Sonal Gupta
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Canada’s National Observer
A vast tract of land in southeastern British Columbia — sheltering old-growth forests, grizzly bears and other wildlife — will be permanently protected from logging by a major conservation project announced Tuesday.
The conservation property, called the Kootenay Forest Lands, is about four times the size of Vancouver and stretches through the Elk Valley near the Alberta and Montana borders. It spans forests, wetlands and high-elevation grasslands across the East and West Kootenays.
The project is the result of more than two decades of negotiations, fundraising and planning. It brings together, as partners, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), federal and provincial governments, Ktunaxa Nation and coal company Elk Valley Resources. The $90-million endeavour draws $20 million each from federal funding and Elk Valley Resources, with additional support from the province and private donors.
“This is one of Canada’s largest private land conservation projects to date, and it reflects years of passion, planning and partnerships,” said Julie Dabrusin, federal Environment and Climate Change Minister at the press event in Vancouver.
Under the agreement, NCC will take the wheel on stewardship, turning timber land into a space for conservation, restoration and ecological monitoring.
The land lies within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation, which is participating in the conservation effort. Kathryn Teneese, Ktunaxa Nation Council chair, told Canada’s National Observer that the goal of conservation in the region is to work, where possible, toward restoring land closer to its “natural state,” while recognizing limits created by decades of industrial activity.
She said while mining and other resource industries have supported communities in southeastern British Columbia and “contributed to the economy” for almost a century, the duration and intensity of extraction have made restoration difficult.
The landscape has been altered by generations of industrial activity, she said. “Below the valley, where all the mining has taken place, that’s a huge contributor to so much damage,” Teneese said.
Setting land aside is only the first step, which must be followed by clear plans, ongoing management and long-term stewardship to deal with existing damage and protect what remains, she said. “It’s one thing to identify these places, and it’s one thing to have them on the map,” she said. “But if you don’t have tools to continue that protection, it’s for naught.”
Teneese pointed to work underway on Qat’muk — which the Ktunaxa Nation is advancing as an Indigenous cultural heritage area — as an example of protection efforts focused on active stewardship. Such initiatives are aimed at improving how important places are managed and cared for, rather than simply recognizing them.
Nancy Newhouse with the NCC told Canada’s National Observer that massive logistical and financial roadblocks had to be tackled for this conservation goal, including earning industry’s trust and lining up steady funding. A key early win, she said, involved convincing the private forestry company that owned the land that NCC could handle buying and running such a huge property.
These lands date back to railway grants issued more than a century ago and form one of the largest contiguous private forest holdings in Canada, Newhouse said. Her team spent years piecing them back together to prevent their sale in small chunks, which would have killed any chance at large-scale conservation.
“Now that we own the land, now the real work begins,” she said.
The area includes a mix of previously logged lands and intact ecosystems, including old-growth forests and flowing waterways, and will require environmental studies to gauge damage and guide restoration efforts, she added.
The Kootenay Forest Lands shelter grizzly bears, wolverines, elk and more than 900 kilometres of streams that feed the Elk River, creating a vital wildlife bridge between both Canadian and US protected zones.
Teneese said early engagement is important because Indigenous nations must be equal partners from the outset.“Don’t bring us in after the fact and try to convince us that what you’re doing is a good thing,” she added.
No formal process exists yet, but Newhouse said the project builds on decades-long relationships. She said Ktunaxa joined their efforts from the start and will remain engaged through stewardship and management.
Teneese is optimistic about the collaboration. While the land is now protected from industrial logging, she said the project’s success will ultimately depend on long-term care and stewardship.
“We need to raise the bar and raise people’s consciousness about the importance of making sure that we have that diversity, biodiversity,” she said. “Because it affects us as human beings too, because we’re part of the total.”
Sonal Gupta / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer.
