Tannas Conservation Services Ltd. is pleased to offer a 2021 Wetland Assessment Course.  This course focuses on the techniques and knowledge required  to assess wetlands under the recently released Alberta Wetland Policy and the Alberta Wetland Classification. The course also discusses other wetland assessment techniques including: Riparian Health Assessment and Stewart and Kantrud Classification. The course will include a 2 day webinar well as a 2 day field component. Travel day between the two components.

To align with COVID restrictions the field portion of the course will be outdoors only and in small groups with no more than 10 people including the instructor with social distancing and all appropriate mitigations in place.

Day 1 – Alberta  Wetland Policy and the ABWRET-A (Webinar) - May 24

Webinar: Review of the Alberta Wetland Policy and assessment requirements including Alberta Wetland Classification System, a brief introduction to the AWRET-A Form, reporting requirements, challenges and things you need to know to successfully complete a wetland report.

 Day 2 –Permanency Assessment and Delineation (Webinar) - May 25

Webinar: Focus on assessment of permanency, required reporting for permanency assessments and we will work through wetland delineation using imagery as per the requirements for wetland assessments.

Day 3 –Ecosystem  Function, Indicator Species, and Field Assessment Techniques (Field) - May 27

Field: Review assessing ecosystem function and the tools available, as well as indicator species to help classify wetland according to the Alberta Wetland Classification System. The afternoon will start the field work discussed under Day 4.

Day 4 –Field Assessment:  Delineation, Soil, Vegetation, and ABWRET-A (Field) - May28

Field: The final day of the course will focus on plant identification, soil classification, and putting into practice each assessment technique. Instructors will act as coaches to help everyone complete their own assessments.

Schedule:

May 24-25 (Webinar):

8:30am - 12ish - Morning classroom session

12-1 - Lunch

1-:4:30 - Afternoon classroom session

May 27-28:

Location: Eastern Slopes Rangeland Seeds (for directions type "Eastern Slopes Rangeland Seeds" into Google Maps") About 25 min north of Cochrane

9-12am - Morning field session

12-1pm - Lunch

1-:4:30 - Afternoon field session

What to bring:

 - Please bring your own lunch.

 - Notebook, pens etc for note taking

 - For the field days bring plant ID books if you have them

 - For field days wear/bring weather appropriate clothing and sufficient water