Alberta Wildlife Federation holds informative, family-fun event at Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale

Sunny South News Photo by Kristine Jean. SIGN OF SUMMER: There are signs of summer at the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale including this American Coot with its newly hatched chicks.

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

Coaldale and area residents had a chance to learn about conservation with Alberta Wildlife Federation (AWF) Zone 1 clubs on Sat. June 13, at the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale. 

The event featured information booths, a barbecue, a scavenger hunt for kids and an opportunity to learn more about conservation and the Alberta Wildlife Federation. Funds raised through the barbecue were donated to the Birds of Prey Foundation.   

“We just wanted to give back to the community because they support us so much, especially the local clubs for all the events,” said Rod Rosland, Zone 1 Director for the Alberta Wildlife Federation. “(We’re here) to show people what we really do – it’s not just hunting and fishing, we have a lot of youth involvement – that’s the future,” he added noting the AWF encourages youth to get outdoors and back to nature. 

Several clubs from across Southern Alberta participated in the event on Saturday, including those from Clareshome, Hillcrest, Brooks, Picture Butte, Lethbridge and Fort Macleod. 

Rosland said the clubs provide activities and events for youth including those that focus on archery, hunting, fishing and conservation.   

“In Brooks we put on an ice fishing (event) for youth every year and Picture Butte does the same, but they also do a big one for the summer at the lake just outside of Picture Butte,” said Rosland. “Lethbridge does lots too – they support the 4-H (club) in Raymond for raising pheasants. They also have a big rifle range – for shotgun and small-bore and hand gun.”      

Rosland noted the AWF also focuses much of their time on conservation and habitat preservation, and pointed to an example of a project in Brooks where the organization planted over 14,000 trees. 

During the event, families had a chance to learn about each club through information booths and participate in an archery demonstration, among other activities. 

“The Alberta Wildlife Federation is over 14,000 members and we have 51 affiliated clubs, from border to border – from provincial borders to territorial borders to the U.S., so we have representatives all over,” explained Rosland. “We have a great volunteer base.” 

The AWF also has caucuses that oversee various topics, noted Rosland, including the firearms caucus, fishing caucus, hunting caucus and conservation caucus. 

The organization also deals a lot with regulations they support and helps ensure proper changes to them by the province.  

“Whether it’s fishing, hunting or access for ATV’s …we have a lot of people that are boots on the ground so we have a lot of good input, we have a lot of good knowledge and we have some facts for them,” said Rosland. “So when (the Alberta government) makes their decisions, they look at all the facts.”

For more information on the Alberta Wildlife Federation visit http://www.albertawildlifefederation.ca