Project Leaders: the window to submit Contract Extension Request Forms is now open. If you do not foresee being able complete the activities covered under your 2013-14 grant agreement by March 31, 2014, you will need to submit a request for a contract extension. Request forms can be emailed to Katelynn.Sander@hctf.ca, and must be submitted by the February 15, 2014 deadline.
Planning to be in Victoria next Wednesday? Join the Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) for their annual general meeting, which will include a special presentation by wildlife biologist Eric Lofroth on the wild & wonderful wolverine. Learn more about the lives of these mysterious icons of BC’s wilderness, who have only recently been discovered to inhabit the Great Bear Rainforest. Eric has been researching this solitary species for many years, including being the lead on an HCTF-funded project examining wolverine distribution, habitat and foraging behavior in the North Cascade Ranges.
The Habitat Acquisition Trust is a non-profit land trust in the capital region. They have received multiple HCTF grants for their projects promoting positive land use practices and natural area stewardship. HAT’s AGM begins at 7pm on Wednesday, January 22nd at the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary Nature House. Everyone is welcome.
Today’s Globe and Mail features the following video of the HCTF-funded Coastal Mainland Roosevelt Elk Recovery and Management Project. This highly successful project relocates Roosevelt Elk from areas along the Sunshine Coast Highway to remote watersheds in southwestern British Columbia where the species was historically found.
By the 1900s, the number of Roosevelt Elk in BC had been severely reduced, and they were all but eliminated from the southern mainland coast. Since 1997, HCTF has provided approximately $750,000 to fund the translocation (and monitoring) of over 450 elk to 22 different mainland locations. The resulting population from these transfers is estimated to be 1,400 animals.
The restoration of this big game species to its former habitats not only has ecological benefits, established populations resulting from translocations also provide some limited-entry hunting opportunities, which benefit local First Nations, resident and non-resident hunters.
To find out more about the Coastal Mainland Roosevelt Elk Recovery and Management Project, visit the following links:
Up Close with Roosevelt Elk: YouTube Video of Canada in the Rough episode featuring project leader Daryl Reynolds darting and collaring a bull Roosevelt elk to collect information on their habitats (helicopter action starts at 9:32).
Elk Herds Repopulate Sea to Sky: Article in Pique Magazine.
Squamish-area elk population boosted The Chief news article and video of relocated elk coming off the truck.
Want to read more about HCTF-funded projects? Visit our project profiles page.
Season’s greetings from all of us at HCTF. Please note that the office will be closed the week of December 23rd, reopening 8:30am Monday, December 30th. Happy holidays!
‘Tis the season for the Christmas Bird Count! Find a Christmas Bird Count near you and participate in the longest-running citizen science survey in the world. Started by the Audobon Society on Christmas Day in 1900, this early winter bird census involves thousands of volunteers across the Western Hemisphere counting birds in designated areas over a 24 hour period. The counts are held on specific days between December 14th and January 5th. Anyone can participate (it’s free!) but you must make arrangements in advance with the person designated as circle compiler. You can get the contact details for the circle compiler in your area by visiting the website of HCTF grant recipient Bird Studies Canada.
We’ve added a page to our website featuring some of the HCTF projects that have made their way into peer-reviewed journals. We know there are more out there, so if you are an HCTF proponent who has published the results of their project, please send us a link and we’ll add it to the list.
Looking for more information about Foundation projects? The Ministry of Environment provides free public access to EcoCat, their Ecological Reports Catalogue. You can search for Foundation projects by entering “Habitat Conservation Trust” into the keywords field of the search page, and then selecting the “Search for Exact Phrase” option. Happy hunting!
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