The Flagstaff ALUS committee recently met and approved their terms of reference, as well as guidelines to help evaluate potential ALUS projects within the county. Eligible ecological projects can include riparian buffers, sustainable drainage systems, or other ecologically beneficial services on what is otherwise just marginal farmland.

Flagstaff County recently established an initial terms of reference, and approved guidelines in preparation of review and acceptance of 2017 Alternate Land Use Services, (ALUS) projects.

ALUS is a grassroots project that operates across the nation and is farmer run, and farmer delivered.

Their New Acre Project was developed to fund new ecological projects on farms and ranches across the county.

Flagstaff Assistant Fieldman Kelsey Fenton is the ALUS Program Coordinator, and she says the program could have positive impacts for the region.

“We are not trying to take good quality land,” she says, “but to enhance existing areas that are beneficial to our environment.”

Fenton says the Flagstaff ALUS program will be following the New Acre Project, where farmers and ranchers will dedicate selected areas of marginal farmland towards the production of ecosystem services.

She says that Flagstaff will benefit from input from a number of sources, including Alberta counties who have already established ALUS programs.

“We approached the Iron Creek Watershed Society, and they will serve in an advisory role,” she says, as will a number of other groups, like the Battle River Watershed Alliance and Cows and Fish, to name a few.

“Education will play a big part in the success of our program,” Fenton says.

She will be consulting with Red Deer and Parkland Counties, “hoping to learn from their experiences with setting up the program.”

She says that the types of projects that will be considered will vary widely, from eco buffers and repairing riparian zones, to off-site watering projects.

“We are ready for applications at this point,” she says, adding that three have already been received.

Under the program, projects are eligible for funding from the county, and Fenton says the committee is initially considering a 50/50 split, similar to other ALUS programs.

The county, in turn, can access ALUS and grant funding.

“It’s great to have government support [funding] for this type of project,” Fenton says.

Along with project financing, the county’s ALUS project will pay landowners a per-acre rate for the land involved on an annual basis, depending on what type of land is being used for the project, and the length of the project.

Fenton says that the program is still very new to Flagstaff, and that the terms of reference may still need some tweaking specific to our region.

“We want them to align with our Land Use bylaws, of course,” she says.

During the initial meeting, Flagstaff Councillor Wade Lindseth was nominated as Chairperson, with ASB member Howard Shield named as the Vice-Chair.

Fenton says that ultimately the committee will have around 10 members, including five at-large members, and the committee will need to set up membership parameters for at-large members.