Conserving Lot 48 

On July 23rd, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and their many partners celebrated the conservation of the ecologically and culturally important Lot 48 -- the only piece of private land left in a complex of what is now 18,000 acres of protected land at the headwaters of the Columbia. Conservation of Lot 48 was supported by $700,000 from the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund within the RDEK and administered by EKCP. These locally-generated funds helped raise $7.2 million to purchase and manage this critical wildlife habitat on Columbia Lake's east shore. 

In case you missed it, there was good media coverage on Global TV news.

Eco Job Board

Check out ECO CANADA for recently posted environmental jobs.

* I'm always looking for job opportunities to highlight, please send me your submissions!  Thanks, MM

Columbia Basin Trust - Environmental Initiatives Program (EIP)

Small grant applications (<$10,000) are accepted by the EIP program throughout the year. Contact Rick Allen, Program Manager-Environment, before submitting a proposal.

September 6-15, 2012 - Jeju, Republic of Korea

The IUCN Congress, held every four years, is the world's largest and most influential conservation event. In preparation for the 2012 Congress, the IUCN has developed a beautiful and informative website presenting components of their agenda. The 2012 Congress organizers chose the slogan Nature+ to capture the crucial role nature plays in all aspects of our lives. The Congress will consider nature's adaptability and resiliency in the face of change. It will share ideas about how to value and conserve nature, and share its benefits more fairly and equitably.

September 21-22, 2012, Creston, BC

The Kootenay Conservation Program is holding its annual meeting and 10th Anniversary celebration entitled Kootenay Connections at the Ramada Creston Hotel. This event brings together non-govenment, government, First Nations, local colleges, consultants and practitioners from throughout the East and West Kootenays for two days of learning, networking, and celebration. See EKCP News (above) for more information, to register, and to become a sponsor.

September 27-28, 2012, Fernie, BC

The Crown of Continent Round Table is holding its 3rd Annual Conference Pathways to Prosperity: Caring for Communities in the Crown of the Continent at the Fernie Mountain Lodge. The purpose of the conference is to connect people and organizations who are passionate about the future of this 18 million acre landscape. The annual conference is open to all interests, communities, and perspectives, and provides an opportunity to communicate (share information and lessons learned), connect (build and strengthen relationships), and catalyze action on topics of shared interest.

September 28-30, 2012, Cranbrook, BC

CBEEN is gearing up for another Voices for Sustainability symposium, which will take place at Clear Sky Centre near Cranbrook. Learn the Tools, Lead the Way! This small-footprint professional development retreat allows formal and non-formal educators from across the Columbia Basin to annually get together, share ideas, and network, while rejuvenating in a spectacular setting. If you haven't attended one before, we highly recommend it! Great Divide Interpretation will be joining us to provide a half-day workshop on interpretation techniques. Through interpretation, educators can provoke thought, help students relate, and create deeper connections to subject matter. Registration opens in July. 

September 28-30, 2012, West Kelowna, BC

Waterlution - an Okanagan experience will be held at Green Bay Retreat on the west shores of Okanagan Lake. The Okanagan is one of Canada's driest watersheds - an ideal location to host a dialogue that focuses on real water issues, the process of leadership, collaborative learning and communication. The Waterlution Okanagan experience will provide you with an opportunity to learn about a range of water perspectives and practical leadership processes.

October 26, 2012 Vancouver, BC

The Real Estate Foundation of BC 2012 Land Awards Gala will be held on Friday, October 26th at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Vancouver. The Land Awards recognize initiatives that demonstrate leadership, innovation, and collaboration in sustainable land use in British Columbia. The awards celebrate and honour the non-profit organizations, private companies, and government bodies behind the initiatives...as well as highlighting the dynamic, forward-thinking people who make it all happen-leaders in creating more resilient, healthy communities and natural environments, and making BC a great place to live.

Nominations in the four Land Awards categories are now open. Read their nomination information for the details on how you can nominate individuals and organizations--even companies and government departments--that have been going over and above in their efforts to improve the way we steward land based resources in BC.

November 7-8, 2012 - Cranbrook, BC

Resource Roads in British Columbia: Environmental challenges at the site level is a conference being organized by the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology. Within British Columbia, paved and unpaved road length increased by 82% between 1988 and 2005. In 2000, there were over 420 thousand road-stream crossings in BC; over the subsequent five years, road-stream crossings increased by about 13 thousand per year (BC Ministry of Environment 2007). Estimates of unpaved roads vary from 400,000 to 550,000 km across the province (BC Forest Practices Board 2005). Many more roads have been built since. The environmental effects of roads are diverse, and include impacts on aquatic and terrestrial wildlife and habitat, soils, and water. This conference will address both road impacts and management responses.

Paddle for the Peace Builds Momentum Against Site C Dam

Check out this inspiring short video produced by The Common Sense Canadian. 

Paddle for the Peace Builds Momentum Against Site C Dam

There was a record turnout and perfect conditions for the 7th annual Paddle for the Peace on July 14, 2012. Hundreds of boats and close to a thousand people in total -- made up of residents of the Peace River region in Northeast BC, including Treaty 8 First Nations, farmers and other locals, as well as David Suzuki.

Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative

Check out the Great Northern Landscape Conservation Cooperative informative webinar series addressing conservation science and management issues in the Columbia Basin, Rocky Mountains and Shrub-Steppe ecosystems. GNLCC is an alliance of conservation partners with common landscape conservation goals for building ecosystem resilience within the Great Northern geographic area. The next webinar is:

Purcells-South Mountain Caribou Herd Augmentation Project, 2011-12

Date:  Aug 15, 2012

Time: 12:00-1:30 PM Mountain Time

Presenters: Steve Gordon, Mark Williams, and Leo DeGroot, British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations

The 2007 Mountain Caribou Recovery Implementation Plan (MCRIP) committed the British Columbia Government to several management actions including augmenting specific, high-priority smaller herds with caribou from larger, more robust herds. The Purcells-South mountain caribou herd in the Kootenay Region has a current population estimated at 14 animals and has been identified as a priority for augmentation. Direct augmentation by trans-locating animals from a donor herd is considered the best opportunity to assist recovery; failure to implement an effective translocation program in the near-term will likely lead to extirpation of the Purcells-South herd.

As part of the British Columbia Government's commitment to recover mountain caribou to pre-1995 levels by 2017, 19 caribou were translocated from the Level-Kawdy herd in north-western British Columbia to the Purcell Mountains in south-eastern British Columbia in March 2012. This is the first phase of a 2 year project to move 40 caribou to the Purcells-South herd. This webinar will detail the various phases of the project, lessons-learned, and highlight some of the challenges of wild ungulate translocations.

Carbon War Room - There is no Planet B

"Resource preservation and restoring our planet is the economic opportunity of our generation. There is no Planet B," according to Carbon War Room. This group focuses on accelerating the flow of capital to sustainable solutions by identifying and helping remove market barriers that are currently hindering progress, and allowing capital to flow to entrepreneurial solutions in the marketplace. Their mission is to accelerate entrepreneurial solutions to achieve profitable, gigaton-scale reductions of carbon emissions. Their vision is a better world as a result of over $1trillion invested annually in climate change solutions-to create accelerating mitigation and drive new business opportunities for all.