Rancher makes commitment to nature

A Turner Valley rancher is living up to his end of a bargain made with a neighbour more than 20 years ago. White Moose Ranch owner/operator Stan Carscallen entered an agreement with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) last winter to protect 2,000 of his 4,000 acres after promising neighbour, friend and philanthropist, the late Daryl (Doc) Seaman of OH Ranch, to create a continuous undeveloped block of conserved land extending from the Highwood River to the Sheep. The land is valued at $7.5 million. “I spoke with Doc Seaman, who was a friend of mine, and also Ken Styles, who worked for Doc and who is also a great friend, and we mused about how we need to do something special with these two blocks of land,” he said. “We recognized they needed to be conserved.” Before his death in 2009, Seaman entered an agreement with the NCC, providing 9,400 acres of land for protection. The OH Ranch shares a border three-miles wide on its north side with White Moose Ranch, therefore Carscallen’s donation ensures 11,000 acres will forever remain undeveloped. Carscallen grew up on his family’s ranch south of Priddis, and as a young man rode horseback across this conserved property. “I knew what a beautiful place it was from my younger days when I thought I was the world’s greatest elk hunter,” he said. “I used to go hunting regularly with my friend Doug Kingsford, whose family owned the OH Ranch.” At that time, Jack Pierce owned the Turner Valley Ranch - now the White Moose Ranch. In 1992, bids were made to buy the Turner Valley Ranch and when there weren’t enough buyers for the land Carscallen put his name in for 4,000 acres. Turner Valley Ranch retained 1,000 acres and another buyer bought 4,000 of the 9,000 acres. “This piece of 2,000 acres is so special west of Turner Valley,” said Carscallen of the donated land. “It’s completely undeveloped. There’s no roads, no power lines, it’s connected to the OH Ranch, which also has no roads, no power lines. It’s in its natural state and quite undisturbed.” The easement does not restrict Carscallen from operating his commercial beef cattle operation with help from wife Eva Friesen, sons Brock and Gaven and the Quiring and Voth families. “It makes absolutely no difference to our operations,” he said. “The NCC doesn’t get involved if we want to build a fence or new corral.” White Moose Ranch is adjacent to the Sheep River and located in the headwaters region of southern Alberta. The headwater area covers four per cent of Alberta, but provides fresh drinking water to 45 per cent of Albertans. The agreement protects a mix of fescue grasslands, montane forests and riparian areas and continues to provide habitat for elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, black and grizzly bear, cougar, gray wolf, coyote and bald and golden eagles. “It’s just one of the most exceptional places on this Earth, as far as I’m concerned,” Carscallen said. “All you have to do is get in an airplane and fly around our region and you can see how quickly the land gets broken up into smaller and smaller parcels.” Carscallen said he hopes others follow suit in partnering with the NCC. “I intend to speak to my neighbours to tell them how great it would be if they did what Doc had done and I’ve now done and extend this magnificent area west of Turner Valley as a conserved area,” he said. “I’m encouraging others who might have ecologically-sensitive land to think about doing the same thing.” Carys Richards, NCC communications co-ordinator, said the 2,000 acres will always be protected from development. “It’s not only to protect the species that live there, but the Foothills is a very desirable location being so picturesque and located close to Calgary,” she said. “Places like this are facing pressure for development.” The NCC is a not-for-profit, private land conservation organization focused on protecting natural areas and the species they sustain. The NCC protects more than 1.1 million acres in Alberta. “It’s a fantastic conservation success,” said Richards. “The only reason it’s possible is it’s so important to the landowners to go to these great lengths to make sure it stays that way. The landowner still owns it and will continue to ranch it and pass it on to his kids, the only thing the NCC owns is the development rights to ensure it will stay in its natural state regardless of who owns it.”