9 Tuesday Mar 9, 2010 < 2010 > < March > S M T W T F S   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31    AESA Annual Conference 2005		The goal of the AESA program is to encourage the agricultural industry to enhance efforts in environmental stewardship. It identifies and promotes practical, effective solutions for existing challenges and assesses emerging environmental issues. Through an extension component, AESA staff as well as municipalities, producer, aboriginal environmental groups and other agencies are linking researchers to the extension process and transferring new knowledge, information, tools and ideas to Alberta's farmers and ranchers. The AESA Program encompasses the four basics of agriculture; soil, air, water, and biodiversity. We know that the health of any one of these will affect the quality of the others, and together they form the basis of the environment we all share. The monitoring of these resources, gives us an indication of the success of our programs as well as where we may need to focus new efforts. Without the knowledge of the current state of our landscape we have no basis to judge the value of changed practices and their potential impact on the environment. Environmental changes take place over long periods of time, highlighting the importance of ongoing monitoring and analysis of historical trends. An appreciation of the interaction between the four ba! si! c resources and our human activities is critically important, as in the case of Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change. We must ensure that there are adequate resources to accomplish these tasks, particularly in light of the cost of effectively monitoring potential pollutants. Since its inception, Council has emphasized the importance of working in partnership with other stakeholders. This philosophy continues to be supported and in fact is expanding. The list includes all levels of government, many producer groups, and a new program to enlist the aid of the growing number of watershed groups developing in Alberta. Bringing this all together is the Environmental Farm Plan, a practical and coordinated approach to taking science and putting it into action at the farm level. The agricultural community is to be congratulated for their enthusiasm in adopting new technologies as well as actively participating in these new programs. These trends are all good news for the environment. Good news for the environment is good news for all of us who share the Alberta landscape and depend on each other to maintain and improve the environment in which we live.