Nature Conservancy acquires historic ranch west of Stavely
Addition of Oxley’s 917 hectares critical in fight to protect area land, official says
It’s a swath of pristine ranchland on which Jennifer Barr grew up, riding a horse with a silver spotted saddle and eating Saskatoon berries with her beloved rancher father, Jim.
And now, the ecological treasures of the sprawling 917-hectare Oxley Ranch in the foothills just west of Stavely, first established in 1882, will remain protected in perpetuity, thanks to a conservation agreement with the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
For Barr — whose ancestors have been living on the land since 1919, descendants of George Lane, one of the Calgary Stampede’s legendary Big Four — the agreement means the property, its memories, and its native inhabitants will be able to carry forward even after her family, the ranch’s caretakers for nearly a century, have passed on.
“The ranch does not belong to me, I belong to it. I am its temporary caretaker. I have great concern for the ranchlands of the Eastern Slopes of the foothills,” she said, pledging to preserve the property a day after the 20th anniversary of her father’s death.
“Our lifestyle (as ranchers) is a sacrifice, and when you have so many generations that have sacrificed much more than I have ever, you really would like to honour their lives by ensuring that what was important and what the land has to offer is not compromised by development or overgrazing or logging.”
When it was established 135 years ago, the Oxley Ranch spanned more than 80,000 hectares, making it one of the four largest ranches dotting Alberta’s southern foothills. It joins a trio of other area properties being protected by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, including the Welsch, Waldron and King ranches.
Larry Simpson, associate regional vice-president for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, said ranchland in the area is a quickly dwindling resource due to development pressures and the costs of keeping them running, so the addition of Oxley Ranch to the portfolio of protected lands is critical.
“You get out on the east side of the Porcupine Hills or south of the Oldman River and ranch economics cannot compete,” Simpson said.
“It’s a new dynamic and so we’re in a bit of a race to see what’s going to be left, and that’s why things like the Oxley Ranch ... are so significant.”
Both the provincial and federal governments partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to help preserve the Oxley Ranch.
Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said the preservation of the ranch follows an announcement from the province Monday, pledging $9 million for six projects, including three large ranches.
“Ranchers and landowners like Jennifer Barr and her family recognize that watersheds, grazing pastures and wetlands won’t be protected on their own,” she said.
“They know the true value of the land exceeds what it could fetch on the market, and they’re willing to give up what the market could bring someday to make sure that that land is not broken up.”
The property will now join the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s collection of more than 1.1 million protected hectares across Canada, including some 94,700 hectares in Alberta. The Barr family will continue to live on the ranch and operate it as a cattle ranch.