The Battle River Community Foundation, with the financial support from the J .W. McConnell Family Foundation, has created an Environmental Initiative to support projects that protect and restore the environment of the Battle River Area.
The Community Environmental Initiative has three main parts.
1. Creating an Environmental Endowment - ensuring there is ongoing and lasting support for programs that enhance the environmental quality of life in the local area.
2. Capacity Building - working with and developing community leaders who are knowledgeable about environmental issues.
3. Providing Environmental Grants. The Battle River Community Foundation will support environmental projects as part of its annual granting process. The first project under the initiative in 2003 was to sponsor a water conference which offered information to key stakeholders across the region. A more recent project provided financial assistance for a riparian assessment of the Battle River downstream from Dried Meat Lake. This project fostered involvement and cooperation between the Counties of Flagstaff, Paintearth and Camrose.
David Samm is contracted by the Battle River Community Foundation to guide the Environmental Legacy project. David is an agronomist who has worked with Alberta Agriculture and, for the past several years, operated an independent consulting business.
David has lived in the Camrose area for many years and has a strong interest in preserving the region's rich agriculture-friendly environment.