Randal Macnair has joined Wildsight as the new Elk Valley Conservation Coordinator.
“I am thrilled to have Randal join our team,” says Robyn Duncan, Wildsight’s Executive Director. “Randal brings a deep commitment to the Elk Valley, a lifetime of community service and a passion to engage the community in real dialogue about taking action to preserve the wildlife, wilderness and rivers of the southern Rocky Mountains.”
Macnair comes to Wildsight with almost 30 years of community service including 15 years on Fernie City council, six of them as Mayor of Fernie and Director on the Regional District of East Kootenay. He spent much of his professional career in the museum field, working with history, natural history and Indigenous institutions in Canada and the United States. He is presently the owner of Oolichan Books, an award-winning independent publishing company. The Kootenays have been home to Randal and his family for over 20 years.
“I am excited to begin this new role, for me it’s a return to serving our communities in the Elk Valley. I believe in dialogue—conservation is a community conversation, one with which I am intimately familiar,” says Macnair. “Wildlife populations are under threat and water quality is declining in the Elk River watershed. We need to continue to come together and decide as a community how we can protect these important values.”
Wildsight works throughout the Columbia Basin to protect wildlife, water and wild places. Wildsight’s current priorities In the Elk and Flathead Valleys include private land logging, wildlife connectivity, and mining-related issues like selenium and the proposed Bingay mine.
“Every time we walk out our doors we step into a place of incredible beauty,” says Macnair. “The river connects us and nourishes us, it is our responsibility to ensure generations to come have these same opportunities.”