In Land They Trust

William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com The Environmental Movement in Alberta Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Conclusion There is a seldom articulated yet profound divide between proponents and opponents of expanding the amount of land available for human use. This controversy animates both the conversion of farmland to urban use and the opening of wilderness for agriculture or resource extraction. The landed interest recoil at the mere mention of public lands being thrown onto the market.

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At a May 2010 Urban Development Institute conference in Calgary, construction industry leaders vented frustration at land use policies. Albi Homes' president centered out his industry's number one problem as lack of access to land. Melcor Development's CEO, while complaining about the over-regulated land market, noted how his opponents exaggerated the costs of "urban sprawl". From his vantage point, "rural sprawl" was the problem. Apex Ltd's CEO said Calgary's high-density policies were pricing housing out of the market. He argued low-rise developments are cheaper than high rise ones and that a bustling construction industry benefits the whole economy. The delays developers endure waiting to get land approvals, and the unpredictability caused by those delays, were described as "appalling". In 2002 there were 54 active subdivision developments in Calgary. In 2010 there were 22. (1) Around the same time Calgary Real Estate Board President told reporters, "Calgary has one of the lowest levels of housing affordability [inCanada]." Families earning less than $50,000 a year can no longer buy a house in Calgary. (2) Calgary's retail real estate market vacancy rates of 1% are much lower than most North American cities. Calgary's downtown core has 0% vacancy. New buildings are rented out before construction is completed. A similar situation exists in areas of Edmonton. This is great for owners of certain parcels of land, but it is not a win-win situation. Businesses renting these premises pay a premium and must pass some of this on to their customers. (3) Hence the pressure for, and resistance to, opening land for urban development. This struggle is hardly new. A late 1960s City of Calgary planning report, heeding the landed interest, "warned" of an impending construction boom along the Bow River as commercial developers were cobbling together significant tracts of land. In response Calgary Field Naturalists Society and National and Provincial Parks Association formed the Fish Creek Park Association to block development of a nine kilometre strip from the Bow River to the Sarcee Reserve. Ultimately, to appease the conservationists, Premier Lougheed not only pledged $15 million for a 2,800 acre park over this area, he acquiesced in the unwelcomed expropriation of property owned by his former boss (industrialist Fred Mannix), prompting a multi-year legal feud. Fish Creek Provincial Park, the largest urban park in Canada, was completed in 1983 at a cost to the province of $45 million. (4) In 1970 activists attacked Carma Development Ltd's plans to build on Nose Hill -- a sprawling patch of tundra on Calgary's north side. Bowing to the activists, city council imposed a freeze on Nose Hill in 1972, including Carma's 848 acres. Carma spokesmen complained bitterly about arbitrary interference in the market and consequential increases in housing costs. Nose Hill became a park in 1975. (5) In 1974 the province allocated $35 million (more than the provincial parks budget for the previous decade) to create Edmonton's Capital City Recreation Park. This park required expropriating hundreds of households and went ahead despite demonstrable opposition, mocking the public participation process. The City was buying up households for this park well into the 1980s. (6) In 1980 the province earmarked $57 million for: Medicine Hat Valley Park, Lethbridge River Valley Park, Red Deer Waskasoo Park, Grand Prairie's Muskoseepi Park, and Lloydminster's Bud Miner All Seasons Park. Costs ballooned to $87 million before the program ended in 1986. During this period Calgary created Prince's Island Park and Bow Valley Park in its downtown area. By 1990 Calgary parkland totalled 7,300 ha while Edmonton's 7,400 ha of park exceeded that of any other North American city. (7) On another front in the same war, activists foiled construction by blocking demolition of "heritage" buildings (often only 50 years old). Crusading TV reporter Ralph Klein championed old buildings threatened by the wrecker's ball. (8) In the late 1980s anti-development activists were horrified by a residential building boom in the southern Foothills. Buyers were mainly prosperous Calgarians. Part of the effort to squelch this sprawl was the lavishly funded Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project headed by eco-spiritualist Dr. Herrero and supported by 55 ENGOs. This 11-year study beatified the grizzly bear into a sacred cow -- a multi-purpose pretext for blocking development. (9) Calgary's Parks Foundation came together in 1985 primarily to prevent construction on riverfronts. They have since enclosed $100 million worth of real estate. Their Greening a Great City program was a hit. Their 2001 Wetlands Conservation Initiative became Calgary's Wetlands Conservation Plan. They recently filmed a documentary extolling their achievements. (10) Today the cutting edge of urban anti-development mobilization, Edmonton's Responsible Electrical Transmission for Albertans (RETA), claims 6,000 members. They also claim electromagnetic fields from overhead transmission lines cause cancer, dementia, and erectile dysfunction. They arrive at these beliefs using the Precautionary Principle. In 2009 a RETA demo drew 1,500 people -- the largest environmentalist protest in Alberta history. RETA claims power lines kill birds and coal-fired electricity causes global warming. Key to RETA's success is the targeting of homeowners along proposed transmission line routes. This constituency is easily contacted with hand-delivered notices. RETA claims homeowners living near power lines have a right to compensation. RETA's main target is EPCOR and Alta Link's proposed power lines to areas north of Edmonton. RETA demands homeowners within a kilometre of these lines be paid an amount equal to at least 10% of their property's value. This explains the large turnout at their events: homeowners with dollar signs in their eyes and aluminum foil wrapped around their heads. (11)

Hovering over this tragedy are major real estate-involved enterprises. Among them are the chartered banks for, as diversified as they are, a substantial portion of their assets are mortgages. They dread meltdowns where resale prices of foreclosed properties fall below the dollar value of the loans secured on those properties. Flooding the market with new land is out of the question. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is committed to "proactive and prudent management of the environmental aspects of business." RBC puts out shrill propaganda concerning water and forest conservation and climate change. RBC established a carbon trading desk in 2008. In 2009 RBC gave $52.6 million to charities. Among the beneficiaries: Sierra Club Foundation, Nature Conservancy Canada, WWF-Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Environmental Defence, Tides Canada, Western Wilderness Committee, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, Crooked Creek Conservation, Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park, Parks Foundation, Helen Schuler Nature Centre, Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition, Water Matters, Trout Unlimited Canada, and Alberta Conservation Association. Additionally, RBC's Blue Water Project is disbursing $50 million over ten years. Blue Water funds charities "that foster a culture of water stewardship." In Alberta in 2009, Blue Water gave Alberta Conservation Association $75,000 for work around Red Deer and Lesser Slave Lake. The Preserve Our Water group received $100,000 for after-school programs. Blue Water gave $50,000 to Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park, $30,000 to Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, $75,000 to Trout Unlimited Canada, and $5,000 grants to several lesser Albertan ENGOs. (12) For 20 years Toronto Dominion's Friends of the Environment Fund has handed out $2 million a year in grants to a total of 18,400 "grassroots" projects. The Fund's 40 Alberta chapters engage in tree planting and habitat conservation. Alberta Fish and Game Association and Federation of Alberta Naturalists are regular recipients. With TD's help, the Calgary Zoo established the Centre for Conservation Research. The Fund financed Evergreen Theatre's water conservation themed "Go with the Flo." This play has been viewed by 50,000 Albertan children. (13) Century-old Bentall LP, Canada's largest real estate corporation, owns or manages 600 buildings valued at $17 billion. Bentall has offices in seven Canadian cities. Bentall is a leader in "sustainable environmental practices". Their CO2 reducing/water conserving ‘Power Green' brand is lauded in a brochure extolling their other enviro-activities. Bentall funds WWF-Canada, David Suzuki Foundation et al. (14) Manulife Financial's $6 billion Canadian real estate portfolio includes $2 billion in residential, office, retail, and industrial properties in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor. They own $300 million worth of real estate in Alberta. Manulife is the world's largest manager of investor-owned forestland. In 2009 they planted seedlings on 101,000 acres. Their Sensitive Lands Program cordons off 400,000 acres. They recently partnered with the Nature Conservancy to convert 13,000 acres of Virginia into that state's largest private conservancy. Manulife's timber holdings are used as offsets for their CO2 emissions. Manulife buys only Forest Stewardship Council certified paper. Manulife's $1.2 billion worth of farmland is environmentally stewarded. Manulife has invested $3.4 billion into renewable energy. They financed three wind farms in Canada in 2009. Manulife dialogues with governments to advance environmentalism and preaches environmentalism to its employees. Their employees "volunteered" to plant 72,000 seedlings in 2009 and routinely "volunteer" for eco-activist projects around Toronto. Manulife donates $25 million to charity annually. (15) Oxford Properties owns or manages $15 billion of real estate in Canada, USA, and the UK. These assets include 250,000 rental apartments and seven Fairmont Hotels. Oxford often relies on the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System to fund acquisitions and developments. Oxford construction projects are uptown office towers and malls such as the 2 million sq ft City View business park in Edmonton and the twin-tower 1.2 million sq ft Centennial Place in Calgary. Oxford aspires to be a "sustainability leader." In their "Guiding Principles" they frankly state:

"We actively monitor, mitigate and exploit the market, regulatory and economic issues related to and arising from sustainability."

Oxford employs Pembina Institute as a consultant. (16) Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF) is a creature of the Alberta Real Estate Act (1991) according to which AREF receives the interest on real estate brokers' pooled trust accounts. AREF has donated $12.4 million to 405 projects. In 2008 AREF gave Miistakis Institute $132,285 for land-use analysis. In 2009 AREF gave $812,000 to ENGOs, to wit: Alberta Land Trust Alliance ($40,000), Cows and Fish ($50,000), ARUSHA ($30,000), Biosphere Institute of Bow Valley ($30,000), CPAWS ($12,500), Clean Calgary ($50,000), Environmental Law Centre ($40,400), Foothills Land Trust ($24,240), Helen Schuler Nature Centre ($35,000), Water Matters ($25,000), West Athabasca Bioregional Watershed Society ($48,000), and Y2Y ($25,000). December 2009 was the debut of AREF's "Stewardship for Sustainability" program wherein Crowsnest Conservation Society promotes wildlife corridors in southwest Alberta. In 2010 Cows and Fish began AREF-funded seminars to convince landowners of the value of "natural capital" (slews and bush). (17)

Land trusts permanently lock down parcels of land through conservation easements. Such easements are registered contracts between landowners and qualified land trusts whereby both parties agree to suppress development of a given area. The federal Ecological Gifts program provides tax benefits to landowners who donate land, or partial interests in land, to conservancies. The Ecological Gift's value is 100% deductible against donor income. Across Canada 800 Ecological Gifts covering 134,000 acres and valued at $500 million have been made. (18) While Ecological Gifts accelerated private land conservation in Alberta, such activity predates this program. The Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area was created by Sandy Cross -- son of A. E. Cross (one of the Big Four founders of the Calgary Stampede). Sandy Cross began accumulating land along Calgary's southern perimeter in 1945. In 1987 he donated 2,000 acres of this land towards a conservancy (then the largest land gift in Canadian history.) In 1996 he donated an adjoining 2,800 acres. The Cross Foundation raised $4 million to manage these lands in cooperation with Nature Conservancy Canada. (19) Clifford Lee owned several pharmacies in Edmonton and the Nu West real estate company. (He was also Alberta CCF leader). Upon Lee's death, much of his estate went to purchasing, in cooperation with the Canadian Nature Federation, 348 acres south of Edmonton. This land is now owned by the Lee Nature Sanctuary Society. (20) J.J. Collett is a hero to land bugs for refusing lucrative offers from home builders wishing to buy his 635 acres near booming Red Deer. The land was eventually sold to conservationists (with provincial government assistance) and is now the Collett Natural Area. Subsequent provincial grants put up outhouses and signs. (21) Scouting land north of Edmonton is the Legacy Lands Conservation Society. They view land trusts as the alternative to urbanization. They founded Edmonton and Area Land Trust (EALT) with Edmonton Community Foundation, Edmonton Nature Club, and Land Stewardship Centre Canada. In EALT's words:

"The Land Trust is a result of collaboration among environmentalists, philanthropists, developers and the City of Edmonton. Members of all four groups are all interested in ensuring natural spaces are conserved and protected." (22)

In 2007 EALT assembled an activist "tool box" with $40,000 from Alberta Real Estate Foundation. The tool box is "onestep in an ambitious plan to earmark and secure natural spaces." EALT plans to buy land and build awareness. Foothills Land Trust (FLT) recently held an open house at Cross Conservation Area for landowners interested in "the growing trend in land conservation." FLT members own land in the Municipal District of Foothills. Prominent among them are the owners of the Highwood Organic Ranch. FLT's Vision is:

"Future communities of all species treasure and are sustained by our web of abundant wild and working landscapes."

FLT pilots land trusts and advertizes the tax benefits of conservation easements. They receive funds from The Calgary Foundation, Alberta Real Estate Foundation, and Alberta Land Trust Alliance. (23) Sheep River Valley Preservation Society (formerly Sheep River Land Trust) buys land and easements. The Society is involved in the Macleod Trail Land Project and Big Rock Site. Southern Alberta Land Trust Society protects native grassland ecosystems on the Eastern Slopes through conservation easements. Western Sky Land Trust Society champions conservancies within Calgary's boundaries and in the Municipal Districts of Rocky View and Foothills. They preserve both farmland and wilderness. They solicit land donations and easements by promising to nurture land ecologically. For a quarter century Alberta Fish and Game Association (AFGA) has pitched conservationism at rural landowners. AFGA founded the Wildlife Trust Fund in 1983. This Fund owns 80 scattered properties totalling 30,000 acres (2 acres per AFGA member). Members treat these lands as private reserves. With provincial funds AFGA publishes detailed guide books for members. (24) Alberta Land Trust Alliance, founded with funds from the Alberta Environment Ministry, gives land trusts a "unified voice." Alliance members are: Alberta Conservation Association, Alberta Fish and Game Association, Crooked Creek Conservancy Society Athabasca, Edmonton Area Land Trust, Land Stewardship Centre Canada, Nature Conservancy Canada, Southern Alberta Land Trust, Western Sky Land Trust, Wild Elk foundation, Ducks Unlimited Canada, and the government's Alberta Sport Recreation Park and Wilderness Fund. The Alliance's website is very eco. Their Vision is an Alberta where: "landscapes are rich in bio-diversity and have strong ecological integrity." Their Mission is: "to conserve diverse and ecologically important landscapes in Alberta." However, the Alliance is in crisis. Funding ran out in July 2010 and they are without an executive director. They are also worried about two ongoing lawsuits challenging the meaning of conservation easements. (25)

Grain farm consolidation throws land onto the market. Modern livestock practices require less land than traditional grazing. A universal facet of the green agenda, preserving the countryside by opposing agricultural modernization, is a bulwark against collapsing land values. This makes for unusual allies. In 1989 Harvey Buckley (rancher, PC Party stalwart, and Agricultural Marketing Council chairman) founded Action for Agriculture to push farmland preservation. Buckley argued urbanization and industrialization undermine Alberta's social health. He was inducted into the Alberta Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1997. (26) In the 1990s Alberta's environmentalists took aim at large feedlots and the growing use of pesticides and fertilizers. This assault on "factory farming" was bolstered by a federal government study suggesting run-off from modern farms degraded water quality. A 2001 Pembina Institute report warned of increased pesticide use. Since then disputes have erupted across Alberta. Rural municipalities are besieged by environmentalists blocking agri-business expansion. The mantras of Carstairs-based Society for Environmentally Responsible Livestock Operations (SERLO) are "sustainable" and "stewardship." SERLO militantly opposes confined feeding operations. Such practises lead to "adecreaseinpropertyvalues." SERLO is obsessed with giving grief to AAA Cattle Ltd's operation near Didsbury. SERLO boasts of killing a proposed 3,000-sow pork-producing operation. (27) Wildrose Agricultural Producers (WAP) is arguably Alberta's largest ENGO. Before 1995 WAP was Unifarm -- a society formed by the 1970 merger of Farmers' Union of Alberta and Alberta Federation of Agriculture. Precursors date to 1907 when Alberta farmers first banded to establish non-market retail, insurance, and marketing entities and to lobby for tax-breaks, subsidies, and protection. WAP does not represent all agricultural producers. They oppose "commodity specific" farmers and ranchers. They support: the Canadian Wheat Board, sustainable farm income, fair trade practices, rural town preservation, and state aid in overcoming farm labour shortages. WAP's support for regulations mandating biofuel blending is cloaked in environmental rhetoric as is its call for increased surface rights compensation. WAP supports the conservationist Water for Life complex. WAP considers the Alternative Land Use Services pilot project to be a good first step and calls for an extension of Canada Alberta Farm Stewardship Program because:

"Landowners should be compensated by the public for good stewardship practises and parcel set asides that enhance air, land and water quality as well as wildlife preservation and biodiversity." (28)

According to the Woodlot Association of Alberta (WAA):

"...in the 1990s logging on private land around Alberta was rampant... landowners were being cheated and the landscape was being drastically altered."

To confront these wrongs, a brave coalition of Cochrane landowners and tree-huggers (funded by the Canadian Forest Service) founded WAA. Their propaganda is filled with terms like: "environment", "inherent value", and "sustainable". A "woodlot" is any clumps of trees on private property. WAA preserves clumps by suppressing logging and clearances and by preaching the true value of trees. (29) Many Alberta ENGOs are rural landowner alliances. Hastings Lakefront Owners Association and Farmers of the Elbow Watershed incorporate rural landowning into their names. The following ENGOs explicitly describe themselves as landowner alliances: Association of Summer Villages, Drywood Creek Watershed Group, Bonny Lake Sustainability Association, Lake Isle Management Society, Pincher Creek Watershed Group, and Waters Edge Resources Group. The Northwest Alliance Conservation Initiative aims to increase farm profitability through environmentalist practices. Several ENGOs are connected to farmers' markets; Cochrane Environmental Action Committee is entirely funded by one. Some ENGOs consist of ranchers who use public lands for grazing; thus, want these lands to remain undeveloped and available. They make common cause with hunting guides and outfitters who also profit from these lands. This material interest is evident in: Willmore Wilderness Foundation, West Central Forage Association, Milk River Ranchers Association, and Blackfoot Forest Reserve Graziers Association. The Fox Stock Association consists of ranchers seeking to preserve grazing land in Cypress Hill Park. Lyndon Creek Conservation Society and Friends of the Little Red Deer River Society have similar motives. Grey Wooded Forage Association's staff place their semi-annual newsletter in 9,000 rural mail boxes. (30)

Footnotes

1. Calgary Herald May 8, 2010
2. Calgary Herald May 26, 2010
3. Calgary Herald May 28 2010
4. Bunner; Volume 11 p 128-30
5. Ibid; Volume 11 p 128
6. Ibid Volume 11 p 127-8
7. Ibid Volume 11 p 129
8. Ibid Volume 11 p 130
9. Ibid Volume 12 p 74-5
10. parksfdn.com
11. retasite.wordpress.com
12. rbc.com
13. td.com
14. bentall.com
15. manulife.ca
16. oxfordproperties.com  and pi
17. aref.ab.ca
18. ec.gc.ca (Ecological Gifts)
19. crossconservation.org
20. http://cliffordlee.com
21. jjcollett.org
22. ealt.ca
23. foothillslandtrust.org
24. afga.org
25. landtrusts-alberta.ca
26. Bunner; Volume 12 p 218
27. serlo.org
28. wrap.ab.ca
29. woodlot.org
30. Alberta Environment; Watershed Stewardship Directory; 2005

William Walter Kay, Ecofascism.com William can be reached at: williamwkay@yahoo.ca