Wed, 27 Nov 2024
Tags: Habitat Acquisition

Salmon Habitat Restoration Underway in Expanded Conservation Area

Gates Creek Conservation Area - photo by Fernando Lessa

Habitat conservation and restoration is key to reviving natural resiliency across landscapes

Work is underway to restore salmon habitat along Gates Creek, northeast of Pemberton, on land held by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). The multi-stage restoration project is designed to enhance rearing habitat for salmon and other fish, increase the stability of the main creek channel, re-establish the floodplain canopy to shade the stream, and provide more open water wetland area for waterfowl.

NCC is engaging with the N’Quatqua First Nation to ensure the restoration work meets shared objectives and to learn from community members’ interests in and connection to the creek, the wildlife and the larger landscape.

The restoration project is occurring in NCC’s Gates Creek Conservation Area, which was first conserved in 2021. NCC has just acquired a neighbouring property, expanding the conservation area and enhancing its resiliency and reach. This recent addition brought another 474 metres of the creek and more than 5 hectares of riparian habitat under protection, and will help close the gap between the two halves of the existing conservation area.

“Gates Creek is more than just a waterway – it’s a whole system that fish, birds and other wildlife, not to mention the local community, rely on,” said Hans Herrmann Alvarez, West Coast Program Manager for NCC. “Restoration here will support the health of the overall system, bringing diversity and complexity to a landscape that has lost quite a bit of its natural function. We are excited to be able to support the N’Quatqua’s vision for this area, and we are grateful for our funding partners who are similarly excited to reverse habitat loss through restoration.”

Section of Gates Creek – photo by Fernando Lessa

The creek supports several fish species of conservation and cultural importance. Sockeye, coho, chinook and pink salmon migrate up from the Fraser River, through the Fraser Canyon and Hell’s Gate, and finally through Seton and Anderson lakes into Gates Creek. Bull trout, Dolly Varden, kokanee, lake trout, mountain whitefish and rainbow trout are all found in this waterway.

The restoration project will rehabilitate wetland and streamside areas that are used by a diversity of fish, birds, insects and other wildlife. The initial phase will focus on installing woody debris to create microhabitats and increase channel complexity, planting native vegetation along the creek to re-establish stream cover and floodplain canopy, and suppressing invasive reed canary grass.

In addition to important aquatic habitat, Gates Creek Conservation Area protects part of a high-quality wildlife corridor for grizzly bears travelling across the valley, preserving a crucial linkage between two isolated and threatened grizzly bear populations.

Both the restoration project and the recent acquisition to expand the conservation area received funding from the Government of Canada through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of Canada’s Nature Fund. Additional significant financial contributions for the expansion acquisition came from Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, the Longhedge Foundation and the Pemberton Wildlife Association.

Thu, 24 Oct 2024
Tags: Acquisition / Habitat Acquisition / News

Rare Grasslands Protected in Similkameen Valley

Nighthawk Hill Grassland - Photo: Julian Zelazny

Thanks to the generosity of the local community, The Nature Trust of BC has protected some of the rarest and at-risk ecological habitats in British Columbia for future generations, including creating a safe and undisturbed passage for wildlife to access water in the arid Interior landscape.

The Nature Trust of British Columbia is thrilled to announce the successful acquisition and protection of 11 hectares of vulnerable habitat in the Similkameen Valley, thanks to the incredible generosity of the local community and key donors. This new conservation area, Nighthawk Hill Grasslands, is in the picturesque and ecologically fragile Similkameen Valley near Keremeos, within the unceded and traditional territory of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (Sməlqmix), member of the Okanagan Nation (Syilx People).

The new Nighthawk Hill Grasslands conservation area, located directly beside the South Okanagan Grasslands Provincial Protected Area, bridges the crucial link needed for wildlife to access almost 100 meters of the Similkameen River safely and undisturbed in this very arid landscape, even during the hot Interior summer. The area is home to a diverse range of Species at Risk, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. From the American badger to pallid bat, to the tiger salamander and sage thrasher, a wide array of wildlife find refuge in this unique landscape.

More than just a beautiful place, this new conservation area contains temperate grasslands – one of the most altered terrestrial ecosystems on earth and endangered on most continents. Rare and endangered big sagebrush and bluebunch wheatgrass ecological communities are prominent throughout the Nighthawk Hill Grasslands—bunchgrass ecosystems being some of the rarest land cover types in B.C.

View of Nighthawk Hill Grasslands and the Similkameen River looking southwest. Photo: Bryn White

“Nighthawk Hill Grasslands are carbon storage superheroes, and the breeding grounds for threatened common nighthawks that migrate all the way to South America,” said Dr. Jasper Lament, CEO, The Nature Trust of BC

The conservation of Nighthawk Hill Grasslands marks an important milestone towards preserving the vulnerable and at-risk ecosystems across B.C., addressing the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Thanks to this conservation effort, Nighthawk Hill Grasslands will remain a wild, undisturbed landscape, forever protected from development. The project was made possible by the Government of Canada, through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program, part of Canada’s Nature Fund. Thanks also goes to the dedicated donors and the Okanagan community, whose generosity and passion for nature made this conservation milestone possible, and the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF).

“HCTF is proud to support The Nature Trust of BC in securing Nighthawk Hill Grasslands, conserving biological diversity and protecting crucial wildlife habitat. Through partnerships with local communities and partners, this acquisition protects more grassland habitat for many creatures using this land and the adjacent South Okanagan Grasslands Provincial Protected Area; this is a great achievement for habitat conservation in the region,” said Dan Buffett, CEO of HCTF.

Tue, 22 Oct 2024
Tags: F&W / Fish & Wildlife / News / Wildlife

Guidance for Applicants: Ecological Corridors Funding

Photo By: British Columbia Conservation Foundation
Project 1-664

Additional information for the ecological corridors funding opportunity for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The Ecological Corridor funding focuses on identifying, planning, developing, and recognizing ecological corridors, and catalyzing action to maintain or restore ecological connectivity and protect Indigenous stewardship values within them. Check the National Priority Areas of Ecological Corridors 1 to 6 in B.C. (seen here: National priority areas for ecological corridors (canada.ca)).

For more background info on the funding, click here.

This funding is available for applications through the Fish & Wildlife proposal intake. Eligibility for applications to utilize the Ecological Corridors funding is assessed through the same criteria as the Fish & Wildlife Grant and is within the same proposal intake and the same timeline.

Specific aspects of the Fish & Wildlife Grant that are also supported by the Ecological Corridor funding include:

  • On-the-ground fish and wildlife habitat restoration and planning projects (including components that create project plans, restoration plans, and associated land use planning);
  • Population assessment and monitoring for fish and wildlife species to inform habitat management or stewardship; and
  • Monitoring, mapping, and/or application of traditional knowledge that will create habitat conservation, restoration, or enhancement.

Objectives must be to directly inform the management, conservation, restoration, or enhancement of fish & wildlife habitat (i.e. preliminary planning objectives on their own will not be eligible).

Ecological Corridor funding will be applied to projects up to January 2026 including preliminary activities. After this date (i.e. projects assessed in January 2027) will continue to apply to the main Fish & Wildlife Grant, including continuing projects.

It is strongly encouraged that applications demonstrate that a project will be secure in the long term and have a durable impact through its legacy.

Proposals are to be submitted through the regular Fish & Wildlife Grant Survey Apply application process. If you believe that your project would be a good fit for this funding, please add the words “Ecological Corridors” at the end of your project title in your Survey Apply application.

The application deadline for Fish & Wildlife Grants is Friday, November 1, 2024, at 4:30pm PDT.

For questions regarding the ecological corridor funding or Fish & Wildlife Grants, please contact HCTF’s Grants Officer Amy Perkins at amy.perkins@hctf.ca or 250-940-3014.

Projects that have already received funding elsewhere through the Nationals Ecological Corridor program or through the BC-Canada Agreement for Ecological Corridor Stewardship may not be eligible.

 

Tue, 15 Oct 2024
Tags: Education / scholarship / t4w / together for wildlife

Meet the 2024 Recipients of the T4W Scholarship!

HCTF in partnership with the First Nations-B.C. Wildlife & Habitat Conservation Forum and the Province of British Columbia’s Together for Wildlife Initiative (T4W) are proud to share more information about the 2024 Together for Wildlife academic scholarship recipients;

The Together for Wildlife scholarship is awarded annually to 10 master’s and Ph.D. candidates conducting research that will have a positive impact on stewardship, management, policy, or decision-making of wildlife in BC. The aim of this scholarship is to support reconciliation and collaboration, diversity of perspectives, and building community among Indigenous communities and rural areas of BC.

More Info

          

2024 Recipients

Landon Birch

Landon is a Master’s student studying at the University of British Columbia. His study is investigating nutritional limitations for Stone’s sheep in the Finlay-Russel ranges in north-central British Columbia (BC), the southern extent of Stone’s sheep distribution in the province. His research will help inform efforts to prioritize and improve range conditions, and ultimately, improve the viability of this unique and culturally significant species.

More About Landon

Mitchell Brunet

Mitchell Brunett is a Doctorate student at the University of British Columbia. They are using a suite of GPS-collared mule deer, white-tailed deer, and cougars, as well as vegetation sampling, and camera trap networks to identify the cause of mule deer limitation. Identifying the cause of mule deer decline will ensure we implement management actions such as on-the-ground habitat improvements (e.g., prescribed burns, access mitigation, UWRs) and harvest regulations that make meaningful differences.

More About Mitchell

Tristen Brush

Tristen is a Master’s student at the University of British Columbia. Her work builds on previous research done on elk to apply camera trap distance sampling as a method for estimating the population of other culturally important species such as black-tailed deer and black bears.

More About Tristen

Alexia Constantinou

Alexia is a Ph.D. student at the University of Victoria. Her research is focused on how habitat alteration and human activity are impacting the range, population sizes, inter-, and intra-species interactions of members of the weasel family. This project and the budding relationships are the joyful highlight of Alexia’s professional career thus far. When she’s not in PhD mode, you might find Alexia teaching in the Department of Renewable Resources at BCIT, kayaking, playing Wingspan or biking.

More About Alexia

Westin Creyke

Westin is a MSc student at the University of Northern BC. His research examines the impacts roads have on Stone’s sheep, to define the spatial and temporal extent of the road’s influence on stress in the sheep population.

More About Westin

Siobhan Darlington

Siobhan is a Doctorate student at the University of British Columbia. Her research is using GPS data from cougars to evaluate their demography, diet, and seasonal habitat use in the southern interior of British Columbia. This research will address important knowledge gaps on cougar populations in the province and the indirect effects of landscape disturbance on native ungulates.

More About Siobhan

Isabel Giguere

Isabel is a Master’s student at the University of Victoria. Their research will assess how reproduction and immigration shape short-term population dynamics in open and closed populations of black-tailed deer on Vancouver Island who have received immunocontraception. These insights have large-scale applicability and can be extended to large urban wildlife species across North America to promote biodiversity.

More About Isabel

Paige Monteiro

Paige is a Master’s student at Simon Fraser University. They are investigating the overwintering habitat use and diet of two understudied shorebird species, Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) and Surfbird (Aphriza virgata). By identifying critical habitat and trophic relationships, these findings will help inform conservation efforts, such as designating protected areas and implementing management strategies to safeguard these important bird species and the ecosystems they depend on.

More About Paige

Larisa Murdoch

Larisa is a Master’s student at Thompson Rivers University. Larisa is studying whether female bighorn sheep select rugged, steep terrain—known as escape terrain—during the lambing season and how the availability of such terrain influences their ability to give birth and raise their young safely. Additionally, she is exploring whether herds are more successful when they have better access to escape terrain and the impact of cheatgrass on bighorn sheep movement patterns.

More About Larisa

Megan Roxby

Megan is a Master’s student from Simon Fraser University. Megan is researching how to identify various governance mechanisms that can be used to create an IPCA in the Skagit Headwaters. Megan’s project employs methods from the Collaborative Stewardship Forum (CSF) S’ólh Téméxw Integrity Analysis (STIA) to ensure that it remains Indigenous-led and aligned with Stó:lō principles. It takes a holistic, interconnected, intergenerational approach to relationships, reflecting the Stó:lō worldview and operating within a watershed-based perspective.

More About Megan

If you or someone you know may be interested in applying for the Al Martin HCTF Conservation Scholarship, check out the following links:

Background

Apply Now

Mon, 23 Sep 2024
Tags: Education / News / scholarship

Al Martin Fellowship Recipients 2024

Photo: BC Conservation Foundation

HCTF and HCTF Education are proud to announce this year’s Al Martin Conservation Fellowship recipients: Adam Kanigan, Carlie O’Brien, and Tessa Rehill. 

The Al Martin HCTF Conservation Fellowship supports graduate students aspiring to careers in fish or wildlife conservation and management in British Columbia. Each recipient is awarded a $10,000 scholarship to advance their research. 

The fellowship honors Al Martin, a respected figure in conservation who began his career in 1977 as a biologist in Penticton, BC. Over the years, Al held key positions including Fisheries Manager, Director of the Watershed Restoration Program, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Branch, Executive Director, and Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. 

After retiring from BC public service, Al continued his leadership in conservation as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the BC Wildlife Federation and served on HCTF’s board. Though Al passed away in October 2019, his legacy of integrity, humor, and passion for preserving fish and wildlife habitats for future generations endures. 

More About Al

2024 Recipients

Adam Kanigan

Adam Kanigan is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia, working under the supervision of Dr. Scott Hinch (UBC) and Dr. Nathan Furey (University of New Hampshire). Adam’s research is focused on predator-prey interactions between bull trout and sockeye salmon, and how such interactions between these species may be influenced by climate change.   

More About Adam

Carlie O’Brien

Carlie O’Brien is an MSc student in the Wildlife and Ecosystem Bioindicators Lab at the University of Northern British Columbia working under the supervision of Dr. Heather Bryan in collaboration with the British Columbia Moose Research Group. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a specialization in Conservation Biology from Trent University.   

More About Carlie

Tessa Rehill

 Tessa Rehill is an MSc student studying at the University of Victoria. Tessa’s study is investigating urchin distribution and control methods to help revive threatened kelp forest ecosystems in BC. In the underwater seascapes of the North Pacific, kelp forests serve as critical habitats for a diversity of marine life, including important fish, like salmon and herring. Tessa’s study aims to map urchin distributions and test different strategies to mitigate herbivory to achieve targeted and enhanced kelp forest restoration and conservation.  

More About Tessa

Fri, 20 Sep 2024
Tags: F&W / Fish & Wildlife / News / Wildlife

New Funding Available for Ecological Corridors

Elk Herd at Big Ranch Conservation Area - photo by Michael Schumacher

In support of the Parks Canada/BC Agreement on the Stewardship of Ecological Corridors in British Columbia program, HCTF is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

This opportunity stems from a collaboration between the Parks Canada National Program for Ecological Corridors and the B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.

The available funding is focused on identifying, planning, developing, and recognizing ecological corridors, and catalyzing action to maintain or restore ecological connectivity and protect Indigenous stewardship values within them. The work is to take place in National Priority Areas of Ecological Corridors 1 to 6 in B.C. (seen here: National priority areas for ecological corridors (canada.ca)).  Within these National priority areas, projects will be favored that coincide with areas of Environment Stewardship Initiative Forums, collaborative stewardship forums, strategic planning processes, or similar government-to-government forums.

The funding is targeted for ecological corridor and habitat connectivity stewardship, through support for
1) area-based planning and local action, like habitat restoration and management, and
2) knowledge acquisition, science, and information development, such as monitoring, mapping, and/or application of traditional knowledge. All area-based planning and local action projects must involve leadership by First Nations or other active First Nations engagement. Knowledge acquisition, science and information development projects with participation from First Nations will be favored although this is not a requirement for work focused on collecting, mapping, and/or modelling ecological data.

Quadra Hill seen from Vanilla Leaf – Galiano Conservancy Association

All projects will need to deliver work that will support durable, long-term ecosystem connectivity before January 2026, or to deliver by the same date a product (e.g., a plan or information to be used in a planning process) that is expected to have a durable impact through its legacy. This funding opportunity is not intended to directly support the construction or purchase of major infrastructure (e.g., wildlife highway overpass), but can be used to support partners in these activities through science, planning, or similar work, or through the purchase of smaller equipment and supplies (e.g., signage, fencing, etc.).

Proposals are to be submitted through the regular Fish & Wildlife Grant Survey Apply application process. If you believe that your project would be a good fit for this funding, please add the words “Ecological Corridors” at the end of your project title in your Survey Apply application.

The application deadline for Fish & Wildlife Grants is Friday, November 1, 2024, at 4:30pm PDT.

For questions regarding the ecological corridor funding or Fish & Wildlife Grants, please contact HCTF’s Grants Officer Amy Perkins at amy.perkins@hctf.ca or 250-940-3014.

Projects that have already received funding elsewhere through the Nationals Ecological Corridor program or through the BC-Canada Agreement for Ecological Corridor Stewardship may not be eligible.