Provincial Grazing Reserves (PGRs)
Last review/updated: October 27, 2006
There are 32 provincial grazing reserves located throughout Alberta. They are administered
by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.
Some of the reserves, or community pastures, are natural (native) grassland, while
others have been partially cleared and seeded to tame forage. They range in size
from 6,602 acres (Seven Persons) to 76,681 acres (Pinhorn). The overall average
is close to 22,500 acres.
The main purpose of these reserves is to provide summer pasture for Alberta's farmers
and ranchers on public land, enabling them to use their own land for crop and hay
production. The reserves also offer a variety of recreational opportunities including
hunting, hiking, trail riding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and sightseeing.
Others who use grazing land are oil and gas well operators, pipeline companies,
gravel haulers and seismic crews. Large portions of the reserves also provide excellent
habitat for wildlife.
To assist recreational users and other visitors, maps that clearly show access routes
are available from the regional grazing reserve office. These access routes are
trails that provide the public optimum access to the reserve while minimizing both
damage to the grazing lands and conflicts with the livestock operation and other
users.
The Alberta Government launched its grazing reserve program at the Twin River site
in 1934. With the establishment of the Purple Springs irrigated reserve in 1957,
the province initiated the concept of grazing large cattle herds on irrigated pasture.
In addition to having Alberta's only irrigated reserves, the Southern region also
contains the two largest reserves in the province. The 76,388 acre Sage Creek reserve
and the 76,681 acre Pinhorn reserve both surpass the third largest reserve by more
than 36,000 acres. The Pinhorn and Sage Creek reserves also encompass two of the
largest tracts of intact native prairie left in Alberta.
Through the Grazing Reserve Program, the province has pioneered the development
of tame pasture from tree-covered areas on a large scale. The reserves are generally
on poor quality soils that are not suitable for annual cropping. If these areas
are developed properly, they can yield high quality pasture. Part of the pioneering
has been finding ways and means to retain good quality developed pastures, even
though nature continues to try its best to re-establish the tree growth that originally
existed on these lands.
The newer reserves, developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, posed tough planning
problems. The pasture sites were frequently used by hunters and other recreational
users. There was also the question of how to maintain wildlife habitat. These and
other demands on the land, some of them conflicting, had to be resolved while planning
and developing the sites to accommodate the needs of farmers and ranchers who wanted
grazing pastures for their cattle. This planning of development initiated the multiple
use concept that is now practiced on all public land in Alberta.
On April 1, 1999, the responsibility for the care, handling and management of livestock
and the forage resources was transferred to grazing reserve associations. Use of
the grazing reserves by the associations is authorized by grazing management agreements.
These agreements outline the responsibilities of the Alberta Government and each
grazing reserve association to meet the Provincial Grazing Reserve Program's mission,
vision and goals.
Mission
To deliver, through grazing management agreements on 32 provincial grazing reserves,
a public land base of 720,000 acres that is managed for a variety of uses in an
environmentally sound, sustainable manner, while protecting public investment and
providing economic and social benefits to Albertans.
Vision
To have excellent stewardship of the provincial grazing reserves, with optimized
forage production, integrated multiple use and environmental protection. Albertans
will enjoy economic and social benefits from the grazing and other uses and values
of these public lands.
Goals
- The use of grazing to ensure a productive forage resource through environmentally
sound, sustainable resource management.
- The integration of a variety of land uses and conservation, through objective and
unbiased decision making, with input from the grazing reserves associations, general
public and other stakeholders.
- Protect the public's investment by ensuring the grazing reserve assets are properly
maintained or replaced as required.
- Ensure the principles of environmentally balanced pasture and water management by
the grazing reserve associations are incorporated into the annual operating plans.
- Provide areas designated for resource conservation and suitable habitats for wildlife.
- Provide continued public access by managing to reduce conflict with grazing, other
resource uses and conservation.
- Provide opportunities for the economic and social benefits to users of the provincial
grazing reserves.
- Provide a monitoring program that ensures the mission, vision and goals are being
achieved.