Saskatchewan received a large and unexpected prize two years ago: about 1.8 million acres of pasture land. In Bill-38 in April 2012, the federal government announced that the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) would wind up. The provincial lands it held in trust and managed would be returned to the Prairie Provinces.
Saskatchewan's share is 62 parcels. Ten have been transferred so far, and the rest will follow by 2018.
The feds seemed to think the transfer would be a no-brainer. But like other large, unexpected prizes one might imagine (say, a yacht), this one has been received with a mixture of excitement and consternation.
For one thing, these lands truly are splendid. The lion's share support stands of native prairie. Some of it has never even been farmed. As unploughed prairie, it is Saskatchewan's version of Old Growth Forest. It is home to the Burrowing Owl and at least 30 other species at risk of extinction.
For another thing, a lot of different people treasure these lands.
Each summer, over 1,600 producers ("patrons") use the pastures to graze about 110,000 head of livestock. By and large they are mixed farmers with insufficient land of their own to graze 60 to 100 cows. They turn them over to government range riders to watch over and care for. That responsibility includes upholding environmental regulations regarding endangered and invasive species, and resource company access.
PFRA lands have always been earmarked for multiple usage. So hunters, hikers, birdwatchers, and snowmobilers also frequent these pastures. Scientists love them, too. For all that has been learned there over the years (about the importance of grazing animals to prairie ecology, for example), you could call them Canada's Grasslands University.
Then there are the oil and gas interests. There are already 3,000 surface leases on the soon-to-be-former PFRA lands. According to one estimate, the pastures could be worth $1.6 billion to resource companies.
They are also worth a bundle to Saskatchewan's First Nations. Ten archaeological and historic sites are known to be located there. Some PFRA lands already have successfully devolved to First Nation management.
So much for the excitement. Now for the consternation. How on earth are these lands to be managed? None of the interested parties is big enough for the job.
The feds don't want to run a program which has "accomplished its goal." The PFRA was established in 1935 in the teeth of Depression and drought in order to restore damaged farmland to grass cover. Ottawa calculates that it will save $3 million annually once all pastures are transitioned. (Patrons' fees, and royalties and access rights have covered perhaps half the cost of management.) About 190 full-time jobs, including the range riders, will be cut.
What that calculation overlooks is the knowledge and experience of those horseback managers, and their collaboration with patrons, scientists, environmentalists, and resource companies. This "infrastructure" is in itself a singular public asset, bought with public money and user fees. Thanks to it, Saskatchewan is heir to large blocks of natural prairie, and to a more diversified rural economy.
Although it already manages over 50 community pastures of its own, the provincial government isn't willing to take on the management either. Saskatchewan wants to lease (or sell) the lands to patrons' organizations and let them deal with it. They can tap one-off grants to a maximum of $120,000 to create a legal entity for the purpose, including "$40,000 to acquire skills in management of environmentally sensitive land, human resources, finances and adoption of new technologies."
This approach alarms the Community Pasture Patrons Association. Its members recognize how important these pastures are to Saskatchewan's communities and ecology, and to livestock producers. The idea that they can quickly assume all the duties and costs of managing such an asset seems unhinged from reality.
Why not "just buy it"? Because it is not unencumbered. On the basis of the 1992 Treaty Land Entitlement, Saskatchewan's First Nations must be consulted about any lands which the Crown decides to alienate. They want first option.
So here we are: Precious Public Assets. Multiple Stakeholders. Public and Private Sector each short of will, capacity, or power to pick up the ball and run with it. Sound like a recipe for a co-operative?
It does to some patrons. Co-ops already manage some provincial pastures in the province. There are successful grazing co-operatives in Alberta and in many U.S. states, and co-op-like arrangements in other countries. Why not find out how they're doing it? After all, Saskatchewan's situation is remarkable, but not unprecedented.
Or how about the solution which ten First Nations have put on the table? It's not a co-operative per se, but an approach that taps the strengths of co-op governance: land title retained by the province; a board inclusive of major stakeholders; one coherent vision; management accountable for preserving and enhancing benefits to all parties. It's called the First Nation Sustainable Land Management Joint Venture.
These folks are on the right track. The biggest hindrance they face is probably the reluctance of the federal and provincial governments to think of themselves as "stakeholders." It's time they did. These community pastures are too big, complex, and valuable an asset for any one of the interested parties to handle. A lot of them clearly realize that, and realize the consequences of thinking otherwise: confusion, conflict, and waste - waste of expertise, benefits, and ecosystems.
Let's not let some vague, ideological resistance to "the commons" wreck the prize of the century.
