Co-sponsored by KCP and the Columbia Basin Trust with support from FWCP, Building Restoration & Enhancement Projects that Make a Difference was a four-part webinar series that took place on four Wednesdays through February offering hands-on, practical solutions to build resilience into your ecosystem restoration and enhancement projects. This year's series was another outstanding success - thanks to everyone who participated!

Did you know that there are American badgers living in the Columbia Valley? Southeastern British Columbia is the northern extent of where American badgers live. Unfortunately, the American badger is an endangered species and needs our help! There is a new project supported by the Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners (CWSP) that is currently taking observational reports from the public - recording all badger roadkill sites, dens, burrows, and dead or alive sightings. Contact the CWSP with your observations at badgersightings@gmail.com. This project is a partnership with Kootenay Connect and is financially supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada through the Canada Nature Fund with equal matching funding from local partners.

Living Lakes Canada is pleased to present a comprehensive case study of the Columbia Basin Water Hub — the open access database that Living Lakes Canada developed for the Canadian Columbia Basin that launched in March 2021, built upon recommendations from a 2017 Columbia Basin Trust report and a 2017 Columbia Basin Open Source Water Data Dialogue conference convened by Living Lakes Canada where over 100 water data experts from across North America discussed what a water monitoring framework and data repository would look like for the Columbia Basin. The report, A Transboundary Water Data Solution for The Columbia Basin, is an in-depth explanation of the background, development process, and data management structure.

Ground Water Canada Magazine features Living Lakes Canada and its Columbia Basin Groundwater Monitoring Program in two articles in the Winter 2022 issue, and a recent collaboration between the Groundwater program and Selkirk College is highlighted in a new website blog. Living Lakes Canada is also sharing information on their work for lake foreshore management through LakeLine Magazine, published by the North American Lake Management Society. Developed in partnership with DFO, the updated Foreshore Integrated Management Planning (FIMP) tool which has been applied to more than a dozen lakes in the Kootenays is featured in the Winter 2022 “Urban Lakes” issue.

Click here for the first and second Ground Water Magazine articles and Selkirk College blog.

Click here for the FIMP article.

Click here to learn more and register.

The Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program (FFHPP) is looking for feedback on the details of specific classes of works and conditions being considered for inclusion into a proposed Prescribed Works and Waters Regulation. Join Fisheries and Oceans Canada for a technical session that explores this class in greater detail. This session will be a follow up to the kick-off event and will include a presentation and a Q&A session with subject matter experts. Starts 9:30 am PT.

Join CBEEN’s Canadian Outdoor Learning Partners to learn, share and connect around all things related to outdoor learning. There will be opportunities to hear from partners and breakout into groups to discuss key topics on your mind. Whether you’re a seasoned outdoor learning educator, or an educator taking their first steps outside the classroom, there will be some great takeaways. Starts at 4 p.m. PT.

The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) is hosting a series of upcoming online information sessions about FWCP-funded projects. These sessions will be suitable for a general audience. Conserving and improving understanding of bats across B.C. on February 11 and Murphy Creek Spawning Channel: partnering to support rainbow trout on March 4 are relevant to the Columbia Region.

Integrating Habitat Connectivity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Planning Documentation

The Green Bylaws Toolkit highlights the importance of habitat connectivity when conserving biodiversity and that mapping is a useful tool to present connectivity. However, mapping connectivity can be challenging, therefore, in this webinar you will hear about several different approaches that have been taken in western Canada. 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PT.

To attend this webinar, email info@cdfcp.ca and you will be sent a Zoom link.

Wildsight Golden's Winter Speaker Series on Old Growth Biodiversity explores climate change, mushrooms, lichen, and human & wildlife coexistence. Delivered via Zoom; registration required. March 10 will feature Human & Wildlife Coexistence as we Explore our Great Outdoors (Annette Lutterman). 7 to 8 p.m. MT. Recordings are available on the webpage.

In the past, prior to Covid, the Wildsight Golden AGM was a time to celebrate nature by sharing stories and pictures. Everyone has a story of nature. If you’d like to share yours no special credentials are required, just contact Golden@wildsight.ca with up to five images prior to March 18th and they will be put together for projection. You will have three minutes to share the story and the images. This will be done through a screen sharing via the Zoom platform. In order to vote in the AGM, you must be an active member for at least 24 hours (last date for membership, March 29 at 7 PM). Every member who participates will have a chance to win this original painting in a draw that will be held at the end of the meeting.

This highly acclaimed course is for project managers who have to interpret the results of statistical analyses and make decisions about how much data to collect and which management actions to undertake. The course focuses on the fundamentals of uncertainty, effect sizes, significance, decision theory and the value of information. It does not require a statistical background and doesn’t involve any modeling, although different types of results are presented and discussed. Registration opening soon. Hosted by the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology.

Click here for more information.

For many field ornithology surveys, the ability to identify bird species by their calls and songs is an essential skill. It is also one of the hardest aspects of field work to master. Technological advances in sound capture and visualization are pushing the ornithological frontiers with tools that make it easier than ever to learn field-identification by sound and to survey natural soundscapes (and their birds). In addition, modern sound recordings are providing high-quality acoustical specimens for analysis and independent review. This course will combine field-experience listening to bird calls and songs during three mornings at the height of the breeding season, with hands-on recording practice to generate sound files. Each afternoon, the class will learn to edit and review their recordings using sound visualization software on their personal laptop computers. Registration opening soon. Hosted by the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology.

Year 4 NHCP-LTCF Large Grants Program is now open. The Government of Canada is investing $100 million over four years in the Natural Heritage Conservation Program (NHCP), from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2023, as part of Budget 2018’s Nature Legacy initiative. The NHCP is a public-private partnership designed to advance privately protected areas in some of the country’s most cherished landscapes.

Wildsight Golden is seeking new board members. All active members will be eligible to run as board members at the March 29 online AGM where they will need to be nominated and seconded. If you have an interest in the environment and conservation, and are interested in joining the board please contact Golden@wildsight.ca for more information.

Are you curious about invasive species in the Central Kootenay region? Do you want to help reduce the impact of invasive species on the ecosystems, communities, and economy of the Central Kootenay region? If you do, then there are exciting opportunities for you to join the team at CKISS. They are currently looking for a Field Crew Supervisor, Outreach Program Assistant and three Invasive Species Technicians. Deadline to apply is March 10.

The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program is looking for a new public representative to join its Columbia Region board, someone who can bring a regional perspective to the table, represent a broad range of public interests, and make a three-year commitment. Apply by Friday, April 8, 2022 at 5 p.m. PDT.

Nature Kids BC is looking for Nature Mentors and Club Leaders to support their Nelson and East Kootenay (serving Cranbrook and Kimberly area) clubs. Nature Mentors share expertise, skills and knowledge about the natural world with families in their community on Explorer Day field trips. Nature Mentors include naturalists, artists, educators, researchers, university students — anyone with an interest in sharing their love of nature with the next generation. As Club Leader, your primary responsibility will be to organize monthly hands-on outdoor field trips, called Explorer Days, for NatureKids members and their families. To learn more about becoming a Nature Kids BC volunteer, please contact the Program Director at christina@naturekidsbc.ca. 

Becoming a Board Member is an impactful way to turn your concerns for Kootenay Lake into action. As a board member, you volunteer your time to provide guidance and feedback at FOKLSS meetings, help out at events and workshops, and offer your expertise in all aspects of project planning and implementation. You support staff with making important decisions regarding the organization and play a significant role in moving projects and programs forward.

With financial support from Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) Canadian Nature Fund for Aquatic Species at Risk (CNFASAR), ISCBC funded a thorough literature review and analysis of the impacts of invasive species on species at risk in BC that was awarded to ESSA Technologies. The final report is now available and includes additional knowledge on the impacts of invasive species on SAR, information to help address priority threats, inform and support SAR conservation, management strategies and planning, and identifies the need for future research.

The recording of the 11th Annual Roundtable on the Crown of the Continent Symposium is now available. The conference focused on the theme “Planning for the Future of the Crown”.

The Kootenay Conservation Program helps partners to coordinate and facilitate conservation efforts on private land, and in an effort to support this, KCP has developed a webpage that compiles some of the best conservation and stewardship resources available for our region.

KCP's “Case for Conservation” trifold brochure details 9 different reasons why conserving private land is so crucial to the health of the region’s ecosystems that support a myriad of plant, fish and animal species — many of which are currently rare or endangered or at risk of becoming so. The brochure opens up into an attractive poster that can be easily posted in offices, public spaces and homes. Printed brochures are available for distribution. If you would like copies, please contact KCP Program Director Juliet Craig at: manager@kootenayconservation.ca.