An important detail to know is whose land are you walking on and do you have permission to be there? The answer to this question can be a bit more complex than you think.

[GRAPHIC]

Legal Disclaimer

I am not a lawyer and the following is not legal advice. It is based on credible sources but there is always more to meet the eye – which is why people hire lawyers. Use the following as a general guideline and when in doubt, check the credible sources noted below.

Crown, Private and First Nation Ownership

Property in Alberta can be broadly divided into three groups of ownership with their own sub-divisions [1].

1. Crown Land: Owned by a level of government
   1. Federal Crown Land: most crown land in YEG-Ville is owned by the province with some notable exceptions such as Elk Island National Park.
   2. Provincial Crown Land: about a quarter of the locations in the Northwest quadrant are on provincial crown land. Important sub-categories include [2]:
      1. Provincial parks: To preserve natural heritage of provincial significance or higher, while supporting outdoor recreation, heritage tourism and natural heritage appreciation activities that depend upon and are compatible with environmental protection. Legislation: Provincial Parks Act.
      2. Wildland Provincial Parks: To preserve and protect natural heritage and provide opportunities for compatible backcountry recreation. Legislation: Provincial Parks Act.
      3. Provincial Recreation Areas : To support compatible outdoor recreation and tourism, often providing access to lakes, rivers, reservoirs and adjacent crown land. Legislation: Provincial Parks Act.
      4. Wilderness Areas: To preserve and protect natural heritage, where visitors can experience solitude and non-consumptive, nature-based wilderness opportunities. Legislation: Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas and Heritage Rangelands Act
      5. Natural Areas: To preserve and protect sites of local significance and provide opportunities for low-impact nature-based recreation and nature appreciation activities. Legislation: Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas and Heritage Rangelands Act.
      6. Ecological Reserves: To preserve and protect natural heritage in an undisturbed state for scientific research or education. Legislation: Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas and Heritage Rangelands Act.
   3. Municipal and County Parks: represent about a third of the locations in the Northwest quadrant.
2. Private Ownership: Owned by one or more individuals, trusts or corporations.
   1. Private ownership: this may be by individual(s), a corporation or another legal entity. There are very few locations in this guide that fall into this category, for example the ownership of the Devon Trail (Northside).
   2. Trusts: Natural Areas make up the majority of these areas. These areas may be administered by a society or organization or their ownership remains a mystery to a casual review (and without paying for a land titles search). Nearly a third of the locations fall into this category. Although listed individually, may sites have more than one trust or foundation involved in its acquisition and management.
      1. Edmonton Area Land Trust: EALT operates 14 sites in YEG-Ville such as Bunchberry Natural Area or Boisvert Greenwoods.
      2. Nature Conservancy of Canada: Owns or is affiliated with a number of YEG-Ville sites. Most notable are the Wagner Natural Area, and the Clifford E. Lee Nature Sanctuary.
      3. Bucks for Wildlife: this was a program initiated by the provincial government in the 1970’s. It was transferred to the Alberta Conservation Association and subsequently transferred back to the government. As of writing, the program is in hiatus. Parkland County has assumed management for many of the properties formerly managed by the program [3
3. First Nations: Reservations held by a First Nations under treaty.
   1. While driving to one of the above locations you may cross treaty land, none of the locations are on First Nations property.

Stewardship Notes

The Tragedy of the Commons is a term coined in the 19th century and the title of a book on economic studies. In summary, it refers to individuals acting in their own self-interest and consuming commonly held resources to the detriment of the resource and other individuals.

An unregulated natural area fits this description. A hiker consumes a small amount of the resource by trampling bushes while following a deer track. A fat biker causes further disturbance and is followed by another 1,000 cyclists who wear a track. An Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV or ATV) crushes a path a metre more wide.

Each of these individuals see nothing wrong with their individual actions even if they lament the damaged caused. The following are my stewardship notes for area that I have visited.

• Overall Condition: A subjective rating based on human activity in the area.

Rating	Foot Traffic	Mechanized	Other
Excellent: No obvious human traffic	No foot prints	No Tracks	No refuse, etc.
Good: light human impact	Some walking based human activity (foot prints, XC tracks), AND>	No tracks, AND>	No refuse, etc.
Fair: obvious human impact remediated naturally	walking based activities in the area creating human focused trails, OR>	Few OHV tracks, none from the current year.	No refuse, etc.
Poor: impact requiring human remediation.	Well defined focused trails with numerous braids. OR>	Recent OHV tracks and/or bicycle tracks OR>	Some dumping
Terrible: impact requiring significant remediation	Large numbers of walkers, without the facilities to sustain the impact. OR>	Deep rutted OHV tracks, numerous and eroded bicycle tracks. OR>	Dumping evident

• Comments: Beyond the above scale, comments and observations on the area.

Notes and References

1. Kaplinsky, Eran, and David Percy. “A Guide to Property Rights in Alberta.” Alberta Land Institute, University of Alberta, n.d. http://propertyrightsguide.ca/assets/a-guide-to-property-rights-in-alberta.pdf.
2. “Parks System | Alberta Parks.” Accessed December 7, 2020. https://www.albertaparks.ca/albertaparksca/management-land-use/parks-system/.
3. Woytowichz, Donna. Discussion on the disposition of Bucks for Wildlife Property in Parkland County. December 7, 2020.