Welcome to Operation Grassland Community
What we’re up to
Operation Grassland Community (OGC) is a program of the Alberta Wildlife Federation
(AWF, formerly the Alberta Fish and Game Association). Since the early 1990s, OGC
has partnered with ranching families across Alberta to promote voluntary stewardship
practices that support both healthy prairie ecosystems and thriving ranching operations.
Our outreach and Habitat Enhancement Projects (HEPs) focus on four grassland
species at risk: Burrowing Owl, Ferruginous Hawk, Loggerhead Shrike, and Sprague’s
Pipit. By working together, we strive to keep ranching viable while ensuring that the
prairie landscape continues to provide a home for wildlife.
Our objectives
For nearly four decades, OGC has worked to conserve Alberta’s native prairie through
collaboration with ranching families. We do this by:
- Securing funding to help offset the costs of sustainable rangeland management.
- Supporting on-the-ground Habitat Enhancement Projects (HEPs).
- Leading long-term monitoring, including our annual Burrowing Owl survey
(running since 1990), which provides valuable data to track the health of this
endangered species. - Building awareness and understanding of the prairie ecosystem through outreach
and education.
Our objective is simple: to ensure that both ranching and prairie wildlife can thrive
together for generations to come.