"I would like to climb that tower some day", says Lise Perrault. "I've always wondered what the grasslands would look like from up there."

The television tower she is talking about sits just west of Grasslands National Park and eight kilometres southwest of Val Marie. It rises 30 metres above the top of the hill local people call Buffalo Butte.

This is a place where at first the changing skies and perpetual space may seem overwhelming. It can be lonely, but it is a place which allows you to discover yourself and your connection to the Creator; where you are able to accept the land, not for what it can be used for, but for itself and its beauty. Lise, who has lived in the area all of her life, has formed a strong bond with these rolling hills and badlands.

"The hills are alive. They look different depending on the time of day and the season", she says with a bit of a drawl and a slight French accent. "They are my home. I'm happy here. I can forget my problems. They say we are a product of our environment. I am the grasslands! I want to share my grasslands with other people".                              (Click to continue)