Michelle Daniel, Kootenay Conservation Land Coordinator with The Nature Trust of BC (NTBC), is excited about opportunities to lead ecosystem enhancement and restoration projects, and about collaborating and working with NTBC’s partner organizations.
“My favourite thing to do is to get out on the land with experts who are passionate about their work. When they share their knowledge, enthusiasm and recommendations for approaches we could implement, we’re often able to make a meaningful improvement based on their suggestions, and sometimes a large-scale project even grows out of the discussion. Many of these partnerships have been forged through gatherings and meetings coordinated by Kootenay Conservation Program (KCP). It is always exciting to meet new people, and sometimes we see the same faces at these meetings over the years. It’s been immensely valuable in our work to build these connections.”
Michelle began working with NTBC in 2021 as a Field Operations Technician, a primarily field-based role, working on the conservation areas that NTBC manages throughout the East and West Kootenays. Her role has changed and expanded over time to now include coordinating the field crew and more project management responsibilities, while still getting out in the field as much as possible.
“NTBC is a land trust working to conserve BC’s biodiversity by identifying and securing lands of high ecological value, and managing them for those values,” Michelle explains. “This includes conservation-focused actions to keep what is already there in good shape, and often restoration and enhancement opportunities.
One major initiative she is working on is the Bull River Grassland Corridor Habitat Enhancement project. Michelle describes the area as a fire-maintained landscape which has become quite ingrown in recent years. She helped develop a plan to enhance the habitat for various ungulate species including bighorn sheep, elk, whitetail and mule deer; there is an important travel corridor between the lower areas alongside the Bull River and Hatchery Ridge and up the slopes into the higher elevations. The conservation area also provides important habitat for American badgers and a variety of bird and bat species.
“Our vision is to revitalize a mosaic on the landscape, such as what would have existed here in a traditional fire-maintained ecosystem. We began with some hand thinning crews, who completed about seven hectares already. The plan this coming winter is to do an intensive mechanized harvest, targeting about 20 hectares. We want to give the shrub and grassland ecosystem some room to grow, so it can be a healthy part of the landscape again, which will be an exciting core achievement for the project.”
The Bull River project also involves removing old infrastructure from the land including derelict fencing, buildings and cement pads, and renaturalizing these areas.
“Over the years we’ve been working with great volunteers from local groups to tear out the old fencing, and we’ll continue to get these hazards off the landscape. We also plan to follow up the forest thinning with wildlife tree recruitment – additional habitat enhancements focused on birds and bats. We really want to encourage biodiversity both in the tree canopy as well as in the understory.”
Another current project Michelle is excited about is in the Hoodoos-Westside Conservation Area close to Fairmont Hot Springs. This is NTBC’s largest conservation area, which they have stewarded since 2003. Several years ago, there was some initial work targeting forest thinning, and now Michelle says they are planning to follow up on this earlier work and do some additional treatments to maintain the accomplishments in this area.
“With such a big area over this considerable passage of time, there are more units to treat and do enhancement work in. These habitat enhancements also have a large emphasis on ungulate species. The Hoodoos Conservation Complex is a very important area that forms a valuable corridor between the Columbia River Wetlands into the upland area.”
Michelle highlights the value of partnerships in her work with NTBC, as she is always looking for opportunities to tie her work in with nearby partners to achieve landscape level benefits. For example, she works with the East Kootenay Invasive Species Council (EKISC) who help with identifying priorities and concerns, by doing plant inventories and making treatment plans for managing invasive plants, as well as coordinating treatments each year. “During enhancement projects, this involves pre-treatment before the machinery goes in, to ensure that the thinning work won’t be spreading invasive species. The follow-up treatments ensure that when the canopy is opened up, we’re encouraging growth of the native plant communities to enhance the value of the habitat for the wildlife populations.”
In her work, Michelle endeavours to apply a holistic approach, looking at the ecological values of the habitat, including the plant communities and how the NTBC-managed areas tie into conservation at the landscape level.
“We view our forest thinning work through the lens of ecosystem restoration, with some impetus also coming from wildfire risk reduction. There are fantastic synergies, for example, when opening areas back up and reducing ingrowth, this also decreases the available fuel for wildfires. Sometimes there are opportunities for efficiencies, when another partner group or the Province might be undertaking similar work or the same type of project nearby. There’s also the great reward of the landscape level benefits of enhancing throughout a larger area, such as the multi-partner project at the Wycliffe Conservation Complex.”
Michelle grew up near Toronto and during university, was glad to find a program with a field component to it, as she began to look for opportunities to get out of the city and explore natural landscapes. Her degree from the University of Toronto is a double major in forest conservation science as well as ethics, society, and law. She followed this up with a professional specialization certificate in ecological restoration from the University of Victoria. Michelle worked in various silviculture roles as well as for the wildfire service before the posting with NTBC caught her interest.
She initially moved to the Kootenays for the downhill skiing opportunities and over time she has developed a love of cross-country skiing with a deep appreciation for the Nordic Center in Kimberley. Michelle is also grateful for the local lakes and is looking forward to enjoying summer moments by the water.
Photos: Michelle doing vegetation monitoring several years after wetland restoration; Monitoring guano traps on trees enhanced with Brandenbark to enhance habitat for bat species; Thick forests at the Hoodoos & at the Bull River Grassland Conservation Area; Wetland restoration in 2022 as part of the Big Ranch Ecosystem Enhancement Project in partnership with the Sparwood District Fish and Wildlife Association.
