Partners

A Tale of Mining and Biodiversity
by Paddy Muir

The air quality of a mine was once measured by the health of a canary—a dead bird did not bode well. Today, mining companies are using the presence of birds near and around the mine to measure a healthy, restored habitat.

Mining is a transitory and finite business. Historically, a company would open a mine, extract what it needed, and move on. Most mining companies now take a different approach, striving to meet stringent environmental regulations that protect air, water, and wildlife habitat. Some go beyond the regulations and look for innovative ways to leave a positive legacy.

The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOCC) is one of the companies leading the way. The North American Waterfowl Management Plan’s Eastern Habitat Joint Venture has recently formed precedent-setting partnerships with the mining sector. In May 2003, the joint venture and the IOC launched the Tailings to Biodiversity Project. If successful, wildlife in the Wabush area of Labrador will have thousands of hectares of new habitat over the next 40 years. This new habitat will benefit migratory birds such as American black ducks, Canada geese, common terns, shorebirds, and many other wildlife and plant species.

The project explores creative uses for the inert tailings of rock and sand produced by IOCC’s iron ore mine in Labrador City. “We noticed that geese, ducks, and other migratory birds have used the large pond formed by the tailings,” said Lee Preziosi, IOCC’s superintendent of environment. “We suspected that these areas could be managed to create vital wetland habitat.”

Over the last year, IOCC has planted test plots in tailings to determine how various plants adapt, and it is conducting plot surveys of flora and fauna, including the usage patterns of migratory birds. “This way we can determine if the diversity of bird species increases and if birds access nearby areas,” said Preziosi.

Lafarge North America is considering a similar project in Brookfield, Nova Scotia. To extend the life of its limestone mining operation, it will soon need to move into an area that will involve altering a watercourse and disturbing some wetlands. “We are trying to define the mandatory requirements and also looking at additional enhancements we could make at this site,” said Leo MacArthur, quarry coordinator for Lafarge. “The real benefit of this partnership to a mining company is that it often costs very little to make positive changes if a habitat enhancement plan is developed and incorporated early in the process. It is also a great opportunity to work with the community to create something of lasting value after the mining operations close down.”

Maxine Wiber, Billiton Base Metals vice-president of mine reclamation, spearheads a similar investigation in Ontario. “We are working with the joint venture to develop ideas for projects that have a strong community focus.” Possibilities include wetland habitat enhancement in Southern Ontario, data collection for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, and wild rice plantings.

Pierre Gratton, vice-president of public affairs for the Mining Association of Canada, sees this as the leading edge of a new trend. “In recent years our members have concentrated on site-specific environmental performance issues, such as effluent quality, drainage, and air emissions,” he said. “Now, many are expanding their vision and thinking about the mine within the larger ecological context, including developing biodiversity policies. These companies have demonstrated real leadership within the industry, helping others to see that partnerships, such as those with the joint venture, are worth exploring.”

Gratton also points to other benefits, such as the pooling of expertise. “Not all mining companies have a wildlife biologist on staff, and naturalist groups may have biologists but no engineers,” he said. “Working together means everyone wins.”

For more information, contact Reg Melanson, Eastern Habitat Joint Venture Coordinator, 17 Waterfowl Lane, Sackville, New Brunswick E0A 3C0, (506) 364-5036, reginald.melanson@ec.gc.ca.

Like Father, Like Sons
by Debbie Slobe, Playa Lakes Joint Venture

Bob and Doc Pearson made a pact as children to restore their father's land to benefit wildlife. As adults, the Pearson brothers are making good on that promise. Over the past several years, they have restored 360 acres of native wetlands and uplands on their 960-acre property near Spearman, Texas—land that has been in the family since 1945. If you ask Bob and Doc, they'll say they are just carrying on their father's legacy of conservation.

"My father was one of the original members of the North Plains Groundwater District in 1955," Bob said proudly. "He won some conservation awards and took care of his land." The brothers are following in their father's footsteps, having received Texas Parks and Wildlife’s (TPW) Lone Star Land Steward award in 2000 for conservation work in the State’s High Plains Ecological Region.

Since 1998, the Pearsons have planted more than 1,700 native plants, fenced around a 70-acre playa, constructed three buffered waterways that feed the playa, and flash-grazed the pasture to restore native shortgrass—all the while harvesting 50 bushels of dry-farm wheat and grazing some 250 head of cattle annually. The Pearsons' efforts have created an oasis for wildlife. This year, Bob has spotted 39 antelope, 100 mule deer, and 22 white-tailed deer, plus numerous bird species such as ring-necked pheasant, northern bobwhite, scaled quail, wild turkey, mallard, blue- and green-winged teal, Canada goose, and sandhill crane. Wildlife is so plentiful, in fact, that this year the Pearsons began hunting on their land for the first time in 4 years. "When you see those birds coming back in—the mallards, Canada geese, and cranes—it makes it all worthwhile," Bob said.

The Pearsons were able to implement the conservation projects with the help of a few new-found friends. In 2001, the Playa Lakes Joint Venture signed a 10-year agreement with the Pearsons to complete the construction of the fence around the 70-acre playa, to build terraces to divert water into their playas and prevent soil erosion, and to establish a grassed waterway that feeds into the playa. The joint venture contributed $12,180 to complete the work.

Even before the terms of the agreement with the joint venture had expired, the Pearsons signed up for another conservation project, working with TPW to restore shortgrass prairie for rare species. The Pearsons have made significant contributions toward accomplishing each project: $5,055 for the joint venture project and $11,640 for the TPW project.

"If there's anything you can cut in stone, it is that our [conservation] efforts will persist," Bob said. "There's nothing that gives you a better rush than this."

Bob and Doc are passing along the value of stewardship to their children and grandchildren, who undoubtedly will carry on the family’s legacy of conservation. "My grandchildren love to be on our land because of all the game. Plus, I have three daughters, and they love it here, too."

For more information, contact Debbie Slobe, Communications Team Leader, Playa Lakes Joint Venture, 103 E. Simpson Street, Lafayette, Colorado 80026, (303) 926-0777, debbie.slobe@pljv.org.