A few years ago, Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) and St Mary’s River Irrigation District (SMRID) were able to come to an agreement of operation of 3 quarter sections of land at Horsefly Reservoir, approximately 5 miles SE of the town of Taber. The land was previously crop and pasture and all were in various states of severe soil depletion as well as overgrazed. Some primary weed control and subsequent reseeding of native grass species was done. There was some fencing installed and the grasses seeded got a good catch. There are areas around Horsefly that has upland birds and a good population of migratory birds as well many shorebirds nest there. There is a main irrigation canal that runs directly through the 3 quarters. Along that canal is an overflow that handles runoff and has some real nice cover including cattails, various low growing bushes, as well as a reasonably steady stream of water.
Along this canal ACA biologist Mike Uchikura identified a need for some type of cover to be a nesting cover for various birds. Through satellite imagery and site visits Mike measured out an area in which ACA will plant several rows of trees.
The trees chosen are Caragana and Thorny Buffalo Berry. PF Chinook learned of this project and decided to fund the purchase of the trees for this location. Approximately $27,000 was donated By Chinook to ACA towards the purchase of these trees.
Mid May, crews from SMRID went to the site with their equipment and cultivated the area. On May 28, crews from ACA planted all 5500 trees. As luck would have it, the weekend brought a couple of inches of rain and hopefully gets those trees off to a great start.
Update: A message from the ACA
“I just wanted to extend a very sincere ‘THANK YOU!’ to Chinook Pheasants Forever for the generous donation towards the Horsefly Lake Shrub Planting Project! Your donation fully covered the cost of purchasing the 5,500 shrubs that were planted on site, May 28th 2026. An eight-row shelterbelt was established (each row being just over 600 yards long) – this will very nicely compliment the 220 acres of permanent grass cover which was established several years ago in the adjoining fields. Over three inches of rain fell just two days after the shrub planting (with smaller rain events since then), the timing couldn’t have been better! Alberta Conservation Association is very fortunate to have a strong working partnership with Chinook Pheasants Forever, it has made habitat projects like this possible! Please extend our thanks to the entire Executive and membership, and we look forward to working with you on future projects.”
Mike Uchikura — Biologist with the ACA
