Conservation Ambassador Training Spring Tune-Up taking place in May

KCP offered the Conservation Ambassador Training last year for stewardship practitioners to learn more about native plants and pollinators, bird nesting and roosting habitat, and water and healthy wetland/riparian habitats, as well as what to look for, how to open up a conversation with a landowner on these topics, and tips for providing more holistic advice. The modules are based on our Stewardship Solutions Toolkit. This year, KCP is offering a Conservation Ambassador Training Spring Tune-Up in May to encourage past participants to revisit the training modules as well as invite their colleagues and crews to take advantage of this free professional development opportunity. The Spring Tune-Up will be available beginning Monday, May 2 through Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Each module is approximately 1.5 hours consisting of presentations, group discussion and learning, and follow-up survey questions. The complete Conservation Ambassador Training Spring Tune-Up is free and upon completion of all three modules you’ll receive a beautiful Kootenay Conservation Ambassador certificate. If you or colleagues within your organization are interested in participating, we strongly encourage you to register by Friday, April 22.

World-class conservation efforts by local land trust partners have resulted in the acquisition of properties throughout the East and West Kootenay that protect fish and wildlife, movement corridors, grasslands, old forests, and riparian areas. Coordinated and prioritized in partnership with KCP, these properties have increased landscape-level connectivity and secured valuable habitat for species at risk. The KCP website now features an updated selection of the properties acquired since 2002 in an easy-to-view timeline format.

Click here for the recordings.

With the arrival of migratory birds also comes the second year of the five-year (2021-2026) Upper Columbia Swallow Habitat Enhancement Project (UCSHEP). Volunteers are being requested to help with barn and bank swallow nest monitoring between April/May – September for barn swallows and between June – July for bank swallows. The locations of any new barn and bank swallow nesting sites in the Columbia Valley is also being requested. If you are interested in participating in this project or want more information, please contact the project biologist at racheldarvill@gmail.com.

The Columbia Basin Watershed Network Society has been the go-to hub for watershed groups to find training, information and connections, and has been a voice for watershed stewardship across the Basin for many years. The Network was fortunate to receive consistent funding for several years, but it has become increasingly difficult to secure sustainable funding and CBWN is struggling to maintain momentum and capacity. The dedicated Board of Directors have come to the decision that dissolving the CBWN is the unavoidable next step. No final decision will be made until all members have the opportunity to vote at the upcoming AGM on Wednesday, April 27 at 3 p.m. MT. Please feel free to forward any questions or concerns and the Board will address them over the next few weeks.

Contact the CBWM at cbwn.coordinator@gmail.com.

Basin residents confirmed that on-the-ground ecosystem enhancement remains an important priority and the Columbia Basin Trust is committed to maintaining and improving the ecological health and native biodiversity in a variety of ecosystems. The Trust is continuing to fund landscape-scale restoration and enhancement projects through its Ecosystem Enhancement Program and is now seeking ideas for eligible projects from across the Basin. Input will help inform what projects from across the Basin are supported through the program.

Share your idea through an online workshop on April 27 (see Events for details) or contact Ecosystem Enhancement Program Coordinator Lisa Pavelich at ecosystems@ourtrust.org.

CKISS is appealing to Kootenay Lake residents to volunteer in two community science initiatives to help protect Kootenay Lake from aquatic invasive species. It’s a new community science monitoring initiative hosted by CKISS with support from Living Lakes Canada's National Lake Blitz program and funded by the Regional District of Central Kootenay through the Kootenay Lake Local Conservation Fund. (1) Invasive Mussel Monitoring – CKISS is seeking community members who own private docks in Area A, D and E of Kootenay lake to help monitor for invasive mussels. Volunteers will receive two assembled mussel monitors to attach to their docks and be required to check them every two weeks in the summer and fall. (2) Shoreline Surveys for Invasive Clams and Plants – CKISS is seeking community members who are interested in conducting shoreline surveys for invasive clams and removing invasive plants on selected shorelines on Kootenay Lake. Positions will run during the fall.

Click here to learn more and register.

Are you looking to learn more about how to plan for your land, waters or creatures? Healthy Country Planning (HCP) puts Indigenous Peoples' Knowledges at the centre of the planning process in relationship to landscapes and water ways. Community members, staff, knowledge holders, Elders, youth, leaders and more pool their knowledge, identify priorities and plan together for the future through a series of participatory workshops and meetings. It can be used to create Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) plans, land use plans, stewardship plans, range plans and more. Join instructors Amanda Sheedy and Michele A Sam for a series of 10 workshops over 10 weeks where they will introduce the concepts, principles and steps of the Healthy Country Planning process through presentations and small group exercises. The course will take place weekly on Wednesdays for 3.5 hours with an additional 1-hour session at another time in the week.

The Columbia Basin Trust is continuing to fund landscape-scale restoration and enhancement projects through its Ecosystem Enhancement Program and is now seeking ideas for eligible projects from across the Basin. Register now for an online workshop to: learn more about the program and how to submit a project idea, discuss landscape-scale project ideas, discuss the resources and partners that could help develop project ideas, and next steps to submit your project idea. Anyone who has an idea for an ecosystem enhancement and/or restoration project or would like to contribute to one should attend. 9-11 a.m. PT/10 a.m.-12 p.m. MT.

Have you ever wondered if the work you do really matters? How much did you really achieve? Those were some of the questions asked and answered in the recent research paper: ‘Can a large-landscape conservation vision contribute to achieving biodiversity targets?‘. The paper lays out evidence that a big audacious vision of connecting and protecting the mountains from Yellowstone in Wyoming to the Arctic Circle in the Yukon has led to measurable on-the-ground conservation across an almost 3,400-kilometre-long region. Join co-authors on the paper, Dr. Mark Hebblewhite, Dr. Jodi Hilty, Harvey Locke and Charles Chester, for a riveting virtual panel discussion moderated by science journalist, Hillary Rosner. Presented by Y2Y, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Free, starts at 6 p.m. MT.

Click here to register.

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.

The Creston Valley is a vital birdwatching site, important bird area, and staging area for migratory birds with over three hundred species recorded. The Creston Valley Bird Fest celebrates this incredible diversity in an environmentally sensitive manner, inviting residents and visitors to expand their interest in the world of birds. This year the festival is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. The festival offers a variety of birdwatching activities guided by field experts on foot, kayak, canoe, bike, or safari bus. There are also workshops, photography/art displays, and other activities. Keynote Speaker to be announced. Contact Ulrike Sliworsky, Bird Festival Coordinator, at info@crestonvalleybirds.ca 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.

Wildsight Creston Valley Branch is sourcing expressions of interest from potential contractors in the areas of: 1. Part-time Administrative services, grant writing, and managing fundraising. 2. Part-time organizing events, community outreach and communications. 3. Part-time Volunteer Management. 4. Part-time GIS services. 5. Part-time environmental advocacy work in the Creston Valley. 6. Part-time conservation planning in the Creston Valley 7. Part-time environmental monitoring/planning in the Creston Valley. Interested contractors are requested to submit in confidence a short outline of experience, education, skills and strengths. (300 words maximum) via email to crestonvalley@wildsight.ca. Contractors will work with the Board of Directors and other Wildsight Creston Valley contractors to accomplish the work.

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. 

Krista L. De Groot​ et al.

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.

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.

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: juliet@kootenayconservation.ca.