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.

 

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.

Mon, 16 Sep 2024
Tags: F&W / Habitat / Stewardship / Wildlife

Restoring Black Cottonwood Forests of the Kettle River

3-year-old cottonwoods growing amongst highly competitive reed canary grass - Barb Stewart

HCTF is proud to commit over $1.3 million in funding for wildlife conservation and conservation stewardship projects in the Kootenay Boundary region this year.

Among this year’s projects in the region is a multi-year project working to conserve the rare black cottonwood forests of the Kettle River. The riparian ecosystems (which help connect land to water and provide fish habitat in B.C.) are home to several species at risk and The Granby Wilderness Society has undertaken restoration work for several years to improve habitat. This year the Society is increasing its stewardship efforts by working with landowners to identify habitat concerns and assist with additional restoration efforts: “The biggest project successes are meeting landowners that have healthy riparian areas and are good stewards. Private lands play such an important role in conservation,” said project leader Jenny Coleshill.

A site planted with rooted stock on the Kettle River north of Rock Creek – Barb Stewart

The project is being supported by the HCTF and the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC) with $30,480 in co-funding this year.

”HCTF and FESBC believe in the power of a partnership; just like the Granby Wilderness Society, local governments, and landowners who are working together to enhance riparian areas along the river,” said Dan Buffett, CEO of HCTF. “Establishing healthy riparian black cottonwood stands along the Kettle River supports our rivers as they are dynamic systems shifting between flood and drought states. A healthy riparian zone lessens flooding and drought impacts, improves water quality, and supports a more diverse and abundant population of aquatic and terrestrial species along with their habitats.”

Other HCTF-funded projects taking place in the Kootenays include:

  • $130,500 for a River Guardian program in eight Kootenay region watersheds to maintain or improve angling quality and protect our native freshwater fish populations.
  • $83,830 to enhance 112 hectares of elk winter range in the Upper Kicking Horse Canyon through thinning of immature forest to promote forage growth and allow ease of elk movement.
  • $70,150 to restore habitat on approximately 105 km of roads within the Columbia North herd of the Southern Mountain Caribou ecotype.
  • $38,222 for improving the basking log habitat for the blue-listed (Indigenous species which are vulnerable to the region) Western Painted Turtle on Erie Lake.
  • $50,000 for the 2024 Wetlands Institute in the East Kootenays, a seven-day workshop that provides practitioners with the tools and knowledge to initiate wetland stewardship projects.

2023 Wetlands Institute Restoration Design – Jamie Long

Mon, 9 Sep 2024
Tags: F&W / News / Wildlife

Owl Habitat Suitability in Post-Fire Forests

An owl spotted during the study - photo by Marcus Cosentino

HCTF is proud to support 178 fish and wildlife conservation and conservation stewardship projects across B.C. this year, with more than $1.5M in funding allocated to projects in the Thompson Okanagan region.

Among this year’s projects in the region is a two-year study of how wildfires of different ages affect the distribution of owls in the Okanagan Valley. “Owls help regulate prey populations and are culturally significant to local Indigenous communities. They are threatened by wildfire, which removes forest features needed for breeding and hunting,” says project leader Karen Hodges of the University of British Columbia Okanagan. MSc student Steffani Singh is surveying which owl species are present in post-fire forests and determining where owl nests are and what the owls are eating in these burned landscapes. The project will thus inform the management about what features of burned forests are essential for owls, leading to better habitat conservation. The project is being supported by the HCTF and the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC), with $66,401 in funding this year.

View of an area post-wildfire – photo by Nikita Karitsky

Dan Buffett, CEO of HCTF, said, “Over the last seven years, FESBC contributed over $4.5M to HCTF to fund wildlife projects in our forests. Our partnership enables project leaders such as UBCO to assess the impact of wildfires on wildlife and develop guidance on how to better manage forests for wildlife. Projects such as Dr. Hodge’s work on owls, along with many other wildlife projects, will continue to fill our knowledge gaps to improve habitat for wildlife.”

Learn more: listen to an interview with project lead Steffani Singh here.

Other HCTF-funded projects taking place in Thompson Okanagan include:

  • $22,730 to measure how changes in Douglas-fir forests affect mule deer habitat and how to better support the mule deer population in the Bald Mountain range west of Summerland (co-funded by FESBC).
  • $295,500 to rebuild the Mission Creek Spawning Channel intake, ensuring spawning migration access and higher survival rates for juvenile kokanee.
  • $62,750 to restore habitat on approximately 23 km of roads within the Caribou North and Groundhog caribou herds’ range.
  • $93,615 to install a resistivity counter in the Upper Shuswap River to monitor Bull trout migration and provide spawning and movement patterns.
  • $24,906 to build capacity for and understanding of environmental and wildlife initiatives in the Nlaka’pamux Homeland.
Fri, 2 Dec 2022
Tags: Conservation Lands O&M / Photography / Wildlife

Winners of the 2022 Conservation Lands Photo Contest

The results are in for the winners of the 2022 HCTF Conservation Lands Photo Contest!

The 2022 Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation’s Photo Contest encouraged photographers and BC residents to get out to Conservation Lands across the Province to enjoy the natural beauty British Columbia has to offer.

1st Prize: Karen Wipond Award

2nd Prize

3rd Prize

Honourable Mention

Conservation Lands

The winning photographs were taken within the boundaries of provincially administered Conservation Lands in the province of British Columbia (see map below). While HCTF encourages photographers and all nature-minded individuals to explore BC’s Conservation Lands we recommend that you research the Conservation Land you intend to visit beforehand, obey all safety requirements, public access best practices, and ethical guidelines when taking pictures of wildlife (for recommended ethical wildlife photography see the Audubon Society’s Guide). Conservation Lands are protected and managed for the purposes of conserving important habitat and ecosystem functions, and it is important that visitors do their part to maintain these sites for generations to come.

The primary purpose of conservation lands is to conserve and manage important habitat for the benefit of regionally or internationally significant fish and wildlife species. This includes habitat that is vital for:

  • Sensitive, vulnerable, or at-risk species.
  • Critical species life-cycle phases such as spawning, rearing, nesting, or winter feeding.
  • Species migration routes or other movement corridors.
  • Supporting unusually high species productivity or diversity.

Conservation lands often concurrently provide for a range of opportunities for public access, including day hiking, hunting and fishing, wildlife viewing, scientific research and education, and traditional activities of First Nations.

Map of BC Conservation Lands

Wed, 15 Jun 2022

Project Profile: Health and Behaviour of BC’s Southern Most Stone’s Sheep

Stone Sheep Capture (photo by Daniel Mclaren of Northern Conservation)

Stone’s sheep, one of four wild sheep species in North America, can range dramatically in size and in colouring, from white to chocolate brown and black, so these sheep perfectly blend into the habitat around them. But for all we know of their beauty and range, little is known about their health and behaviour.

The mountainous areas of northern British Columbia support approximately three-quarters of the global population of Stone’s sheep, and recent genetic data confirmed that BC is home to all genetically pure populations. Also called Thinhorn sheep, which includes the subspecies Dall’s, the Dunlevy and Schooler Stone’s sheep are the southernmost extent of their range. Therefore, conservation of this subspecies is of great concern given their habitat and genetic uniqueness.

In 2020, HCTF began funding a project to study Stone’s sheep in the Dunlevy and Schooler ranges, and the project is now entering its third year. Project team lead Robin Routledge of Wild Sheep Society (WSS) believes that as BC supports the global population of this species, it is important to understand Stone’s sheep and work to protect and enhance the habitat in which they live.

Capture Team and Helicopter (photo by Daniel Mclaren of Northern Conservation)

Recently, some concerns had been raised about potential impacts from domestic livestock and local elk herds on Dunlevy and Schooler herds, and the ecological and health conditions of the herds have not been monitored since 2005. The Dunlevy herd range is directly adjacent to ongoing anthropogenic disturbance including development and recreation. One key concern is the potential transmission of pathogens from domestic breeds to wild sheep, particularly Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae or “MOVI”; an infectious parasite that results in a deadly form of pneumonia.

The WSS of BC teamed up with Wildlife Infometrics Inc. to reinitiate a monitoring program of these herds and compare new health data to that collected in previous years (1999-2005). The hope is that this information will guide herd management and inform habitat planning and enhancement projects for First Nations and stakeholders.

In 2020, the team, along with local First Nations, started the capture and collaring of several individuals within the Dunlevy herd, and a small number of individuals in the Schooler herd. This was the first successful deployment of collars in the Schooler herd, for a total of 6 active collars in 2020, and an additional 10 collared animals in 2021 among both herds. The collars will help the team gather data on home ranges, and understand key habitat features the sheep are utilizing, to eventually inform habitat enhancement plans. Collars were distributed between ewes and rams (dependent on age, suitability, and access); an important aspect for well-rounded data as ewes tend to stay closer to a core area, moving seasonally and during lambing, while rams tend to forage outside core areas over greater distances.

But the team decided to try a novel approach to capture and collaring, and used a method called “drive netting”. To the project team’s knowledge, this project is the only time the drive netting method has been used in BC since it was last used in the previous study on these same sheep (Wood et al. 2010). Essentially the team identified where the sheep congregate and then deployed approximately 100 – 150 meters of net about 6 feet high. Ten or more people stationed around the area spread out hanging the net in place while a helicopter cautiously moved the herd towards it. The sheep are caught in the net and that’s when the team can capture them for processing (health samples and collars). The team has found great success with this method, and it seems to cause less stress for the animal as the overall disturbance or impact time is shorter than with other more traditional methods.

Drive Netting (photo by Daniel Mclaren of Northern Conservation)

At the time of capture, the team collected health samples, and laboratory results indicated that all sheep captured in 2020 were negative for five viral and bacterial pathogens commonly carried by domestic ruminants, including MOVI. One ewe captured in 2021 tested positive for parainfluenza virus-3. When this virus was found previously in Dall’s sheep, it was not associated with the death of the animal, but it can lead to mortality in Bighorn sheep. More research is required to assess the effects of this virus on Stone’s sheep as data is limited.

Then the team stumbled upon something in their 2021 spring ground surveys that worried them: two ewes in the Dunlevy range had died during lambing season due to complications associated with giving birth; something that is considered very rare among Thinhorn sheep. The team is still waiting on results to determine the cause of this.

In 2020 and 2021 lamb surveys were conducted in summer, winter, and spring utilizing both ground telemetry and aerial telemetry methods to obtain better overall confirmation of lambs, but also to compare the two methods. It was found that ground telemetry methods were the least disruptive and provided the best information for lamb at heel. Aside from the rare occurrences mentioned above, lamb numbers are looking strong for the Dunlevy herd. As for the Schooler herd, it was hard to draw conclusions with such limited data, but one lamb was observed there.

Given that this type of data has not been collected in approximately 15 years, some unexpected results also arose to shed further light on the health conditions of the herds. Fecal samples indicated that the Williston sheep (part of the Dunlevy herd) had a significantly higher stress level than other herds measured in the Cassiar and Dome areas. This may be due to range overlap of the Williston sheep with elk herds, and the associated tick load and potential resource competition (something that has been found in previous studies). More research is required to assess the effects of range overlap with other wildlife herds such as elk, and overall stress levels of the wild sheep herds.

Horn Measurement (photo by Daniel Mclaren of Northern Conservation)

Population estimates indicated that while the Dunlevy herd was within normal population levels, the Schooler herd may have undergone significant declines. Only 8 individuals at one time have been observed. The team hopes that with four collared individuals in the Schooler herd, and more planned, as well as upcoming population surveys, more can be learned about their range possibly leading to additional groups of sheep being located.

Lastly, the team looked at a condition known as “lumpy jaw”, which is prevalent in North American wild sheep and is most common in Stone’s sheep. It is caused by the consumption of sharp forage items, especially needles, which become lodged in the gums. This often leads to bacterial infection and inflammation of the mouth resulting in bony proliferations; however, studies indicate that lumpy jaw does not seem to have any serious effects on the life expectancy or overall health of the sheep. Given that there is limited information on the effects of lumpy jaw on wild sheep, in all future mortality investigations the team will be collecting and examining mandibles for deformities and abnormal tooth wear that may be indicators of lumpy jaw.

Crews are keen to return to the field for surveys this spring to continue to gather data from Stone’s sheep herds to better understand this rare species, and in turn, better manage the herds and their habitat for generations to come.

The Stone Sheep Capture Team (photo by Daniel Mclaren of Northern Conservation)

We are thankful for the First Nations Support from Saulteau First Nation, Moberly Lake First Nation, Mcleod Lake Indian Band and Halfway River First Nations.

Funding Partners for this project include the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, Wild Sheep Society of BC, Wild Sheep Foundation, Northeastern B.C. Wildlife Fund, North Peace Rod and Gun Club, and MFLRORD services.