From the Executive Director & chair

Last year, with your support, we celebrated our 37th year of defending our lands and waters, advancing policy reforms to protect biodiversity and inspiring the next generation through nature connection and hands-on climate action projects in our communities. Your support makes our work possible — thank you to our donors, our funders and our members. 

In the spring, we gathered in the Flathead Valley to spend time together as a team and to connect with the land. Traditional territory of the Ktunaxa, the Flathead is a critical part of the Southern Rocky Mountain Wildlife Corridor, providing continental connectivity for grizzly bears and wolverines. The transboundary Flathead River, critical for bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout, has been used internationally as a benchmark for clean water.

In the past months, we have entered a time of incredible uncertainty — the shift in relations between Canada and the United States, trade wars and attacks on science and democracy that threaten our collective efforts to halt and reverse the biodiversity crisis and to take real action to combat the climate crisis and to protect precious wild spaces in the Kootenays. 

The Flathead is a perfect example of why working together across colonial borders and with the leadership of Indigenous people is key to protecting healthy wildlife and ecosystems. Where we were camped, we looked up at the headwaters of the Flathead River in British Columbia; where we hiked, we could see into Alberta and Montana where the river flows south. In the coming months and years, it would be easy to draw lines between our countries and communities, but now is a time to come together, to support each other and to hold strong in protecting the lands and waters that support us all. 

We remain steadfast in our commitment to defending wild places, to building community and advancing solutions through finding shared values. We need to adhere to our mission and pursue our goals relentlessly and rationally. We want to thank everyone — our team, members, donors and supporters — who has joined us in this mission. Our work brings us hope — thank you for your commitment to protecting this incredible place we call home. 

Robyn Duncan,
Executive Director

Brian Conrad,
Chair

Pushing for action on selenium pollution from Elk Valley mines

For decades, piles of waste rock from the Elk Valley’s massive metallurgical coal mines have been leaching selenium and other contaminants into local waterways. These waters flow through southeastern B.C., across the border, and into Montana and Idaho, impacting aquatic ecosystems and local communities along the way. In late 2023, the issue came to a head when Teck sold the mines to Swiss-based multinational Glencore, raising concerns about who would be accountable for future water treatment and clean-up costs. 

A Wildsight-commissioned report attracted international media attention in March 2024 when it revealed it could cost over $6.4 billion to clean up the pollution — and that the public stood to shoulder most of the financial burden should Glencore abandon the mines and its environmental liabilities. Our advocacy not only engaged and informed local residents, it also contributed to a global campaign that resulted in the federal government placing strict conditions upon Glencore’s acquisition of the mines. One of those conditions was that Glencore — and any future owners — will remain liable for cleaning up environmental damage from the mines for the next 25 years.

Celebrating a long-waited investigation 

In the midst of Glencore’s Elk Valley mine takeover, we welcomed the announcement that the governments of Canada, the United States and the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation had referred the Elk-Kootenay watersheds contamination crisis, caused by coal mining, to the International Joint Commission (IJC). Acting as an independent third party, the IJC has now commenced a multi-year investigation into pollution from the mines, and has formed a study board which is expected to deliver its final report and recommendations by September 2026. Wildsight has a representative on the IJC’s Public Advisory Group, through whom we continue to advocate for greater transparency and environmental protections.

defending a future for caribou

When we learned about plans to log critical caribou habitat in the Seymour River Valley last year, we knew we needed to do everything we could to halt them. Together, the proposals from Pacific Woodtech and Stella Jones threatened over 600 hectares of core habitat for the Columbia North herd, the most viable of B.C.’s remaining southernmost caribou herds. 

We mobilized over 1,100 people to protest the proposed destruction of the Seymour River blocks using our online letter-writing tool. While we’re still awaiting a final decision from the government about the future of these blocks, we continue to advocate for the protection of core mountain caribou habitat throughout B.C.

Creating a dialogue about the impacts of recreation on wildlife

Last year, we hosted a series of Wild Spaces dialogues across our region to highlight the latest science in recreation ecology. These dialogues aimed to educate our communities on how we can reduce our impact on local wildlife while still connecting with the wilderness in our own backyards. 

Each of the five dialogues featured wildlife experts and/or land managers sharing their knowledge about recreational impacts on different species — from elk, to bighorn sheep, mountain goats and wolverine. Lengthy audience discussions followed each presentation.

modernizing the columbia river treaty

In July 2024, we celebrated the announcement of a major milestone in the effort to update the 1964 Columbia River Treaty to fit today’s values and challenges. The ‘Agreement-In-Principle’ (AIP) between Canada and the United States has been almost a decade in the making. It moves towards a new era for management of dams on the Columbia and Kootenay rivers — one in which ecosystem health and Indigenous values can be prioritized alongside electricity generation and flood control.

Wildsight, in collaboration with a coalition of Canadian NGOs, worked for years to help achieve this. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has paused negotiations towards a final agreement. We are following the situation closely and hope to support efforts to finalize the AIP as soon as possible.

More conservation highlights

Seeds of education grow into roots of love for the wild

Wildsight Environmental Education builds on the belief that if we learn in and from nature during our youth, it can foster a life-long love of the wild. In the past year, we’ve heard from a participant in Columbia River Field School who said it was one of the best experiences of her life, a Go Wild! teen who said the backcountry excursion literally changed his life, and a former student who shared that after participating in a Wildsight Environmental Education program, they now want to pursue a career caring for the natural world.

From our smallest Kindergarten student to our Grade 12 graduates, we hear stories every year of how this learning engages more than just the head — it also pulls at the heart. Students begin to understand ecosystems and the valuable role we play in their protection. They engage in real-world learning and take part in tangible projects that encourage creativity, innovation and empathy for our interconnected world. 

deepening our water education offerings

We strive to ensure programming remains relevant to today’s students. Climate change is increasingly affecting water resources, making the need to understand water-related issues more important than ever.

In partnership with Living Lakes Canada, we created Watershed Matters to teach high school students about water quality, water allocation and concerns around this invaluable resource. It includes relevant instruction in collecting data and shared management, with two classroom visits and a field trip in a local watershed. Watershed Matters was piloted in three classrooms, with a public rollout to Columbia Basin classrooms in the 2024-2025 school year.

wildlife stories for students

Wildsight Education launched its first ever social enterprise offering with the Stories in the Wild track sheet. The resource package brings wildlife stories to life through a fabric sheet with life-sized wildlife tracks and signs on it, alongside accompanying lesson plans, activities and games.

Students learn so much from investigation and play. This interactive sheet brings wildlife stories to life wherever the class wants to learn, whether it’s in the classroom, the school yard, or nearby nature. Proceeds from this undertaking will support Wildsight Environmental Education in B.C.’s Columbia Basin.

award-winning education

Wildsight Environmental Education was recognized with several prestigious awards. EcoStewards brings students on a multi-week environmental education journey, culminating in a student-led action project. This program was recognized for its ability to connect kids to nature, engage youth in conservation and provide educational conservation programming with Wildlife Habitat Canada’s inaugural Diane Griffin Award. 

Wildsight Education Coordinator Jill Jennings, and Wildsight educators Jessie Caza and Kim Urbaniak each received recognition for educating students about environmental stewardship and sustainability with the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network Award of Environmental Excellence. We’re so proud of our team!

columbia river field school

We celebrated a milestone in 2024 with the fifth season of our Columbia River Field School. Sixteen youth from across the Columbia Basin slept under the stars, paddled key sections of the Canadian Columbia River watershed and learned on and from these special waters that tie our region together. 

The 15-day field school is designed to give youth a much-needed understanding of the complex  challenges and opportunities of the Columbia, and how they can affect its future. Past participants have gone on to speak at conferences, publish original writing, participate in youth summits, and become local leaders in their own communities.

education by the numbers

Wildsight Environmental Education programs have reached more than 100,000 students over the past 25 years. Now, with a team of 14 educators spread across the Columbia Basin, our reach and offerings continue to grow. Here are some of the highlights from the 2023-2024 school year.

restoring kimberley’s lois creek

Wildsight’s Youth Climate Corps (YCC) wrapped up a multi-year project in Kimberley’s Lois Creek trail system with the removal of a culvert that impeded fish passage and natural water flow. The removal of these culverts not only benefits fish populations but will also help mitigate seasonal flooding, which has been a recurring issue on the nearby trails.

The crew also teamed up with local volunteers to plant more than 2,600 native plants and decommissioned an outdated trail. This work follows on the heels of previous YCC season efforts to upgrade and enhance this beloved Kimberley recreation area.

Lois Creek has long been a cherished space for recreation, education and community connection. Tim Chapman, YCC’s East Kootenay manager, worked for more than three years to see this project through, from educating community members, to fundraising and connecting with community partners, including the Kimberley Trails Society and Friends of Lois Creek. As the planted vegetation and grass seed begin to take, the site will slowly blend itself back into the landscape of the Lois Creek system.

branch highlights

Wildsight’s six autonomous branches worked directly within their local communities to empower environmentally sustainable lifestyles and protect the wild. These are just a few of the diverse projects they worked on — to find out more, support their work or get involved, visit the branch pages linked below or find them on social media. 

Revenue $2.45M

Expenses $2.41M

Wildsight’s full audited financial statements

This report covers Wildsight’s fiscal year from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
Misc includes events, education resource sales, exchange gains/losses, market value adjustments, interest and other miscellaneous revenue.

Donations also include memberships.

Fee for service includes fees paid for education programs and trips as well as work completed on a contract basis. Partner Orgs represents grant funds we used to support Youth Climate Corps BC and West Kootenay Watershed Collaborative projects that are aligned with our charitable purpose.

Thank you to the incredible funders who supported Wildsight throughout the 2023-2024 financial year. Without you, our work wouldn’t be possible.