In Alberta there are 586 species listed under the Alberta Wildlife Act. Increased development in Alberta can have a negative impact on wildlife species, and AltaLink takes precautions to ensure that its activities do not negatively effect wildlife species.

Prior to any construction project, AltaLink hires qualified environmental consultants to conduct detailed wildlife surveys and develop appropriate mitigation strategies, and will stop construction if activities could be harmful to a species at risk. AltaLink temporarily halted a recent construction project when an endangered hawk was discovered nesting near the project site. Construction resumed once the young had fledged and left the nest.

Recently, a representative from AltaLink was appointed by Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division to participate in the Ferruginous Hawk Recovery Team for Alberta. The goal of the team is to achieve a viable self-sustaining ferruginous hawk population distributed across suitable habitat in Alberta’s Grassland Natural Region, through maintenance and/or enhancement of a functional prairie ecosystem. 

AltaLink is proud to be a member of this team and was able to contribute to the conservation of the ferruginous hawk population in late fall 2007 when it was asked by the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA) to provide them with a safe place to nest. A pair of hawks were nesting on a conveyor belt in an active gravel pit on a ranch four miles west of Milk River, AB. AltaLink worked with the ACA and the landowner to install two wood poles with nesting platforms for the hawks to use instead of the conveyor belt next nesting season.