Baseline Conditions at the Wabamun-Whitewood Expansion Project: Reclaimed Habitat in the Former TransAlta Corporation Whitewood Coal Mine, 2024–2025
Interim Report
Author(s)
Terri Lynn Perron, B.Sc., P.Biol.
Scott Seward, B.A., M.Sc.
Meagan Butler, B.Sc.
Summary
In 1962, TransAlta Corporation (TransAlta) started operations at their Whitewood Coal Mine No. 1757 just north of the hamlet of Wabamun, Alberta. After almost 50 years of ongoing coal extraction, operations ceased in 2010. Progressive reclamation of the mined area was carried out over the course of the mine’s lifecycle. Parkland County prepared and approved development concepts and a general framework for future land use of the former mine. The vision included a return of reclaimed areas to productive agricultural land or spaces for conservation, passive recreation, and wildlife habitat.
TransAlta reached out to Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) in 2022 and expressed their interest in further divesting large areas of reclaimed land for habitat conservation. ACA was already involved in a partnership managing a conservation site (Wabamun-Whitewood) adjacent to and partially within the former mine. The Wabamun-Whitewood Expansion Project (WWEP) was initiated the following year with the goal of transferring seven distinct land parcels from TransAlta’s former mine to ACA’s land management portfolio via two routes: (1) land donation through the federal Ecological Gifts Program, and (2) fee-simple land purchases using monies from the federal Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund and ACA’s Habitat Securement Fund. The WWEP conserves over 2700 ac (11 km2) of habitat, and when added to the Wabamun-Whitewood Conservation Site and adjacent Crown-owned East Pit Lake habitat land, the total expanse of connected habitat exceeds 3,500 ac (14.2 km2). ACA’s new land securements are also expected to positively contribute to federal carbon sequestration targets and alleviate some of the hunter/private landowner permission challenges reported in the area.
It is standard practice for ACA to collect baseline information for new property acquisitions. For the WWEP, we needed additional information to help inform ACA’s management planning, to contribute to TransAlta’s reclamation certification process, and to complete commitments under the Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund agreement. Terrestrial baseline site inventories included several key steps: mapping plant communities and habitat types; measuring forest stand characteristics; documenting anthropogenic features; mapping listed weed species; assessing riparian and range health; establishing photo reference points; and quantifying soil organic carbon. ACA biologists conducted a variety of taxon-specific wildlife surveys in 2024 and 2025, during peak activity or breeding periods to maximize detection. We also deployed wildlife cameras and autonomous acoustic/ultrasonic recording units to supplement data collected from formal surveys. We conducted aquatic assessments to determine if the anthropogenic lakes could support stocked fish populations, including water chemistry, dissolved oxygen, water temperature, and the presence of fish and fish food sources.
Six general habitat types and 39 different plant community types were documented on the WWEP. We detected over 100 wildlife species, many having special designations and protections under Alberta’s Wildlife Act or Canada’s Species at Risk Act. There was abundant sign of ungulate game species. We detected several species of amphibians breeding in regenerating wetlands across the site, and many insectivorous birds and bats of conservation concern foraging above the constructed lakes. Agricultural land-use areas were supporting several avian species typically found further south in grassland or parkland landscapes. We are encouraged by the current species richness on the former mine including areas reclaimed to agricultural capacity and areas reclaimed to wildland. The land parcels within the WWEP represent different reclamation histories and objectives and provide unique wildlife habitats that contribute to overall landscape diversity. Three of the lakes are suitable to support salmonid fish populations. Winter water quality testing confirmed that two lakes have dissolved oxygen levels that can overwinter fish. The third lake should be managed as a put-and-take (summer) fishery only, unless lake rehabilitation options improve overwintering potential.
TransAlta has invested an incredible amount of energy and resources to return the disturbed Whitewood Mine lands to a functional state suitable for agriculture and wildlife habitat. Most of the disturbed land within the WWEP has now received reclamation certification, and most of the seven parcels within the WWEP have been transferred to ACA ownership. We are now at the exciting stage of reviewing site enhancement options to elevate the land’s ability to support huntable species and species at risk, to enhance biodiversity, store more carbon, and to improve public recreational opportunities. We intend to stock suitable lakes with species tailored to specific environmental conditions to optimize recreational opportunities for Albertans. Informed by baseline data collection, we will investigate terrestrial habitat enhancement options to improve browse, cover, foraging, nesting, and roosting habitat on site. A monitoring program will be implemented to assess the effectiveness of future enhancements. Short-term grazing and haying agreements are currently in place; future agreements will make use of baseline information to ensure the activities, timing, and stocking rates are ecologically sustainable and compatible with long-term objectives for the land. ACA looks forward to sharing this land for public enjoyment in the coming years once final reclamation and site preparations are complete.