Suffield National Wildlife Area (SNWA) is a

National Wildlife Area A National Wildlife Area is a conservation designation for a geographical region in Canada that restricts most human activities on that region. However, land use permits may be issued "for activities that are compatible with conservation". Suc ...

located within the boundaries of

CFB Suffield Canadian Forces Base Suffield (also CFB Suffield) is a Canadian Forces base, host to the largest military training area in Canada. It is located in southeastern Alberta, north-northwest of Suffield, northwest of the city of Medicine Hat and sou ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. SNWA was formally created on the 19th of June, 2003 when it was officially gazetted under Canada Wildlife Act Regulations. The Department of National Defence (DND) was delegated authority to administer and control the NWA. The Base Commander is responsible for operations, management, and permitting in the SNWA.

itself was created in 1971 when control of the Suffield Block was transferred from the

Defence Research Establishment Suffield The Defence Research Establishment Suffield was the name of the military research facility located north of Suffield, Alberta, from 1967 to its renaming to ''DRDC Suffield'' in 2000. History After being renamed from the Suffield Experimental Sta ...

as part of the reorganization to support the mechanized training activities of the

British Army Training Unit Suffield The British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) is a British Army unit located at the vast training area of Canadian Forces Base Suffield near Suffield, Alberta, Canada. BATUS is the British Army's largest armoured training facility, and it can ...

on the northern two-thirds of the area. The 2960 km² area of the Suffield Block was expropriated by the Province of Alberta during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on behalf of the Canadian Federal Government. The land was leased to the Federal Government for ninety-nine years at a cost of one dollar per year to support the operation of the

Experimental Station Suffield An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

. Upon the termination of the

, ownership of the British Block (or Suffield Block) was transferred from the province to the federal government in exchange for a large number of army and air camps and building from the Dominion Government (War Assets Corporation). The portion of the Suffield Block that is now the National Wildlife Area was zoned for environmental protection and included three parts: the Middle Sand Hills, the Mixed Grass Prairie zone, the

South Saskatchewan River The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ...

zone. In 1974 Canada and Alberta signed a surface access agreement for the purpose of developing petroleum reserves on

. Since that time there have been over 14,000 oil and gas wells drilled at

. Most of this activity was conducted by the Alberta Energy Company (AEC), which is now

EnCana Corporation Ovintiv Inc. is a hydrocarbon exploration and production company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Denver, United States. It was founded and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, under its previous name Encana. It was the largest energy c ...

. The company has drilled 1,163

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

wells within the SNWA, all prior to the creation of the SNWA. EnCana has proposed an additional drilling of about 1,275 more natural gas wells over three years. This shallow-gas infill drilling program was the subject of an environmental assessment. In 2012, the proposed project was rejected, as "the significant adverse environmental effects that the Project is likely to cause are not justified."Decision Statement Issued Under Section 54 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012
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References

External links

National Wildlife Area -- CFB Suffield
{{coord, 50, 34, 05, N, 110, 26, 51, W, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title National Wildlife Areas of Canada Cypress County Protected areas of Alberta Protected areas established in 2003 2003 establishments in Alberta