The Gray Park Project is a new natural area park that is being designed and built by the Western Sky Land Trust in the community of Diamond Valley. This project is funded by the estate of Mr. Gordon Gray, for the creation of a publicly accessible natural area park He particularly loved hiking and skiing in Alberta and wanted his legacy to be a natural area parkland for future generations to enjoy.
This is a unique partnership between the Trust and the Town that will combine the two sites into a larger protected area that provides a natural amenity to the Town. The park is 30 acres of cottonwood forest and wetlands situated on the floodplain of the Sheep River and is centred on an old back channel of the river. Beaver activity in this channel has led to the development of a series of ponds and wetlands that have significant ecological, educational and amenity value to the community.
The park will be developed by Western Sky and jointly managed with the Town. The park will provide for public access for the community and educational opportunities, while ensuring long-term ecological sustainability.
The project got a green light in June 2023, and we kicked off a number of studies for the park project so that we could better understand the significance of the site, identify park development opportunities, and ensure that we could meet any regulatory requirements.
818 Studio, a landscape architecture firm was retained to prepare an overall design plan for the park. Fiera Environmental Consultants was retained to prepare a detailed biophysical inventory of the park, which was used to identify sensitive features and will also be used to inform the long-term management of the park.
Last fall we consulted with community members and groups to better understand their perspective on the land and used that input to help shape the final design. The conceptual design was presented to the public at an open house in early November. This design was also circulated to stakeholders, including members of the Gray family. Feedback on the concept was incorporated to refine the concepts.
Another way that we worked with the community was by starting some park stewardship work. There is a healthy beaver population in the park—the wetland habitats that they have created are a big part of the significance of the site, but there is a trade off in that we have started to see a loss in tree canopy.
In September, we held a volunteer tree wrapping event on the weekend of September 30, 2023. This event was to wire wrap larger trees in the park to prevent them from being removed by the local beaver population. 20 volunteers attended. Over one very rainy weekend, 20 volunteers managed to wrap over 190 trees, which will go a long way towards protecting the forest canopy. More tree wrapping events are planned for 2024.
The long-term sustainment of Gray Park will require an ecological management plan that considers how to best balance environmental protection and public access. It considers how to best protect and sustain sensitive plant communities and wildlife populations while providing the public an opportunity to enjoy the park. Work has started on this plan and is expected to be completed as more environmental data becomes available.
The park development is scheduled to start in June 2024 and the grand opening of Gray Park is planned for September 2024.
This is a unique partnership between the Trust and the Town that will combine the two sites into a larger protected area that provides a natural amenity to the Town. The park is 30 acres of cottonwood forest and wetlands situated on the floodplain of the Sheep River and is centred on an old back channel of the river. Beaver activity in this channel has led to the development of a series of ponds and wetlands that have significant ecological, educational and amenity value to the community.
The park will be developed by Western Sky and jointly managed with the Town. The park will provide for public access for the community and educational opportunities, while ensuring long-term ecological sustainability.
The project got a green light in June 2023, and we kicked off a number of studies for the park project so that we could better understand the significance of the site, identify park development opportunities, and ensure that we could meet any regulatory requirements.
818 Studio, a landscape architecture firm was retained to prepare an overall design plan for the park. Fiera Environmental Consultants was retained to prepare a detailed biophysical inventory of the park, which was used to identify sensitive features and will also be used to inform the long-term management of the park.
Last fall we consulted with community members and groups to better understand their perspective on the land and used that input to help shape the final design. The conceptual design was presented to the public at an open house in early November. This design was also circulated to stakeholders, including members of the Gray family. Feedback on the concept was incorporated to refine the concepts.
Another way that we worked with the community was by starting some park stewardship work. There is a healthy beaver population in the park—the wetland habitats that they have created are a big part of the significance of the site, but there is a trade off in that we have started to see a loss in tree canopy.
In September, we held a volunteer tree wrapping event on the weekend of September 30, 2023. This event was to wire wrap larger trees in the park to prevent them from being removed by the local beaver population. 20 volunteers attended. Over one very rainy weekend, 20 volunteers managed to wrap over 190 trees, which will go a long way towards protecting the forest canopy. More tree wrapping events are planned for 2024.
The long-term sustainment of Gray Park will require an ecological management plan that considers how to best balance environmental protection and public access. It considers how to best protect and sustain sensitive plant communities and wildlife populations while providing the public an opportunity to enjoy the park. Work has started on this plan and is expected to be completed as more environmental data becomes available.
The park development is scheduled to start in June 2024 and the grand opening of Gray Park is planned for September 2024.