Rescue the Fescue - Preserving Fescue Grass 

Reestablished Rough Fescue Grass

Southern Alberta’s foothills are an area of increasing development. The region has experienced growth in residential development, agriculture and ranching, and industrial projects including oil and gas, mining, renewable energy, and forestry.

Landowners and industry believe it is important to minimize the environmental footprint that oil and gas development operations can have on grasslands native to the area, mostly rough fescue. Despite the need to maintain the natural landscape, rough fescue grass has proven to be extremely difficult to preserve and restore…until now.

Compton Petroleum is a Canadian company that has mineral holdings in the southern foothills. With plans to drill and produce sweet gas on these lands, Compton has worked for the last several years with rangeland experts and researchers to identify solutions for preserving and reclaiming the land and fescue grass. Their findings are promising.

Preservation of the natural grasslands in the area is difficult. Fescue grass is a climax species, which means it is a plant that has reached a state of equilibrium. If an area is disturbed, as it is in the drilling process, the plant is typically unable to survive.

In the past, seeding has typically been done to try to restore an area where field operations have been completed. Unfortunately the success rate of seeding is very low. Rough fescue is hard to reestablish, in part due to the seedlings’ sensitivity to the environment and because it does not seed yearly, which limits regrowth. Seeding is also expensive with sometime limited success.

Research conducted by University of Alberta PhD
student Steve Tannas has determined the following
requirements will enhance fescue preservation and
reclamation.

• Plant rough fescue greenhouse-grown plugs;
• Seed-in successional species that grow quickly
  after land disturbance. The fescue will eventually
  overtake these plants but they suppress weeds
  while the fescue establishes;
• Ensure a weed-free seed bed;
• Seed at high rates to make plants more competitive;
• Ensure the soil is moist and conducive to growth;
• Target planting during optimal conditions in late fall
  and early spring;

To solve this dilemma, Compton partnered with the University of Alberta and has provided land and funding for rough fescue research. Working closely with U of A PhD candidate Steve Tannas, they have examined the issues and possibilities for regenerating the grasslands. Steve’s research indicates that it is possible to regenerate rough fescue when key environmental conditions are met. He has also discovered that using rough fescue plugs — plants that have already partially been established — rather than seeding could be the key to regeneration.

In 2008 Compton planted 30,000 rough fescue plugs at two test sites west of Nanton, Alberta. The results were compelling, with more than 90 per cent of the plants surviving. As the plants continue to grow outward, a natural plant community will be established and the ecosystem will be restored. The study could significantly improve future land reclamation, not only in the oil and gas industry but in any instance where land needs to be reclaimed.

Further research is underway to determine even more potential benefits of the program, which includes utilizing the natural attributes of rough fescue for water retention and carbon sequestration.

Compton’s research revealed numerous solutions that will enhance the reclamation success of fescue grass. Due to these findings and through their partnership with the research community, Compton has “rescued the fescue” and can reduce the land impact of its oil and gas development operations.