Webinar: Riparian and Wetland Restoration in the Slocan Valley
Thursday, February 21, 10am-11am PST/11am-noon MST
In collaboration with the Kootenay Conservation Program, Gregoire Lamoureux, restoration ecologist with Slocan River Streamkeepers, explored restoration projects, the importance of good relationship with landowners, the challenges and benefits of projects and more. The Slocan River Streamkeepers have implemented over 50 riparian restoration projects in the Slocan Valley since 2005, restoring the equivalent of 5 km of riverbank. Some projects have included fish habitat enhancement. More recently, the Streamkeepers have implemented wetland restoration and enhancement projects.
Gregoire Lamoureux grew up on a farm in southern Quebec and after travelling across Canada, he moved to the Slocan Valley in 1989 where he now operates a small native plant nursery. In 1991, he created the Kootenay Permaculture Institute to follow his passion for permaculture, regenerative agriculture and ecological restoration. He has been teaching permaculture and consulting across Canada for over 25 years.
Gregoire has been working in riparian restoration for over 20 years and more recently in wetland restoration. He’s a Co-Founder of the Slocan River Streamkeepers Society which started in 2003 with the goals of improving public knowledge on aquatic ecosystems, to improve stewardship of aquatic and riparian ecosystems, and to identify and restore ecologically sound and effective restoration projects.
WEBINAR: Wetland Restoration in the Kootenays Thursday, February 7, 10am-11am PST/11am-noon MST
Wetlands are a critical component of ecosystems, as they support a variety of species at risk, hold and filter water, recharge groundwater, and store carbon. In the Kootenays, many wetlands have been lost due to dam impoundment and land development. Neil Fletcher from the BC Wildlife Federation discussed the importance of wetland restoration, as well as past and recent projects in the Basin. This webinar explored the results from a BCWF led monitoring study of past restoration projects, recent BCWF led restoration projects in the Kootenays, and ways to get involved in conservation.
Neil Fletcher has a broad range of resource management experience, previously working for a watershed authority in Ontario, the Canadian Forest Service and BC Hydro. He is the Chair of Wetlands Stewardship Partner-ship of BC, a multi-agency partnership that focuses on provincial priorities and that is currently working on standardizing a Provincial wetland inventory.
Neil also participates in a number of other steering and technical advisory committees supporting initiatives such as the Okanagan Wetlands Strategy, Aquatic Invasive Species of BC, and the National Wetlands Round Table. In 2016, he was named “Canadian Outdoorsman of the Year” by the Canadian Wildlife Federation, in part for the conservation and stewardship work he has accomplished in the Columbian Basin.
Webinar: Healthy Communities, Economies and Ecosystems – Advancing collaborative freshwater solutions in BC
Coree Tull and Megan Peloso from the Canadian Freshwater Alliance discussed creative and equitable solutions that address our most complex water challenges, sustainable ways to fund this work, and opportunities to advance a local conversation on water governance in your community.
If your group is interested in working with the Our Water BC campaign, join the freshwater movement here. The Freshwater Alliance may be able to help you improve your groups’ communications and outcomes!
Coree Tull is the Organizing Director for the Canadian Freshwater Alliance, and brings over a decade of experience leading and specializing in issue-based and electoral campaigns to grow public awareness.
Megan Peloso is the BC Communications Lead for the Freshwater Alliance and brings a passion for creative and compelling communications with a successful track record of improving public awareness and facilitating robust discussion in local watersheds across B.C.
Webinar: Sharing the Kettle – The Kettle River Management Plan and Authority, from Idea to Implementation
The Kettle River Watershed Management Plan was adopted by the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and now serves as a guiding document for the Kettle River Authority. This webinar presented the development of the Kettle River Watershed Management Plan, including stakeholder engagement, and provides lessons to all seeking open, predictable and equitable ways to link upstream to downstream.
Graham Watt is a land use, watershed and environmental planner with extensive municipal and not-for-profit experience. He has developed and implemented projects involving land use and watershed analysis, stakeholder engagement, and developing watershed plans. He is currently Senior Planner, City of Grand Forks, and previously served as the Project Coordinator for the Kettle River Watershed Management Plan, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, and Basin Planner for the. North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance.
Roly Russell has been working for the last 15 years at the nexus of societal sustainability, decision-making, and ecology. His story includes time spent as researcher, farmer, and currently politician. His research experience covers such topics as decision-making under uncertainty, global drivers of happiness, and the ethics of value and nature. Currently, he lives lives on a small farm with his family in the Rural Grand Forks area, where he serves as the Electoral Area Director for the RDKB (and RDKB Board Chair) as well as a director for the Grand Forks Credit Union.
Webinar: Technology for Watershed Stewardship Non-profits
Emails getting you down?
Do you get the responses you need from volunteers and board members?
Is there a single cloud storage system that works best for volunteers and non-profits?
And is there a project management system that is easy enough for all your board members to use, and doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg?
Join us for a discussion of how these systems work for us here in the Basin. For this session, we focused on file systems and engagement.
Webinar: Mapping Your Watershed with the CBWN Mapping Program
Learn the whys and hows of mapping your watershed. Richard Johnson of the Columbia Basin Watershed Network shared his experience with the CBWN program as well as some DIY options. Learn how mapping can help you understand your own watershed better and engage with your community.
The Columbia Basin Watershed Network and the Selkirk Geospatial Research Center at Selkirk College have been helping watershed stewardship groups map their watersheds in the Columbia Basin for over 10 years.
Please visit our Summer Mapping Program page.
The maps produced through this program are found at the Selkirk College SGRC website.
Webinar: Creating Sustainable Funding for Ecosystems and Watersheds
Rural communities are challenged to attract sustainable funding for conservation efforts, including supporting watershed protection and restoration. The first part of this webinar focused on watersheds and opportunities for new partnerships that can bring new dollars to watershed protection through the recognition of common interests in quality of life, infrastructure, and basic needs. The second part focused on the Columbia Valley Local Conservation Fund, a tax-based fund for conservation that was the first of its kind in Canada, including why and how it was established and what accomplishments have been to date.
Juliet Craig is the Program Manager, Kootenay Conservation Program. She has an M.Sc. in ethnobotany and is a Registered Professional Biologist and Professional Agrologist. She works out of Nelson and has a broad range of conservation experience including invasive plant management, bat conservation, species at risk planning, and environmental education.
Dr. Tara Lynne Clapp is the Vice Chair of the Columbia Basin Watershed Network and Adjunct Professor, Great Plains IDEA Program, Iowa State University. She has PhD in Planning and Environment from the University of Southern California, and a Masters in Environmental Design from the University of Calgary. Through research, teaching and practice, she works with others towards collaborative and regional approaches to improving watershed decision-making.