Wed, 7 Sep 2022

Now Accepting Land Stewardship Grant Applications for 2023- 2026

Volunteers establish native wildflowers in the Nuts’a’maat Forage Forest at the Millard Learning Centre, Galiano Island Photo Credit: Emily Francis

HCTF is now accepting applications for the Land Stewardship Grant (LSG). LSG grants are available to non-government (NGO), non-profit organizations who manage the conservation properties for which they are applying for funding. Applications must be submitted via email to bvonsacken@hctf.ca before 4:30pm (PST) on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.

Before beginning your application, we strongly recommend that you review the Grant Guidelines document. To view the guidelines document and download the associated word and excel application forms visit our website LSG apply.

Questions? Please contact Barb von Sacken bvonsacken@hctf.ca for further details.

 

Tue, 3 Dec 2019
Tags: Conservation Lands O&M / Fish & Wildlife / Stewardship

Fall Site Visits: Stewardship, Sheep and Salmonids

Staff visit to Salmon River Estuary Conservation Area; Jade Neilson, Karen Wipond, Tom Reid, Christina Waddle, Shawn Lukas (from left to right)

HCTF staff enjoyed some time out in the field this fall with visits to project sites around the province. Each year, HCTF undertakes project evaluations on a sample of projects to conduct a financial review, and to ensure conservation objectives are being met.

The first evaluation took place in September with the Nature Kids program, a Stewardship project which aims to engage children and their families with nature through hands-on learning, stewardship activities and citizen science projects. HCTF staff visited the program’s office in North Vancouver and one of the weekend events in Greater Victoria called “Hawkwatch”.

The Raptors live demonstration at Hawkwatch.

In October, staff travelled to the Kootenays and visited 2 project sites with Irene Teske, Wildlife Biologist with the Ministry of Forest, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNR). Staff got a first-hand look at areas being treated to control invasive plants such as Yellow Hawkweed and St. John’s Wort at Bull River and Wigwam Flats, both conservation areas in the East Kootenay region. For this project, HCTF Special Permits (Wild Sheep) funding is being used to restore native grasslands to improve winter forage for Bighorn Sheep.

2008 photo of the Bull River bighorn herd. Beginning in 2009, wildlife managers noticed a rapid spread of yellow hawkweed and other invasive plant species in this herd’s winter range.

The next visit was to a very different landscape on the east coast of Vancouver Island. HCTF visited three sites funded under the Conservation Lands Operations and Management (O&M) Funding Program: S’amanu Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Nanaimo River Estuary Conservation Area, and the Salmon River Estuary Conservation Area. This program provides $550,000 annually to FLNR for O&M costs on ministry-administered conservation lands across the province including lands leased from the Nature Trust of BC. Funding for this program is provided primarily through endowment funds provided to HCTF from the Province of BC.

HCTF staff and the FLNR Conservation Lands Specialist Karen Wipond received a tour hosted by the West Coast Conservation Land Management Program (WCCLMP) staff Tom Reid and Shawn Lukas, demonstrating how HCTF O&M funding is being used to maintain conservation values at the selected properties.

At the S’amanu WMA, we viewed and discussed the restoration work and new interpretive signage at Ye’yumnuts, a sacred ancestral place of the Cowichan people. We also discussed invasive species management supporting species at risk on the site, and agricultural activities to enhance forage for wintering waterfowl.

After leaving S’amanu, we travelled north to the Nanaimo Estuary, the largest estuary on Vancouver Island, with riparian, marsh, and intertidal ecosystems including eelgrass beds, supporting thousands of over-wintering birds and juvenile salmonids. We viewed some restoration work in action while program staff and partners tested nets in the estuary to monitor juvenile salmonids in the coming spring. HCTF funding is also being used to develop improved elevation and vegetation mapping in the estuary which will help support management decisions and plan future restoration and enhancement projects.

Nanaimo Estuary including split rail fencing used to control access and direct visitors.

The third site we visited with WCCLMP staff was the Salmon River Estuary Conservation Area near the Village of Sayward. An HCTF Enhancement and Restoration Grant was used for habitat enhancement work for Roosevelt Elk and other species on the property purchased in 2015, the acquisition of which was also supported by HCTF. This restoration project included thinning the alder forest and planting to improve forage for Roosevelt elk, removing Scotch Broom and replanting with native species, and creating shallow wetland habitat with wood structures to improve habitat for amphibians.

Enhanced wetland habitat at the Salmon River Estuary Conservation Area.

HCTF staff appreciated the opportunity to see the great work funded across the province. The HCTF evaluation process provides an additional check and balance in addition to our rigorous proposal review process to ensure conservation objectives are realized and we see a positive difference for fish and wildlife and their habitats, as intended by our various contributors.

Thu, 22 Aug 2019
Tags: Land Stewardship

Land Stewardship Grant Helps Protect Habitat on Denman Island

Denman Conservancy Association volunteer removing English Holly

BC Land Trusts own and protect 103,000[1] hectares of conservation lands in BC. Although securement of conservation lands is a critical first step, the work doesn’t end there because it is equally important to maintain and enhance the ecological values for which the property was protected. For many land trusts, finding funding to cover management costs can be difficult, particularly following fundraising campaigns to purchase the property. HCTF’s Land Stewardship Grant is one option for non-government organizations to access funding to cover management expenses on conservation lands.

For instance, the Denman Conservancy Association (DCA) received a Land Stewardship Grant from HCTF for $19,500 over three years to help with management costs on their Settlement Lands property. Located at the northern extent of the Coastal Douglas Fir (CDF) ecosystem, the Settlement Lands contain diverse habitats including wetlands, rocky outcrops, and mature second growth forest, which support a wide range of wildlife and habitats, including 14 wildlife species at risk.

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly – courtesy of Erika Bland

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly – courtesy of Erika Bland

One of these species at risk is the Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly which is red-listed in BC, and listed as Endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act. Denman Island is the only known breeding location in Canada. Some of the funds were used for habitat enhancement, including planting larval host plants and pollinator nectar plants, as well as butterfly monitoring and planning to improve habitat in the future. Other activities HCTF funded at the property include invasive species removal, fencing, wetland monitoring, trail decommissioning and maintenance, and information signage.

Beaver dam area at Homestead Marsh – courtesy of John Millen

Beaver dam area at Homestead Marsh – courtesy of John Millen

“This funding was very important to ensure ecological values will be maintained and enhanced,” says Erika Bland, DCA Land Manger. “The fencing project in particular, which was carried out in collaboration with a neighbouring farmer, was critical to protecting the wetland on the property from cattle trespass.”

New fence to prevent cattle access

New fence to prevent cattle access.

The next funding intake for Land Stewardship Grants is now open, with an application deadline of October 16th. Visit our Land Stewardship Grant webpage for more information, including how to apply. This program was made possible through an endowment provided by the Province of British Columbia. This funding opportunity only comes once every three years, so don’t miss out!

 

 

 

[1] British Columbia NGO Conservation Areas Technical Working Group. 2017. BC NGO Conservation Areas Database – Fee Simple, Registerable Interests, and Unregisterable Interests (secured as of December 31, 2016). Digital data files. Last updated June 27, 2017.

 

Sun, 27 May 2018
Tags: Fisheries / Land Stewardship

Project Evaluation: Spring Site Visits

Dutch Creek Columbia Lake as viewed from the Hoodoos property
By Kathryn Martell and Christina Waddle

Project evaluation is a core component of HCTF’s grant programs. In addition to a thorough review of proposals and project reports, we conduct more in-depth evaluations of several projects each year. This assessment combines a detailed review of both financial and biological components of a project, ranging from questions about a project’s bookkeeping processes to a field day with the project leader to see the activities “on the ground”. These site visits provide us with an opportunity to better understand a project’s challenges and successes, to evaluate our conservation return on investment, and—best of all—to spend time with our project leaders somewhere outside in wild BC with an opportunity for them to tell us more about the projects they are passionate about.

One of the new interpretive signs funded with an HCTF Land Stewardship grant at NCC”s Dutch Creek Hoodoos property

HCTF staff had the opportunity to visit two of our continuing projects this spring. Our Conservation Specialist Christina Waddle attended the Official Trail Opening Ceremony at the Dutch Creek Hoodoos Conservation Area owned by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). Richard Klafki, Canadian Rocky Mountains Program Director for NCC, showed Christina some of the work that’s been accomplished with the Land Stewardship Grant from HCTF. This project included marking and improving the main loop trail and discouraging use of other informal trails on the property through directional signage and fencing. The other main component of the project was the design and installation of five educational interpretive panels. This will help meet NCC’s management goals for the property which include protection in perpetuity, providing a quality site appreciation experience, while limiting the effects of recreation on native vegetation and wildlife.

Evaluation Manager Kathryn Martell and Finance Officer Jade Neilson headed over to the Lower Mainland to meet up with provincial sturgeon specialist Erin Stoddard and his field crew for a day on the Fraser River. Now in its sixth year, the Lower Fraser White Sturgeon Telemetry Study is conducting long-term monitoring of adult sturgeon to gain a better understanding of movement patterns and habitat use of this Red-listed species in the Lower Fraser, Pitt, and Harrison Rivers. Although White Sturgeon is considered at risk, there is a limited catch-and-release fishery on the Lower Fraser River; a licence surcharge supports a dedicated HCTF fund for sturgeon research and recovery efforts.

HCTF Finance Officer Jade Neilson and project field technician Garrett enjoy some sunshine as they journey from one site to another.

Jade and Kathryn had a great day out on the water, with high flood conditions making it both challenging and interesting to retrieve and re-deploy the data loggers that record movements of individual sturgeon using acoustic tracking devices. It is surprising how little we know about this long-lived, large, prehistoric fish that is so important to local First Nations. This project is the first ever long-term telemetry study of sturgeon habitat use on lower Fraser River White Sturgeon, and it is already providing critical information about over-wintering sites, spawning areas, and development impacts, that is being used to improve fisheries and habitat management. In between hauling heavy equipment in and out of the boat, we had a chance to see some of the critical spawning areas being studied; to understand much more about the project’s study design, and how Erin and his crew have responded to many challenges (such as, what to do when your data logger is buried under 3 tonnes of log boom?) and learn about some of the complications of studying a fish that can live twice as long as humans and travel more than 125 km upstream and downstream each year in the ever-changing conditions of a large river system.

Field technician Garret preps a data logger before submerging in the river. IN the background, you can see an example of the battering some of these frames take from log booms.

Thank you to both Richard, Erin and Garrett for showing our staff the conservation work being accomplished with HCTF grants.