Kootenay River Ranch Expansion (Nature Conservancy of Canada): The acquisition of two more land parcels along the Kootenay River valley bottom means 260 hectares (637 acres) more habitat for American Badgers, Grizzly and Black Bears and a variety of ungulates. These acquisitions combined with the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Kootenay River Ranch and Griffiths Nature Reserve (covenant) creates a contiguous area under conservation that now totals almost 1,711 hectares (4,228 acres). While both properties were selectively harvested over the past several years, they are dominated by native grassland and dry open forests with patches of closed forest scattered throughout.