The Highway 40 North Demonstration Project

This project tested to what degree it was possible to create a fully integrated disturbance plan based on natural patterns. Can we create a collaborative disturbance plan for the collective activities of all partners?

This was a test of the degree to which it was possible to create a fully integrated, operational-scale disturbance plan for an operational-sized area based on a natural pattern foundation.  The underlying premise of the project was on the surface quite simple; can we create a collaborative disturbance plan for the collective cultural activities of all partners over the next 10-30 years using Mother Nature to guide us? 

The project originally included:

  1. the harvesting activities of three neighbouring forest management companies (for whom local harvest approvals had already been issued),
  2. the prescribed burn activities of a provincial park,
  3. prescribed and managed fire collaboration from the provincial government, and
  4. the industrial footprint of the energy sector.

This demo had one additional feature of note. The study area included a portion of an existing woodland caribou herd, which at the time was one of the few in Alberta that was not declining in numbers.  This was thus a unique opportunity to learn more about woodland caribou dynamics via an adaptive management framework.

Selected Resources

Reports:

  1. The Hwy40 North Demonstration Project: Using Natural Patterns as the Foundation for Operational Planning. Part 1: How We Did It
  2. The Hwy40 North Demonstration Project: Using Natural Patterns as the Foundation for Operational Planning. Part 2: What Did We Learn?
  3. Woodland Caribou Response to a Natural-Pattern Inspired Disturbance Plan
Woodland Caribou Response to a Natural-Pattern Inspired Disturbance Plan
Scientific Publications | Reports
FRIAA project report from Healthy Landscapes program
Hwy 40 N Demo Update #22: What did we learn about participatory integration?
Scientific Publications | Reports
Highway 40 North Demonstration Project Update on the degree to which the planning participants worked together successfully as a team.
Hwy 40 N Demo Update #21: What did we learn about procedural integration?
Reports | Scientific Publications
Highway 40 North Demo Project Update on attempted development of a plan that aligns with the requirements and procedures of all involved agencies.
Hwy 40 N Demo Update #20: Is caribou monitoring still a priority?
Scientific Publications | Reports
Highway 40 North Demonstration Project Update on new collaborations and expansions on caribou research relating to the Hwy40 project.
Hwy 40 N Demo Update #19: What did we learn about jurisdictional integration?
Scientific Publications | Reports
Highway 40 N Demo Project Update on how successful the project was at creating a single, seamless, operational plan ignoring administrative boundaries
Using Natural Patterns as the Foundation for Operational Planning Part 2: What did we learn?
Scientific Publications | Reports
Alberta Foothills Disturbance Ecology Demonstration Series Report No. 2 on what was learned through the planning process for the Hwy40 Demo project.
Hwy 40 N Demo Update #18: What did we learn about using a natural pattern foundation?
Scientific Publications | Reports
Highway 40 North Demonstration Project Update summarizing qualitative performance of disturbance scenarios against identified planning indicators.
Using Natural Patterns as the Foundation for Operational Planning Part 1: How we did it
Scientific Publications | Reports
Alberta Foothills Disturbance Ecology Demonstration Series Report No. 1 on background, objectives, location and methods of the Hwy40 Demo project.
Hwy 40 N Demo Update #17: Will it happen on the ground?
Scientific Publications | Reports
Highway 40 North Demonstration Project Update on implications of the rapid advance of mountain pine beetle into the study area for this project.
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  • Bandaloop Landscape-Ecosystem Services
Dr. David Andison
Dr. David Andison
Program Lead