HomeMy WebLinkAboutAHRF Program Overview48 Bullhead Rd, Tsuut'ina Trail, AB T0L 10W
48 Bullhead Rd, Tsuut'ina Trail, AB T0L 10W
Telephone: 587-839-4729 Email: teagletail@tsuutina.com
The Aquatic Habitat Restoration Fund Background
What is the Aquatic Habitat Restoration Fund?
Tsuut’ina Nation’s Lands Department manages The Aquatic Habitat Restoration Fund (AHRF)
on behalf of the nation. The AHRF is an accommodation measure, provided by the Government
of Canada, in response to concerns raised by Indigenous groups during consultations for the
Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) projects. These concerns included the potential impacts of
development on fish and fish habitat and the general state of fisheries resources based on
cumulative effects from development projects.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) provided capacity funding to enable Tsuut’ina
to participate in the development of an Aquatic Habitat Restoration Program to build capacity for
restoration projects and activities. Through this initiative, the Government of Canada and
Tsuut’ina Nation are collaboratively developing an Aquatic Habitat Restoration Program to
restore and protect freshwater aquatic ecosystems and contribute to the sustainability of fish and
fish habitat.
Tsuut’ina Nation’s Aquatic Habitat Restoration Program
Tsuut’ina Nation’s AHRF is working towards ensuring long term sustainability of aquatic habitat
through raising awareness, collaborating with others, building capacity and monitoring and
maintenance.
Some examples of how we plan on carrying out these goals include monitoring past projects to
assess whether maintenance is required, assessing restoration project success, carrying out
aquatic health and water quality monitoring, carrying out fish passage studies, and creating
species at risk recovery and action plans. For raising awareness and collaborating with others, we
are actively implementing a watershed approach to promote restoration and protection for
Tsuut’ina Nation’s waterways. In implementing this watershed approach, Tsuut’ina Nation’s
AHRF is building relationships with surrounding watersheds, government, and non-government
organizations. Similarly, the AHRF is actively working towards raising awareness on Tsuut’ina
Nation through presentations at the schools and open houses and collaborating on projects with
the community. We are also planning on contributing to strategic planning and studies in order to
build Tsuut’ina Nation’s Watershed Management Plan, and Land Use Plan.