Case Studies

ALCES has been involved in a variety of landuse modeling and planning projects in Canada and around the world. Here are a sample of the projects, including descriptions and presentations.

Upper Bow River Basin Cumulative Effects Study 2009-2010

The goal of the UBBCES is to apply the best available information to understand the potential cumulative effects that all types of land-use could have on water availability and inferred water quality of the Upper Bow River Basin. Specifically, the intent is to apply this scientific information and local knowledge as an aid in the creation of a stewardship planning vision for the area. (More... )

Southern Foothills Study 2007-2009

The Southern Foothills Study was initiated because of concern by local stakeholder residing along Alberta's East Slopes that the pace and tempo of emerging land use trajectories was severely compromising the ecological goods and services of the region. The study was facilitated by the Southern Alberta Land Trust (SALT; www.salts-landtrust.org). The multi-stakedholder initiative documented the current landscape, providing an understanding of the historical changes (back-casting), and explored the consequences of alternative future landuse trajectories. These findings were widely communicated to communities along the East Slopes.

North Yukon Planning Initiative 2006-2008

The North Yukon Planning Initiative (www.nypc.planyukon.ca/) is widely recognized as a highly progressive project where First Nation stakeholders proactively examined a range of alternative land use trajectories and selected a land use trajectory that optimizes benefits and minimizes liabilities. The ALCES model was used by the North Yukon Initiative to quantify the performance of a full suite of indicators against a range of landuse options.

The Cumulative Effects Management Association (CEMA) 2006-2008

CEMA (www.cemaonline.ca) represents a comprehensive multi-stakeholder initiative (industry, First Nations, government, environmental groups) that has the important mandate of assessing the ecological impacts of the massive oilsand industry of northeast Alberta. CEMA is comprised of several working groups, including the Sustainable Ecosystems Working Group (SEWG). As part of SEWG's mandate in exploring the interface between the oilsands industry and environmental indicators, the ALCES Group was selected to use the ALCES simulator to simulate this regional landscape in response to alternative oilsand and forestry land use trajectores.

The Chief Mountain Cumulative Effects Study 2008-2009

The Chief Mountain Study (CMS) is a grassroots driven study directed by a multistakeholder, consensus-based working group that includes government, industry, First Nations, landowners, NGOs and Parks Canada. The study arose from local concern about land-use trends and their associated long-term impacts on landscape level indicators such as groundwater stocks, surface water quality, grizzly bear, and native grasslands.

The study area is located in the southwestern portion of Alberta including: Cardston County, the Municipal District of Pincher Creek, the Kainai and Piikani First Nation reserves and Waterton National Park. The area covers roughly 925,000 hectares (2.28 million acres) and is predominantly cultivated agriculture (43% of study area), native origin grasslands (30% of study area) and forests (18% of study area). Human footprint currently covers about 2% of the study area.

The Silvatech Group (www.silvatech.ca) was approached by regional stakeholders along Alberta's southern East Slopes to complete a comprehensive assessment of the cumulative effects of land use practices in this region. This project has lead to a broad societal conversation about the benefits and liabilities of co-occurring land uses and is intended to offer insight to the Province-lead Land Use Framework. A powerpoint file and executive summary detailing this study can be downloaded at: http://www.salts-landtrust.org/cms.

Cumulative Effects Assessment of the North Saskatchewan River Watershed using ALCES 2009-2010

The North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance (NSWA) was designated in 2005 as the Watershed Planning and Advisory Council (WPAC) for the North Saskatchewan River basin, under Water for Life: Alberta’s Strategy for Sustainability. Part of its mandate as a WPAC is to prepare an Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP) for the North Saskatchewan River Basin (NSRB). This plan will include advice to the government of Alberta regarding the watershed values and trade-offs that are acceptable to a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

The North Saskatchewan River Basin is one of the largest and most populated major watersheds in Alberta. As such, it is at the core of providing valued services to Albertans. The importance of providing water for drinking and industrial purposes is understood by all, but the full range of services and values of this river go well beyond utilitarian values. The North Saskatchewan River Basin (NSRB) has historical, recreational and spiritual values, supports Alberta’s natural capital of biological diversity, and provides ecosystem services such as water purification, sewage disposal, flood control, and climate amelioration.

The value of these important services, however, can be substantially diminished through incremental, gradual encroachment of human development and related impacts on watershed function. As part of their work towards the IWMP, the NSWA desired to gain a better understanding of long-term, cumulative impacts of development on the watershed, and to highlight potential conflicts between development and sustainability. The NSWA engaged the ALCES© Group to undertake a high-level, strategic and exploratory cumulative effects modeling for the NSRB. Report can be downloaded at: http://nswa.ab.ca/sites/default/files/NSWA2009alces-final-report-oct8-2009.pdf.