Viewing tower a beacon for environmental education in Manitoba
With an appearance that’s more maritime than prairie, this lookout tower is truly a high-water mark for environment-based education in southwestern Manitoba.
Sitting on a high point on the Manitoba Escarpment, just west of the town of Miami, it’s hard to miss the lighthouse-inspired observation tower in Alexander Ridge Park. From its vantage point, you can gaze out over green, fertile farmland in the Red River Valley, over an area that once was a prehistoric sea.
Opened by the Pembina Valley Conservation District in 2009, in memory of local conservationist Don Alexander, the park attracts locals and globetrotting tourists alike. The viewing tower and its outdoor classroom, added in 2014 with support from Enbridge, are also a favorite place for local schoolchildren to gather and learn about nature.
In short, the new tower stands out as a point of pride for the community.
“It’s unbelievable how many people stop by. We have visitors who have signed our registry from across Canada and from Scotland, Ireland and China and elsewhere,” says Kathi Furniss, a former Pembina Valley Conservation District administrator.
The non-profit agency uses its core funding to help landowners deal with regional natural resource issues – for instance, encouraging water stewardship, building small dams and carrying out a variety of programs aimed at soil erosion and flood control. Where possible, the PVCD also works with community partners to promote environmental awareness among the public and schoolchildren.
In recent years, the PVCD spied an opportunity to further develop Alexander Ridge Park as an environmental education resource. The conservation district approached Enbridge, in the hopes of building on an established relationship.
For more than 65 years, Enbridge has been committed to making life better in the communities where we live, work and play. The proposed $7.5-billion Line 3 Replacement Program, the largest project in Enbridge history, is investing in communities affected by the proposed replacement of one of the primary pipelines along our Mainline crude oil system, from Hardisty, Alta., to Superior, Wis.
The proposed L3R Program is expected to generate more than $108 million in provincial and federal taxes in Manitoba, and contribute nearly $392 million to Manitoba’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during construction.
In the Miami area, Enbridge has sponsored the PVCD’s annual conservation-themed Binney Siding Water Festival for several years, and originally helped the PVCD buy and develop the 30-acre nature preserve where the festival is held.
With a contribution of $25,000 from Enbridge in 2013 for Alexander Ridge Park, the PVCD built and unveiled the new viewing tower, covered outdoor classroom, picnic shelter – and, as a finishing touch, a solar-powered beacon for the lighthouse spire.
Plans now call for a telescope to be added to the lookout.
“It’s a landmark feature that local people can really take ownership and pride in,” says Greenfield. “We would not be as far along, in the park’s development, without Enbridge’s support.”
