Miistakis Institute

This week, the Miistakis Institute Board and staff came together for our annual retreat to reflect, learn, and look ahead.

Through engaging discussions focused on relevance, risk, and resilience, we explored how Miistakis can continue to make meaningful contributions to conservation and community well-being in a rapidly changing world. Together, we examined emerging challenges and opportunities, considered the evolving needs of our partners and communities, and identified ways to strengthen our impact.

These conversations are critical to ensuring that Miistakis remains a trusted leader in applied conservation connecting science, communities, and decision-makers to support resilient landscapes and thriving communities across Alberta and beyond.

A sincere thank you to our Board members and staff for their thoughtful participation, diverse perspectives, and commitment to shaping Miistakis' future.

A sneak peak of our newest project “Baseline BioBlitz: Monitoring Nature at Beaver Dam Analogue Restoration Sites.”

Historic beaver fur trade, land use, and climate change have led to degraded streams and creeks across much of Alberta. As beaver populations increase, and land stewardship begins to restore these waterways, we can expedite the process with Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs)! These structures are human-made of natural materials and aim to mimic the benefits of a beaver dam – they slow down water, encourage it to pool, and reconnect waterways to historic flood plains. Slowing water also reduces erosion and increases groundwater levels. BDAs also provide food, shelter, and breeding grounds for healthy and diverse local wildlife. Although these beaver dam mimics have been widely used elsewhere, they are not common in Alberta – YET!

To better understand how BDAs may impact biodiversity, we are conducting baseline monitoring at sites along two creeks in Southern Alberta, some with BDAs, some without. We installed remote wildlife cameras and autonomous recording units (ARUs) on April 22, which will stay out until the end of August. We have also invited subject matter experts to expand our species surveyed to include pollinators and species of cultural significance.

By gathering local biodiversity data, we hope to better understand BDAs impacts, and encourage their use in watershed restoration projects and biodiversity support in the future! Stay tuned for more updates on this project!

Thank you to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (Fondation TD des amis de l'environnement) for their financial support of this exciting project!

Thank you to our project partners: Freshwater Conservation Canada and Waldron Ranch.

This spring we worked with Sebastian, a 4th year student in a Mount Royal University Work-Integrated-Learning course to test our first iteration of wetland condition. Sebastian examined biodiversity patterns across 37 wetland sites in southern Alberta using data collected from Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs).

Two key metrics were assessed:
1. Species richness – the number of unique species, shown in green on the map (map 1) with a higher species richness in darker green.
2. Proportion of rare species – the percentage of detections designated as “At Risk” or “Sensitive” under the Alberta General Status classification system (Government of Alberta, 2022). These are shown in red (map 2), with darker red indicating a higher proportion of rare species.

Overall, biodiversity is not evenly distributed across sites, suggesting that habitat quality, connectivity, or levels of human disturbance may influence species composition and diversity. These patterns reinforce the need for robust tools to assess wetland condition. To that end, we have been working with Dr. Felix Nwashi from Mount Royal University to develop and apply a method to predict wetland condition based on GIS-based data that reflects hydrology and ecology, and ultimately predict wetland health.

Next steps: We will continue refining the wetland condition metric by testing and adjusting our methods. Sebastian’s findings provide encouraging early insights as we move this work forward.

We’re grateful to Sebastian for his outstanding contributions to this project.

Tracking long-distance pronghorn movements helps researchers better understand how they interact with habitat, weather, seasonal conditions, and barriers across the Northern Sagebrush Steppe.
Every GPS collar tells part of the story.

Some pronghorn stay close to home. Others go on a journey. Here is the journey of P402.
P402 was captured and collared in December 2025 north of Sceptre and the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan. By the end of December, she had already travelled west to an area north of Empress, Alberta, where she spent the winter.
From February to May 2026, P402 pushed north roughly 260 km (as the crow flies), eventually travelling farther north than Saskatoon. In total, she covered approximately 300 km in straight-line distance.
These long-distance movements help researchers better understand how pronghorn respond to seasonal conditions, habitat, weather, and barriers across the Northern Sagebrush Steppe.
Every collar helps tell another piece of the story.
Learn more: https://www.ab-conservation.com/featured-projects/wildlife/pronghorn-projects/
Pronghorn Xing team:

From trail cameras to conservation: our project is documenting wildlife activity near animal-vehicle collision hotspots on highways in Rocky View and Foothills Counties. The data will support work to protect ecological connectivity in the region, and can inform road mitigation design to keep wildlife and people safe.

Thank you to participating private landowners and land trusts for hosting a trail cam on their properties! 📸🌲

“Oh hey, fancy seeing you here” meets “I think I took a wrong turn” energy.

Connected landscapes support healthy ecosystems 🌱 and communities 🏡. Our new summary shows how Miistakis helps municipalities to embed ecological connectivity into everyday planning tools and decisions.

Read it here:https://rockies.ca/files/reports/MIR_MunicipalPlanning_two-pager_FEB2026_v02.pdf

🚧 On the Road to Smarter Mitigation 🦌

Wildlife–vehicle collisions aren’t just inconvenient—they’re a serious safety issue for people and wildlife alike. In British Columbia, an estimated 12,000 collisions happen every year, involving deer, moose, elk, bears, and more.

So how do we decide where mitigation is needed most?

We estimated a BC-specific composite collision cost (~$120,500 per collision), a vital part of a benefit–cost analysis, to guide smarter investments in solutions like fencing, wildlife crossings, and detection systems.

This can be part of a broader decision-making framework that also considers wildlife and social values, helping ensure mitigation efforts are not only cost-effective, but also support connectivity and long-term conservation outcomes.

Thank you to the BC Ministry of Transportation, with contributions from Alberta Transportation & Economic Development and Biodiversity Pathways.

Read the full story in our recent newsletter: https://www.rockies.ca/newsletter/spring2026_moti.php