Update
This story was originally posted prior to city council's Jan. 25, 2021 decision on the WILDNorth grant. It has been updated to reflect the grant's approval at that meeting.
This story originally said that WILDNorth got 1,300 calls a year, based on remarks made by Dale Gienow on Jan. 18. On Jan. 26, WILDNorth spokespersons contacted the Gazette to say that the actual number was 13,000. The story has been updated to reflect this information.
City councillors have given an Edmonton-based wildlife group a one-time grant of $10,000 to help it manage a flood of calls brought on by the pandemic.
St. Albert city council approved recommendations from their community living standing committee (CLSC) Jan. 25 as part of their consent agenda.
At a Jan. 18 meeting, members of that committee had called on council to give WILDNorth Northern Alberta Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation a $10,000 grant to support its St. Albert operations.
WILDNorth is an Edmonton-based non-profit that operates throughout northern Alberta and is the only wildlife rescue organization in the Edmonton region. Its members are often called to St. Albert to help at-risk wild animals, such as the great blue heron with a net wrapped around its beak in 2020 and the beaver trapped in a grit interceptor in 2017.
After it awarded the group its third consecutive Environmental Initiatives Grant in 2019, the St. Albert Environmental Advisory Committee recommended that the city give WILDNorth ongoing operational funding, as it provides an important service to St. Albert.
Last March, the CLSC asked administration to create a policy that would allow non-St. Albert agencies that provide services in town (such as WILDNorth) to apply for community services grants, and to have that policy ready by the first quarter of 2021.
Calls way up
On Jan. 18, WILDNorth executive director Dale Gienow told the CLSC his group cares for about 3,000 animals across 13,000 calls for service each year. The group’s St. Albert operations average 550 calls a year and cost between $19,000 and $24,000.
Gienow said his group saw a 61-per-cent jump in calls from St. Albert last year compared to 2019, which was previously the group’s busiest year ever.
“We have been exponentially busy this year with the COVID-19 situation,” he said, which has made people more aware of troubled wildlife as they spend more time at home and outdoors.
“It’s been a crazy year for us.”
In an interview, Gienow said his group has a $600,000-a-year budget, most of which comes from private and corporate donations. Those donations plunged 23 (private) and 91 (corporate) per cent last year due to the pandemic, while the number of animals in the group’s care jumped 17 per cent.
Gienow said Edmonton was currently the only community that gave WILDNorth regular support, to the tune of about $120,000 a year. The group plans to ask every community of more than 10,000 residents in their area for operational funding.
Gienow told the committee a $5,000 grant would cover about 20 per cent of the group’s St. Albert costs.
WILDNorth could normally seek support through the city’s Environmental Initiatives Grant, but last year’s grants were cancelled due to the pandemic, said city environmental manager Christian Benson.
$10K in support
Mayor Cathy Heron recommended council give WILDNorth a one-time grant of $10,000 from the city’s stabilization reserve, saying support for it seemed to have fallen through the cracks. More support could also let this group train city staffers in wildlife rescue techniques – training it currently gives to the City of Edmonton.
“St. Albert residents do care about these small animals and want to see them healthy and rehabilitated if necessary, so I think (this grant) would be very much supported by our residents,” Heron said.
Coun. Sheena Hughes backed this idea, saying the grant is proportionate to the support given by Edmonton and could free up staff time for other tasks.
Benson said administration is still working on the new grant policy that would cover WILDNorth. The committee asked that said policy be ready by June 30.
