OH Ranch – 2009
The OH Ranch located near Longview, AB, hit some major milestones in the last few years. In 2008, it celebrated its 125-year anniversary, received a Heritage Rangeland Designation, was selected as the winners of the Growing Alberta Environmental Stewardship Award at the Harvest Gala, and was named Alberta Beef Producers 2009 Environmental Stewardship Award recipients.
A few years later the historic ranch, including the original 1885 ranch house, cookhouse and replica North West Mounted Police cabin, was put up for sale. The 50,000-acre ranch was listed for $49 million with 10,000 acres designated as heritage ranchland and protected against subdivision, development and oil and gas surface drilling. A designation put in place by the late Daryl (Doc) Seaman to ensure the land would always support ranching.
Calgary philanthropist and rancher, Bill Siebens, acquired the OH Ranch late last year and in an effort to give back to the community donated nearly 8,000 acres of the southern portion of the property to the Calgary stampede Foundation, the largest donation they have ever received valued at over $11 million. Siebens 54-year connection to Alberta and the Foothills, he owns the neighbouring ranch, made the obvious decision for him with the Calgary Stampede celebrating 100 years this past July. He trusted the Stampede to honour the legacy of the OH Ranch for another 100 years.
Alberta’s second heritage ranchland site, the OH Ranch is governed by an easement agreement through the Nature Conservancy of Canada “for the purposes of the protection, conservation and enhancement of the environment, biological diversity, natural, scenic and esthetic values, natural habitat and similar purposes. As a historic rangeland, the ranch is not focused on recreation opportunities and the area is under grazing lease – with hunting and access restrictions.”
It was designated under the Wilderness Areas, Ecological Reserves, Natural Areas, and Heritage Ranchlands Act to preserve the landscape and conserve the native grassland ecosystem. Environmental stewardship already played a big role in the operation before even before the land designation took place. The three different ranch locations, Longview, Bassano and Dorothy, worked together on environmental improvements and collaborated on decisions to incorporate into each operation. The value of grass was thoroughly understood at OH and carefully managed.
Enhancements were made to timing of calving rotations to ensure the cattle weren’t in areas that are in peak growing seasons and allowed for better grass quality and quantity, and in turn added gains in the herd health and weight. The cattle were strategically moved through the treed foothills and the grassland valleys at Longview to take full advantage of the benefits the land and the trees provide. The Pekisko wintering range was only accessed during the winter months to ensure maximum production of the grass.
The cattle operations always put focus on developing watering systems and wells. Dugouts were fenced-off to keep cattle out of riparian areas that are sensitive to traffic which ensured the health of the water supply. Hard crossings were developed to limit erosion to the banks in areas cattle need to cross.
When floods hit in 2005, the ranch worked hard to restore the damage that had been done. Bio-engineering was used to repair severe damage and the banks were re-established. It was important to the ranch to be environmentally aware of the potential damage to the health of the creek and how it would affect the water quality downstream.