The governments of Canada and British Columbia last week announced an agreement to protect threatened mountain caribou in part of the province. This historic agreement between the federal and provincial governments is the first ever agreement reached under Section 11 of Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The agreement, which covers the Central Group herds located … Continued
As Kootenay kids headed back into the classroom this September, Wildsight educators were scheming to get them right back outside again. Every year, across the Columbia Basin, our team of 25 environmental educators bring the magic of nature to thousands of kids, from Kindergarten all the way up to high school. Through field trips to … Continued
Late last month, Teck Coal announced plans to shut down their Line Creek water treatment plant. The plant was designed to remove selenium contamination from water flowing out of mine waste dumps and into the Elk River, but instead it is releasing much more toxic forms of selenium into the Elk River watershed. In other … Continued
After years in court, the Ktunaxa Nation suffered their final loss last week in their legal case to stop the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort—but it won’t be the end of their efforts to protect Qat’muk
On Oct. 5, Teck pleaded guilty and was fined $1.4M under the Fisheries Act for releasing pollution from their Line Creek water treatment facility in 2014. The three releases of contaminated water killed dozens of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. “The fish populations in the Elk and Kootenay watersheds are world-renowned. A central principle … Continued
Bry Daniels, a two-time veteran of our Go Wild! youth wilderness trips, just returned from our second trip of the summer with 11 other local youth, travelling the historic Earl Grey Pass trail over six days, from near Invermere through the Purcell Mountains to Kootenay Lake. Bry shares her experience below. I live in Cooper … Continued
This position has been filled. Are you a college student looking for a part-time job during the school year? Wildsight is looking for a Communications & Development Intern to work with us during the school year in our Kimberley office. You’ll be working with our Communications & Development Manager, and the rest of the Wildsight … Continued
It seems obvious: fish need habitat. Fish need clean water, functioning ecosystems, and habitat for spawning, migrating, growing and feeding, but habitat protection was cut from the Fisheries Act under Harper.
Commercial harvesting of wild huckleberries is happening on a scale we’ve never seen before in the Kootenays. One camp of thirty harvesters near Yahk, working with berry rakes, is picking hundreds of pounds per day and they plan to keep picking until frost. A thousand pounds per day are crossing the US border at Kingsgate … Continued
Wildsight welcomes the ban on trophy hunting of grizzly bears announced yesterday, but we are unclear what a meat hunt will mean for the bears. Big-game hunters may still hunt grizzlies, taking home photos of themselves with their kill instead of the bear’s hide, head and paws, which will be prohibited. Very few, if any, … Continued
