The Northern River Basins Study (NRBS) workshop on the impacts of large scale land clearing on the hydrologic and aquatic resources of the Northern River Basins was held November 18 and 19, 1994 in Edmonton, Alberta. Court reporters generated a transcript of over 548 pages, from which this executive summary was derived. This summary includes precis of expert presentations on the following topics: the history ofland-use policies in Alberta, the hydrologic impacts of forest land clearing, forest impacts and the extent of harvesting in Northern Alberta, hydrologic impacts of agricultural production, impacts of land clearing activities on water quality, approaches to management at the watershed scale, food chains and large scale land clearing, and social and human issues associated with large scale land clearing and development ofboreal ecosystems.
This report also includes a summary of the discussions of expert land managers, industry representatives, and scientific researchers who took part in breakaway and plenary sessions that were designed to answer a series of related questions. As a result, the body of this report reflects the expert knowledge and experience of participants relevant to 1) the unique geography, soils, climate, hydrology, water quality, vegetation and wildlife of the boreal forest, 2) the impacts of land clearing activities, agriculture, forestry, hydrology and roads on these natural processes and resources, 3) research needs in terms of agriculture, forestry, hydrology, water quality, biology and general land disturbance activities, 4) larger research issues such as goals, strategic planning, land-use decisions, regulations, approaches to science, models and the scale o f research, and 5) the challenges and advantages o f interdisciplinary studies.
The conclusion contains comments about points of general consensus that emerged from the workshop as well as very specific recommendations for further action by the Science Advisory Committee of the Northern River Basins Study.