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Miistakis Institute

Status

Completed in

May 2021

Supporters

Max Bell Foundation

Anonymous Foundation

Ecological Connectivity – Modelling, Planning and Municipalities

Three guides to help to clear some of the cloudiness around ecological connectivity and municipal planning

The Issue / Idea

Municipalities face challenges in finding practical guidance for integrating ecological connectivity into the structures and practical realities of municipal planning.

The Project

Every municipal planning department in the Calgary region has faced the challenge of addressing ecological connectivity.

It can start from a variety of directions – open house feedback, a councilor request, a regional planning requirement, etc. It can carry many labels: wildlife corridors, linkage zones, structural and functional connectivity. However, two things are common to all of these cases. First, it is always based on the notion that species need to move to stay healthy and viable. Second, what a municipal planner can or should do about this is not clear.

As part of the Calgary Regional Partnership’s Ecological Conservation and Protection Initiative, Miistakis created three guides to help to clear some of the cloudiness around ecological connectivity and municipal planning.

As well as supporting municipal planners, these guides are intended to help those working with planners or who are affected by municipal plans. Understanding the way ecological connectivity is viewed through the lens of municipal planning will help others (including municipal councilors, wildlife biologists, conservation groups, land developers and builders) better understand the decisions and options that emerge in the planning realm.

Planning to Connect: A guide to provide clarity on what ecological connectivity might mean for a municipality, which plans and policies to target, and how. It also includes a searchable catalogue of example clauses from other jurisdictions and a document library of sample plans, reports, strategies, and cases from which to learn

Pulling the Levers: A Guide to Modelling and Mapping Ecological Connectivity outlines how the science can be used to give municipalities map-based illustrations of ecological connectivity.

Connecting the Dots: A Guide to Using Ecological Connectivity Modeling in Municipal Planning outlines how planners can acquire and use that information to address planning questions, working in partnership with their GIS staff or consultants.

Planning to Connect: A Guide to Incorporating Ecological Connectivity into Municipal Planning

Policy Clause Catalogue

Pulling the Levers: A Guide to Modelling and Mapping Ecological Connectivity

Connecting the Dots: A Guide to Using Ecological Connectivity Modeling in Municipal Planning

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Miistakis Institute

Status

Completed in

2019

Supporters

Woodcock Foundation

CRP Regional Ecoplan

A project to outline how the region’s valued ecological features and functions could be maintained, and to do so by identifying measurable targets, describing specific actions that can be taken by the Calgary Regional Partnership and its members

The Issue / Idea

How can municipalities maintain their valued ecological features and functions in the face of population growth?

The Project

In 2014, Miistakis began working with the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) on an implementation plan for the Calgary Metropolitan Plan’s first principle: “Protecting the natural environment and watershed.”

In a region that is projected to receive another 1.6 million people over the next 60 years, it was recognized it would be a significant challenge to determine how to actually approach achieving this principle, as well as how to know if it has been accomplished.

The Ecological Conservation and Protection Plan (later renamed the CRP Regional EcoPlan) was created to outline how the region’s valued ecological features and functions could be maintained, and to do so by identifying measurable targets, describing specific actions that can be taken by the CRP and its members at both the regional and local level, and by integrating directly with the Calgary Metropolitan Plan.

The Ecological Conservation Themes – the backbone to the plan – were established and, as well as the plan framework, and the target-setting approach approved by the CRP Executive in September 2017.

CRP Regional EcoPlan: A Summary of the Ecological Conservation and Protection Plan

CRP Regional EcoPlan: Themes – Detailed

Measuring Up: A Preliminary Assessment of Potential CRP EcoPlan Sub-Theme Measures

CRP EcoPlan: Strategies Catalogue: Summary Description

Proposed Target-setting Process for the CRP Regional EcoPlan

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Miistakis Institute

Status

Completed in

2017

Supporters

Calgary Regional Partnership

Municipal Conservation Easement Program

A Guide to help municipalities create a conservation easement program

The Issue / Idea

How can municipalities help landowners conserve their land for the future by using a conservation easement?

The Project

Flagstaff County in east-central Alberta has been working towards better protecting the valuable landscapes within its communities. After being approached by a local landowner about granting a conservation easement to the County, Flagstaff approached Miistakis about helping them establish a Conservation Easement program (municipalities are ‘qualified organizations’ under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, eligible to hold conservation easements).

Working with the County’s Agricultural Service Board, Miistakis helped them draft a conservation easement bylaw, and tailor the policy to their draft Municipal Development Plan.

Once the decision was made to go ahead with implementation, Miistakis worked with the County to identify the conservation goals, and specific administrative needs. Miistakis then developed several implementation resources including a program procedures manual, a conservation easement template, a Baseline Documentation Report manual and template, a monitoring template, and several other templates and resources.

Flagstaff County is now moving ahead to negotiate conservation easements with interested ratepayers in their community.

Flagstaff County Conservation Easement Program: Procedures Manual

Flagstaff County Conservation Easement Program: Conservation Easement Checklists

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Miistakis Institute

Status

Completed in

2017

Supporters

Flagstaff County

Transfer of Development Credits

A tool to help communities deal with rapid conversion of their valued landscapes, while simultaneously promoting appropriate landscape development

The Issue / Idea

How can municipalities deal with the rapid conversion of their valued landscapes, while simultaneously promoting appropriate landscape development?

The Project

The Transfer of Development Credits (TDC) tool is designed to help communities deal with the rapid conversion of their valued landscapes, while simultaneously promoting appropriate landscape development. The tool allows for the transfer of development potential from areas less suited to development (based on a community desire to see its character and function maintained), to areas more suited to increased development (based on their capacity to accept greater development activity).

The TDC website was developed as a resource for Alberta communities, to assist them in better understanding what a TDC program is, and how it can be used to conserve valued landscapes.

A Practical Guide to Transfer of Development Credits (TDCs) in Alberta

Organization

This project was undertaken by

Miistakis Institute

Status

Completed in

2013

Supporters

Alberta Real Estate Foundation

Anonymous Donor

Cost of Community Services

How many dollars of revenue does a municipality get for every dollar of service expenditure for different types of land use? The Cost of Community Services (COCS) methodology assesses this.

The Issue / Idea

Because different land use types generate vastly different revenues, it can be difficult to know which if any one of them ‘pays for itself’ relative to the costs it incurs for the municipality.

The Project

The Miistakis Institute explored this question by undertaking a “Cost of Community Services Study” for Red Deer County. After a detailed review of background documents and financial records, and extensive interviewing of all Red Deer County Managers and Directors, Red Deer County’s audited financials for a single year were re-allocated based on land use. Expenditures and revenues were divided between four land use categories (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Agricultural) and the results were used to create revenue/cost ratios.

The intent of this study is to support the development of land use planning approaches which best serve the community. Red Deer County can use this study with other information to maintain a healthy balance of land uses for the County. At the policy level, the study can assist in the development of a vision for the community; at the operational level, it can help assess whether resource allocations match policy priorities.

The Fiscal Implications of Land Use: A “Cost of Community Services” Study for Red Deer County: Main Report

The Fiscal Implications of Land Use: A “Cost of Community Services” Study for Red Deer County: Report 3: Methodology

The Fiscal Implications of Land Use: A “Cost of Community Services” Study for Red Deer County: Report 4: A Comparative Analysis of the Red Deer County COCS Study and Previous COCS Studies

The Fiscal Implications of Land Use: A “Cost of Community Services” Study for Red Deer County: Report 5: Detailed Data

The Fiscal Implications of Land Use: A “Cost of Community Services” Study for Red Deer County: Appendices

Report on the “Cost of Community Services” Multi-Municipality Workshop

Presentation Slide Deck: “Cost of Community Services” studies: What are they?

The Fiscal Implications of Land Use in a Rural Municipality

Organization

This project was undertaken by

Miistakis Institute

Status

Completed in

2007

Supporters

Alberta Real Estate Foundation

Red Deer County

Managing Recreation on Public Land: How Does Alberta Compare?

This review by the Environmental Law Centre (ELC) compares the legal framework for recreation management in Alberta to other Canadian provinces and US jurisdictions

The Issue / Idea

How does Alberta regulate recreational impacts on the landscape? How does it compare to other jurisdictions? What challenges does it face in regulating recreational impacts on land and how might we go about it in the future?

The Project

Recreational use of public land in Alberta is creating significant management challenges as the demands for recreational opportunities and the impacts of recreational activity are increasing together. These challenges are shared by many western jurisdictions and have intensified in recent decades due to increases in motorized recreation. This review by the Environmental Law Centre (ELC) compares the legal framework for recreation management in Alberta to other Canadian provinces and US jurisdictions. These comparisons include the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia, the US Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, and the States of Colorado, Utah and Oregon. The original report is expanded to consider Quebec and New Brunswick in the Addendum published in 2016.

The comparisons focus on three legal barriers to on-the-ground management actions in Alberta that were identified in advance of the research. These are:

- mandates to manage recreation on public lands;
- funding for recreation management programs; and,
- liability for injuries on recreation trails.

The review also explores two questions relevant to recreation policy development in Alberta:

- how motorized recreation is typically managed as compared to non-motorized recreation; and,
- how options for improving recreation management under existing legislation compare to the option of legislative reform.

Managing Recreation on Public Land: How Does Alberta Compare?

Managing Recreation on Public Land: How Does Alberta Compare? Addendum

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Environmental Law Centre

Status

Completed in

2016

Supporters

Alberta Law Foundation

The Calgary Foundation

Glen and Lois Mumey

Agricultural Lands Law and Policy in Alberta

Highlighting and describing the legislative context for agricultural land uses in the province

The Issue / Idea

Agricultural lands and agricultural uses can provide a large suite of social, economic, and environmental benefits. What are laws and regulations that impact agricultural lands?

The Project

Agricultural lands support numerous social, economic and environmental benefits. In addition to making up an invaluable aspect of Alberta’s heritage and culture, social benefits of agricultural lands include food security and valued viewscapes. This project is set out in two phases. Phase 1 (2019) provides a review of the relevant statute and regulation relevant to agricultural lands and their operations. Phase 2 (forthcoming in 2021) outlines approaches (and recommendations) to move toward better conservation of high valued agricultural lands.

This report highlights and describes the legislative context for agricultural land uses in the province.

Agricultural Lands Law and Policy in Alberta

Organization

This project was undertaken by

The Environmental Law Centre

Status

Phase 1 Completed in

2019

Phase 2 is

on-going

Supporters

Alberta Real Estate Foundation