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Once people become aware of riparian processes and issues, they need tools - options and alternatives to current management practices and a way to implement changes, both as individuals and communities. Here are some of those tools.
Please feel free to download and print copies, or send us a request, for your personal use. (Note: Adobe Acrobat Reader is required) To obtain copies of these tools, please use our Online Order Form. Or if you prefer, you can print and mail our Order Form. Option 1. Want to print your own copy? The publications below have been reformatted for your printer. If you wish to save printer toner, go to File, Print, and Properties (most computers) and select a lower resolution or non-colour print option. Option 2. Get a high quality version by simply ordering a free copy. See the Online Order Form or print and mail our Order Form. Riparian Areas and Grazing Management Caring For The Green Zone: Riparian Areas and Grazing Management NEW Third Edition Available! How riparian systems work, the things that can disturb their healthy function and grazing strategies to keep them healthy. (40 pages) Riparian Areas: A User's Guide to Health What does health of a flood plain or shoreline look like? By tuning our eye to key things to look for, we can take the next step - ensuring we maintain or focus on where to begin to improve riparian area health. (46 pages) A Field Guide to Common Riparian Plants of Alberta NEW! This new coil-bound field guide includes information on identifying some common riparian plants as well as how they link to riparian health and how our management choices change riparian plant communities. (62 pages) Along the Water's Edge Video Interviews with ranchers who provide messages about the importance of riparian areas to their operation. (17 min, 40 sec) 
Want to Know More About Riparian Areas? View the Fact Sheets on Specific Topics listed below: Biodiversity and Riparian Areas This 4-page fact sheet includes: What is biodiversity and why is it important? How do riparian areas fit into biodiversity? How do our actions influence biodiversity? Lakes and Wetlands This 4-page fact sheet explains why healthy lakes and wetlands are important. (for more information on lakes and shorelines see Caring For Shoreline Properties, produced by the Alberta Conservation Association) Crops, Creeks and Sloughs This 4-page fact sheet explains the links between crops and healthy riparian areas. Water Quality and Riparian Areas How do riparian areas improve water quality? What are the benefits of improved water quality? How can you promote healthy riparian areas? A brief, but useful fact sheet to address these questions. Value of Wetlands Find out how wetlands can provide more local precipitation, reduce the damaging affects of floods, improve water quality and recharge groundwater supplies in this information packed 4-page fact sheet. After reading this you'll realize that wetlands aren't just for ducks and frogs. Looking at my Streambank A simple riparian health checklist that quickly identifies how healthy the riparian area along your river, creek or stream is. Can be used as a first step when looking at riparian health, prior to a more in-depth riparian health assessment. Looking at my Lakeshore A simple riparian health checklist that quickly identifies how healthy your lakeshore or wetland is. Can be used as a first step when looking at riparian health, prior to a more in-depth riparian health assessment. Growing Restoration - Natural Fixes to Fortify Streambanks NEW! (en français) For streambanks and shorelines that are experiencing accelerated erosion, returning those banks to natural vegetation is generally the best approach. This fact sheet introduces readers to the concept of soil bioengineering, using live woody vegetation that will ‘sprout and grow’. Once the cause of the vegetation loss has been addressed, these techniques may be used to restore eroding banks, knitting banks together and reducing further loss. Protecting Shorelines & Streambanks - Naturally! NEW! (en français) In the tension between land and water, water always wins. Healthy, well vegetated riparian areas slow the rate of erosion and balance erosion in one spot with bank or shoreline increases through deposition elsewhere. It is extremely difficult to solve erosion problems overnight but once the threat of erosion becomes obvious we tend to want a quick fix. Regaining streambank and shoreline stability may require the temporary use of erosion control structures, especially where insufficient riparian vegetation exists. Solutions may also require a watershed view to see all of the things that contribute to instability.
Riparian Health Assessment and Inventory Wondering how to measure the health of your riparian area? This 4-page fact sheet will give you some ideas on why you may want to look at the health of your riparian area, and how you can use the information to make management decisions. It also describes the differences between riparian health assessment and inventory, the benefits of both, and how Cows and Fish can help. What does riparian health look like? What makes a site healthy or less than healthy? See Riparian Areas: A User's Guide to Health for a colourful, image based, 46-page booklet to help you tune your eye to what makes up riparian health. To answer the question "Is this riparian area healthy?", consider doing a Riparian Health Assessment, and request one of our landowner's guides to riparian health, better known as Riparian Health Assessment Field Workbooks. These are pocket guides for landowners to easily determine the health of their riparian area and as an education and awareness aid for resource managers:
A complete list of all invasive weed and disturbance-caused undesirable plants used by Cows and Fish staff to complete riparian health assessments and inventories (designed for use in Alberta). This list is a tool that landowners, resource managers, and communities can use in understanding riparian health assessments and examining their own riparian areas. Note that the same list can be found at the back of the Riparian Health Assessment Field Workbook. Invasive and Disturbance-caused Plants Fact Sheet This fact sheet explains all you need to know about weeds, or invasive and disturbance-caused plants, in riparian areas. From different types of weeds to the impact of weeds in riparian areas and why weeds are included in riparian health assessments. For a complete list of all invasive and disturbance-caused plants see the fact sheet Invasive Weeds and Disturbance-caused Undesirable Plants List. Riparian Health Training Would you like to better understand the health of your riparian area? The Riparian Health Training fact sheet provides answers on the type of training provided by Cows and Fish and how to choose the right training for you.
How We Work With Communities Our Brochure Facing The Issues A 2-page summary of the role Cows and Fish plays in riparian management, and where our emphasis lies in terms of program goals. The Cows and Fish Process A fact sheet on the strategy to create successful partnerships with producers and their communities to effectively address riparian land issues. This community-driven approach may be useful for your group or agency to consider. Getting Past the Talk: Working with Communities A fact sheet on the Cows and Fish Process in action; sharing our experiences working with communities. Demonstration Sites and Profile and Reference Sites Demonstration, profile and reference sites are cost effective methods of displaying and testing riparian management options using local producers. Other producers and community members are given the opportunity to educate themselves about riparian management options as well as to discuss and evaluate the benefits and applicability to their region by touching, seeing and examining the site. Demonstration, profile and reference sites are valuable and practical tools for producers and communities. Learn how to select effective demonstration, profile and reference sites. Community and Producer Stories Want to learn more about some of the groups and individuals who are working on riparian initiatives and riparian management? Check out what these communities and individuals are doing in their area, on their own places. - Municipal District of Ranchland - Upper Little Bow Basin Water Users Association - Lower Mosquito Creek Water Users Association - City of Camrose - Beaver Creek Watershed Group - Tongue Creek Ranch - Hartell, Alberta - OH Ranch - Longview, Alberta - Glen & Kelly Hall - Stavely, Alberta Tools for Riparian Management
Cows and Fish Report Series This is a series of technical and research documents, including research on riparian grazing and birds, independent evaluations and surveys and the economics of riparian management. Click here to view available reports. Riparian and Wetland Classification Documents Detailed riparian habitat and vegetation community classification guides for Alberta. Riparian Classification for the Grassland Natural Region ( view cover ) Printed copies now available for $60. For use in Alberta's Grassland Natural Region and adjacent subregions. Look for pdf files here soon. (full title: Classification and Management of Riparian and Wetland Sites of the Alberta Grassland Natural Region and Adjacent Subregions) Riparian Classification for the Parkland Natural Region and Dry Mixedwood Natural Subregion ( view cover ) Printed copies now available for $60. For use in Alberta's Parkland Natural Region, portions of the Boreal Natural Region (Dry Mixedwood Subregion) and adjacent subregions. Look for pdf files here soon. (full title: Classification and Management of Riparian and Wetland Sites in Alberta's Parkland Natural Region and Dry Mixedwood Natural Subregion) Can Cows and Fish Co-Exist? Published paper by Barry Adams, P. Ag. and Lorne Fitch, P. Biol. Published and provided here by the Canadian Journal of Plant Science. To obtain copies of the above tools, please use our Online Order Form. Or you can print and mail our Order Form.
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© 2007 Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society: Cows and Fish. All rights reserved.
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