December 2014 eNews

 

The KCP is very excited to announce that we have partnered with the Columbia Basin Watershed Network (CBWN) to host a Winter Webinar Series. The first in the series was a webinar on Salmon in the Columbia Basin. The recording of this presentation can be found by clicking here

Click on the links below to register for the upcoming webinars:

Thursday, January 15: Freshwater Storytelling


Applications for KCP's Professional Development Bursary Program are still being accepted. This program provides financial assistance to our partner organizations to allow their staff and volunteers to attend professional development activities. It is funded by the generous support of the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT). 
Click here to read more about the program and to apply.

We hope you enjoy your monthly conservation update! You can click here at anytime during the month to check out current news and events on our blog.

As always, please submit any news you'd like to share with our network by the 26th of each month to duncan@kootenayconservation.ca.

Adrian Leslie

Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute - Selkirk College

 

The KCP is pleased to feature Adrian Leslie, our newest member of the KCP Executive Committee who was elected at KCP's AGM in October. Adrian moved to the Kootenays twelve years ago to play in the snow. He has been working throughout the Columbia Basin on ecosystem conservation, restoration and research ever since. Most of his efforts have been focused on high elevation whitebark pine ecosystem restoration where he continues to work in national and provincial parks, as well as in NCC's Darkwoods property, and on crown land. Two years ago, Adrian started working as a researcher for the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute (RDI) at Selkirk College. Adrian also initially pulled together a series of environmental indicators for the State of the Basin reports and the Digital Basin. 

 

Click here to read more about Adrian and his conservation work in the Kootenays.


Conference Report

Columbia River Basin 2014 Conference

This conference provided a transboundary forum for participants to to share information and build understanding of current issues. Click on the links below for information coming out of the key themes:

Ecosystem Restoration Planned for Columbia Lake - Lot 48

Nature Conservancy of Canada

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) will be undertaking ecosystem restoration activities on Columbia Lake - Lot 48 throughout the month of December, Crews will be hand thinning trees and brush to improve forest health and further NCC's conservation goals. Accumulated slash will be burned using a sloop burner, a high-efficiency burner that limits smoke emissions and protects ground cover. Burning will occur over a 4 day period, weather permitting. Burn operations and smoke will be visible to motorists driving from Fairmont to Canal Flats on Hwy 93/95. The use of a high-efficiency sloop burner will reduce the amount of smoke that would otherwise be generated from an open burn pile. Access to Lot 48 in the work unit will be restricted during thinning and burning activities. The Nature Conservancy of Canada maintains a smoke notification list for those who are extremely sensitive to smoke and would like advance warning of prescribed burn operations. To be added to this list or for more information, please contact the Invermere office: Richard Klafki, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Invermere office: 250-342-5521 or canadian.rockies@natureconservancy.ca.

 

Wildlife Evaluation Workshop Report

Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation

In October, HCTF held its sixth annual project evaluation workshop. Fourteen grant recipients attended the workshop in Kelowna, sharing the results of their HCTF-funded conservation projects. HCTF Board and Staff learned about how simple changes in forestry practices may provide major habitat benefits for furbearers, the distinct challenges inherent to burn projects in different regions, how solving frog movement mysteries may change habitat conservation strategies, and much more. In the coming months, they'll be putting together a full report on the workshop, including feedback from participants on the workshop as well as on general HCTF administrative processes.

To see reports from previous workshops click here.  


Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations - Fish and Wildlife Section Head
Deadline: December 16

This position will provide supervision and professional oversight for a regional fish and wildlife program, including managing staff and financial resources, managing stakeholder relationships, applying legislation, policies and professional standards in a consistent manner, participating in provincial policy development, and overseeing program delivery and professional projects.

Click here for more information.

KCP Professional Development Bursary Program

Deadline: Ongoing intake until March 31

The Kootenay Conservation Program (KCP) Professional Development Bursary Program provides financial assistance to our partner organizations to allow their staff and volunteers to attend professional development activities. It is funded by the generous support of the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) and delivered by the KCP.

Click here for more information.

 

Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program (RFCPP)

Deadline: December 12

RFCPP supports the sustainability and ongoing productivity of Canada's recreational fisheries by assisting fishing and angling groups, as well as conservation organizations, to undertake partnership projects aimed at restoring recreational fisheries habitat in Canada.

Click here for more information. 

 

RBC Blue Water Community Action Grants

Deadline: January 22

These grants range from $1,000 to $10,000, and are awarded to local or community-based organizations in Canada, the United States or the Caribbean. 

Click here for more information. 

  

Waneta Terrestrial Compensation Program (WTCP)

Deadline: January 31

The Waneta Expansion Limited Partnership (WELP), a partnership between Fortis Inc., Columbia Power Corporation and Columbia Basin Trust, is accepting applications for the 2015 Waneta Terrestrial Compensation Program (WTCP). This program provides a total of $50,000 annually to projects in the Waneta area that promote conservation and restoration through research, physical works, and other on-the-ground or applied projects.

Click here for more information. 

 

HCTF Public Conservation Assistance Fund

Deadline: May 15

The Public Conservation Assistance Fund provides small grants to organizations and individuals who have a conservation project in mind but need financial help to make it happen.  Each year since 1974, the Province of BC and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation provide approximately $150,000 in PCAF grants to help implement on-the-ground conservation work, with a particular focus on hands-on, community based and public awareness initiatives. More than 1000 such projects have been carried out under the program so far.

Click here for more information. 

Columbia Basin Trust Community Workshops
December 1, Creston - 4:00pm, Creston & District Community Complex
December 2, Rossland - TBA
December 3, Castlegar - 11:00am & 4:00pm, Castlegar & District Community Complex
December 3, Jaffray - 4:00pm, Jaffray Community Hall
Click here for more information. 

Identifying and Investing in Resilient Landscapes Webinar
December 11, Online
New science on climate resiliency promises to helps to identify landscapes that will continue to host biodiversity even as the climate changes. Join Steve Buttrick, Director of Conservation Science and Planning for The Nature Conservancy and to learn how to be more confident that your conservation planning will pay off in the long term. He will explain the concept of resilient landscape conservation, show how TNC is putting this into practice, and identify resources that we can use in our region.
Click here for more information. 

Freshwater Storytelling Webinar
January 15, Online
The language of science and policy can be difficult to connect with, yet to be successful in our work we need to be able to engage new and existing audiences. Join David Minkow of the Canadian Freshwater Alliance to explore ways of building meaningful connections with your audience.
Click here for more information. 

Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) Webinar
February 12, Online
The Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) system is a key tool for natural resource management and conservation in British Columbia. This webinar will outline the major changes to BEC that are anticipated to be released within early 2015 and 2016, with an emphasis on changes related to conservation and biodiversity, including an overview of some of the work being done around anticipating effects of climate change on ecosystems and how the updated BEC system will remain relevant in a changing climate context.
Click here for more information. 

Regulated Rivers: Environment, Ecology and Management
May 6 - 7, Castlegar
Call for presentations closes December 15. Through a keynote address, two days of presentations, a poster session, dialogue opportunities, and field-trips, this conference will provide a cutting-edge opportunity for scientists and managers to share results of recent research on regulated river environments, processes, and operations in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. 
Click here for more information.

International Conference on Forests and Water in a Changing Environment
July 6 - 9, Kelowna
Building on the success of past international Forests and Water conferences (Beijing in 2006, Raleigh, NC in 2009, and Fukuoka in 2012), the fourth conference will focus on forest disturbance and hydrological processes in a changing environment. The goal of this conference is to provide a forum for experts specialising in forest hydrology, ecohydrology, geomorphology, watershed management and climate change in forested environments around the world to share research progress, exchange ideas, and develop international research collaborations.
Click here for more information.

CABIN Field Training 
August 11 - 12, Golden
This Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Network (CABIN) field training session requires that online training modules be completed in advance (by March 15, 2015) in order to gain access to the CABIN database (Project Manager or Field Technician). For online module descriptions and fees, click here. 
For more information contact rachel@wildsight.ca.
Conserving the Stage
Identifying a Resilient Network of Conservation Lands in the Northwest
The purpose of this project is to identify the most resilient sites in the Northwest that will collectively and individually best sustain native biodiversity even as the changing climate alters current distribution patterns, in order to guide future conservation investment. The central idea is that by mapping key geophysical features and evaluating them for landscape characteristics that buffer against climate effects, we can identify the most resilient places in the landscape.The Northwest study area in the 2014 report covers 67 million hectares (165 million acres) and includes all of the East Cascades/Modoc Plateau, Columbia Plateau and Middle Rockies/Blue Mts. Ecoregions and the U.S. portion of the Canadian Rockies ecoregion. This comprehensive final report describes in detail the methods used and products produced, while the geodatabase contains all the spatial data inputs and outputs for the 4 ecoregion area.

Click here to read the full report. 

The KCP/CBWN December Winter Webinar will focus on this topic. Click here for more information and to register for this webinar.

 

If you have news or announcements that you would like to share via our eNews, please email them to duncan@kootenayconservation.ca by the 26th of each month.