Situated in the Porcupine Hills west of Stavely, Alberta, the Staveley Research Ranch is a unique and valuable demonstration of long-term effects of land management on grassland ecosystems in Alberta. Stavely was instrumental in development of the Alberta Range Health Assessment Protocols. Stavely continues to provide research opportunities, managed through the University of Alberta, Rangeland Research Institute (RRI) https://rri.ualberta.ca/research/stavely-research-station/.

The GRF sponsored walking tour of the Stavely Research Ranch is hosted by Barry Adams, Rangeland Management Specialist – retired from Alberta Environment and Parks. Topics include:

• The ecological context of the Foothills Parkland
• An introduction to the research of Dr. John Dormaar and Dr. Walter Willms
• The role of grasses in building soils and storing carbon
• A review of grazing history, plant community information and range health scoring
• The role of range health in the capture and storage of water in the watershed.