DECEMBER 2016 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Ecology and


farming Langley farm tour puts spotlight on habitat restoration projects beside the creek.”


by RONDA PAYNE


LANGLEY – Each year, the Langley Sustainable


Agriculture Foundation (LSAF) hosts a farm tour together with the Township of Langley. Participants tour farms, learn something new and carry on with their day.


This year’s tour, however, was perhaps the most thought-provoking to date. While the focus was on farms located on Bertrand Creek in Langley and the Ecological Services Initiative (ESI) – also known as Farmland


Advantage – the information and principles readily apply to any farming operation with a body of water and/or other natural habitats.


Dave Melnychuk, chair of the LSAF, provided context for the group of participants who ranged from farmers to politicians. ESI began in the East Kootenays and includes six regions (of which Langley is one) in the three-year pilot; 2016 is year one. There are eight farms participating in the Langley program with budget to bring on two more. These farms allow access for assessments and monitoring of their ecosystems with a goal to create clean water supplies, erosion control, pest management and habitat preservation.


“We picked Bertrand Creek because it has unique features,” Melnychuk said. “There are positive things farmers can do and are doing to look after their waterways.” Two of the farms along Bertrand Creek are 37-acre Lakeview Farms Ltd. and 45- acre Kensington Prairie Farms, the two stops before a luncheon discussion of ESI. Dave Zehnder, program co- ordinator for ESI, spoke at the luncheon as well as at the stops along the way. At Lakeview, which is a broiler production and beef cattle operation, Zehnder pointed out some basics about farming, waterways and the environment. “The objective of the initiative is to maintain the health of the riparian area and improve it wherever possible,” he said. “Water quality is better when the [creek] bank is stable. We want to have good healthy vegetation


A number of indicators are explored at each participating farm site to determine the health of the creek. Healthy tree roots – alder, birch and maple are the most preferable – help hold the bank in place. Invasive plants like ivy and blackberries, which seem to be aggressive in their roots, actually have shallow root systems and are poor at retaining soil while they choke out desired riparian species. Fencing needs to be set back from the bank edge, both for the safety of animals as well as for the ongoing safety of the creek.


Zehnder understands fully the sacrifice farmers make by getting involved in the program and contributing to the health of the creek. “Financial experts are analyzing the costs of this for the farmer,” he said. “We are contracting farmers to take extraordinary actions. More and more, we will depend on farmers to provide this service.”


Farmers in the program receive a small amount of money for their participation. Zehnder knows the funding to farmers will need to change as the value is considered more carefully throughout the


31


DAVE MELNYCHUK | RONDA PAYNE PHOTO program.


“There is an incentive; it’s really a token,” Melnychuk said of the compensation. “Over the three-year period, we need to address what is the true value of good fish habitat. I think we have really good potential to work with farms and the environment to do some really good stuff.” Overall, the site at Lakeview was seen as excellent. In fact, when Melnychuk and Zehnder visited in their first assessment, they saw a salmon jump out of the creek. “It was the best day of my job,” said Zehnder. “I was really excited to have that experience.”


The property’s owner, Everett Friesen and his son, Rob, were on site to answer


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“I always wanted a salmon- bearing stream,” Friesen said. “It was a thrill to have salmon here. I want to keep it pristine.”


Different situation


Kensington Prairie Farms, which breeds alpacas and cattle, has a very different situation to contend with. Owner Catherine Simpson noted there is work to be done on the creek here. There are lots of blackberries and ivy which have killed trees and


caused the fences to be moved three times.


“I actually had an alpaca down the bank,” she said. “What the ivy doesn’t get, the beavers are getting.” Here, the erosion is to the point of being dangerous and Simpson believes it has increased exponentially over the 12 years she has been on the property. She estimates up to eight feet of land has been lost in some areas. “That’s a real challenge,”


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