Nine conservation projects will get a cut of the 2025 Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund (CVLCF), allocated by the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK).
The CVLCF is a dedicated fund for conservation projects in areas between Spillimacheen and Canal Flats.
“First Nations and stewardship organizations in the Columbia Valley area are leading important conservation work,” said Kendal Benesh, Local Conservation Fund Manager for the Kootenay Conservation Program.
“The CVLCF supports a wide range of initiatives, from ecosystem restoration and wildlife habitat enhancement to water quality and quantity monitoring —all of which help sustain our environment and quality of life.”
Several of the projects focus on monitoring local bodies of water, such as Lake Windermere, Columbia Lake and the Columbia Wetlands.
The Kootenay Conservation Program says monitoring and understanding changes in local waterways is a vital part of getting a full picture of the impacts of climate change.
Other projects focus on supporting the Columbia Valley’s wildlife including local bat species, Western painted turtles, American badgers, Lewis’s woodpeckers, and bighorn sheep.
“Since the Conservation Fund was established, it has been our priority to see the funding directed toward projects that will make a positive impact on the ground. The projects approved for funding this year most certainly achieve that goal, and we look forward to seeing them unfold over the coming months,” said RDEK Columbia Valley Services Chair, Allen Miller.
The CVLCF was established by the RDEK in 2008 and takes $20 per parcel per year through Columbia Valley property taxes and pools the money for a dedicated conservation fund.
You can see a list of the projects and a summary of their work below.
- Columbia Lake Stewardship Society – Second year of its Columbia Lake water quality and hydrometric monitoring project.
- Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners – Work toward mitigating the loss of open water habitat along the Columbia Wetlands and bench land wetlands.
- Living Lakes Canada – Developing a hydrological model of Wilmer and Boulder Creek watersheds to support sustainable water management.
- Lake Windermere Ambassadors – protecting the lake’s ecological integrity of the lake by addressing immediate biodiversity threats and promoting long-term sustainability.
- Wildlife Conservation Society Canada – Funding for the Society’s Bat Habitat Enhancement and Monitoring project, which creates roost sires for various bat species.
- Wild Sheep Society of BC – Assessing and testing the risk of M.ovi getting transmitted from domestic to wild sheep, informing farmers on preventing the spread of the illness and promoting healthy domestic and wild sheep populations.
- Columbia Wetlands Stewardship Partners – Funding the Conservation of Biodiversity project, which supports conservation on landscape, regional and local scales. This includes actions to enhance the region’s biodiversity hotspots.
- East Kootenay Invasive Species Council – Contain and reduce the spread of leafy spurge, an aggressive plant that displaces native vegetation, reduces biodiversity, and diminishes forage for livestock and wildlife.
- Summit Trail Makers Society – Restoring alpine meadows along the Brewer Creek Trail by rerouting the trail and allowing vegetation to regrow. They will also build a boardwalk on a short and steep section of the trail to prevent erosion.
- BC Wildlife Federation – Habitat restoration in the headwaters of the Kootenay River, which has been impacted by industry and recreation. The project will install beaver dam analogues, plant willow and cottonwood along the floodplain, and monitor the project’s effectiveness.
Something going on in your part of the Kootenays you think people should know about? Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
