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2010 – The Nature Conservancy of Canada secures the 566 hectare Golden Ranches property with Alberta Fish & Game Association, Edmonton & Area Land Trust, Alberta Conservation Association, Ducks Unlimited, Strathcona County, and the Beaver Hills Initiative
2016 – The Beaver Hills is named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
2019 – Official renaming to the Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve
2002 – The Beaver Hills Initiative is created to coordinate land-use planning in the municipalities and in the area surrounding the protected parks; The first two Nature Conservancy of Canada properties are secured in the Beaver Hills
2006 – The area is recognized as a dark sky preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
1911 – Ministik Lake Game Bird Sanctuary is designated as Alberta’s first provincial bird sanctuary
1920 – A bird sanctuary is designated at Miquelon Lake
1930 – Elk Park Becomes Elk Island National Park and the remainder of the Cooking Lake Forest Reserve is managed by the province
1958 – Miquelon Lake bird sanctuary is designated as a Provincial Park
1892 – The Department of the Interior sets aside a reserve in 1892; by 1899 it’s formalized as the Cooking Lake Forest Reserve—the first of its kind in Canada
1899 – The forest reserve is formalized as the Cooking Lake Forest Reserve – the first such reserve in Canada
1906 – Elk Park is established with part of the Forest Reserve
The Beaver Hills Biosphere encompasses an area of 1,500km2, with more than 12,000 permanent residents. A place where urban and wild ecosystems converge, conservation here to-date is a perfect example of how a protected natural area can coexist with the needs of urban communities, while still expanding protected areas within the region.
