Northern Great Plains disappearing faster than Brazil’s Amazon rainforest—who’s paying attention?

The clean fuel regulations, the GHG pollution pricing framework, and the recent irrigation funding announced through Canada’s Infrastructure Bank all have potential to drive further conversion of grasslands into cropping systems if not carefully implemented.

At the Waldron Ranch in Alberta, cattle are grazing the grasslands—an endangered ecosystem in Canada. From 2014 to 2018, loss of grasslands across the Great Plains has occurred at an average rate of four football fields every minute, writes Fawn Jackson.Photograph courtesy of Ben Wilson

Opinion

BY FAWN JACKSON

April 5, 2021

Stand in the middle of a grassland with no trees in sight, listening to the birds and rustle of the wind and you can’t help but feel a deep appreciation for this ecosystem as unique and vulnerable as the Amazon rainforest. This appreciation only grows when you realize the rich soils under Canadian...

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