1. Water, Fescue and the Future of the West The Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership andrew@andrewnikiforuk.com Livingstone Landowners Group and the Pekisko Group

2. Photo By Dave Sauchyn

3. Alberta’s Hardest Working Capital Water keeper Carbon saver Soil builder Wildlife feeder Beef sustainer (3rd generation ranches) Heritage maker Drought fighter Insect warrior Diversity banker

4. The Fescue Economy

5. The Remaining Bank Account

6. Annual moisture index for 1961-90 (left) and for the median scenario (HadCM3 B2(b)) for the 2080s (right):Sauchyn Expanding Aridity

7. From Wallace Stegner “There are plenty of people in the West who approach western land, water, grass, timber, mineral resources and scenery as grave robbers might approach the tomb of a pharaoh.”

11. In-Situ Uranium Mining

12. C5 Forest Management Plan Photo by Brad Stelfox

13. Rosebud, Alberta

14. 1905 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 Area scale of actual to shown dot features; 113:1 Area scale of actual to shown linear features; 26:1 Natural Gas Wells

15. EUB and IL 93-9 special policy for the eastern slopes thorough public consultation big picture planning “to avoid piecemeal proposals” environmental assessments all companies must consolidate plans “a commitment; not a requirement”

16. Human Footprint Montana

17. Well locations

18. Power lines

19. Agriculture

20. Roads

22. Southern Foothills Study Data base on cumulative land use trends Use ALCES model Tool for planning “common ground for discussion by all parties in future land use planning.”

23. Southern Foothills Study Three land owner groups Three municipal districts Two major oil companies Town of Nanton And more to come.

24. Good Science Modern land use practices,while increasing the short-term supplies of material goods, may undermine many ecosystem services in the long run, even on regional and global scale....There is an increasing need for decision making and policy actions across multiple geographic scales and multiple ecological dimensions....land use practices can offer “win- win-win” environmental, social and economic benefits. Science: Vol. 309, July 22, 2005

25. Innovative Thinking Given that the oil sands is a water eater and CO2 maker, par excellence, maybe the province needs a trade-off. Maybe the province needs to regard the eastern slopes as a vital water maker and carbon banker. Maybe the province doesn’t need another sacrifice zone but a sustainable beef economy that protects fescue, water, scenery and our heritage.

26. Oil Sands: A Water Spender 349 million cubic metres per year from the Athabasca River. That’s 2 cities the size of Calgary. Pembina Institute: Down to the Last Drop

27. Oil Sands: Carbon Maker

28. Carbon Saver Soil under fescue may contain up to 200 tonnes of carbon per hectare or more. “The carbon underfoot in a good grassland soil may exceed the amount of carbon in all above-ground portions of a temperate forest.” Western grasslands may contain 2 to 3-billion tonnes of carbon. H.H. Janzen: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

29. Water Saver

30. Sacrifice Zone?

31. Homeland Water Security

32. A Win-Win-Win