Columbia Valley Directors tour Local Conservation Fund projects

On May 27, KCP hosted a field tour of projects funded by the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund (CVLCF) for the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Columbia Valley Directors. Five elected officials representing the Village of Canal Flats, the District of Invermere, the Village of Radium Hot Springs and RDEK Areas F and G received on-site presentations at five different locations. Presenters included Kendal Benesh and Danny Smart from the East Kootenay Invasive Species Council on leafy spurge control, Rachel Darvill from Wildsight Golden on the Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey, Dave Zehnder on the Farmland Advantage pilot project, Lea Randall from Calgary Zoo on the Reintroduction of Northern Leopard Frogs to the Columbia Marshes project, and Kate Mackenzie from Nature Conservancy of Canada on the Luxor Linkage Conservation Area. Accompanying the local politicians were four members of the CVLCF Technical Review Committee, as well as RDEK Chair Rob Gay and RDEK Corporate Officer Shannon Moskal. The morning tour was followed by an afternoon roundtable on the successes, opportunities and next steps for the CVLCF.

See below for photos from each stop of the tour:

Invasive Plant Control of Leafy Spurge @ Juniper Heights (Kendal Benesh & Danny Smart, East Kootenay Invasive Species Council)

Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey @ Radium Mill Pond (Rachel Darvill, Wildsight Golden)

Farmland Advantage @ Elk Park Ranch (Dave Zehnder, Windermere Farmers’ Institute)

Northern Leopard Frogs Reintroduction @ Edgewater Pond (Lea Randall, Calgary Zoo)

Luxor Linkage Resiliency and Forest Restoration Project @ Luxor Linkage Conservation Area (Kate Mackenzie, Nature Conservancy of Canada)