The Kootenay Forest Lands became permanently protected this week, marking one of the largest private land conservation projects in Canadian history and a significant milestone for Fernie and the Elk Valley.
In total, 45,000 hectares of timberland in the Elk Valley are now secured under long-term conservation stewardship. The lands lie within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation, whose endorsement and leadership were fundamental to the project.
This outcome reflects more than two decades of work and an unusually broad coalition of partners. The project was led by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and made possible through collaboration with the Ktunaxa First Nations, the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, and Elk Valley Resources (EVR), a Glencore company, alongside a wide range of public agencies, foundations, and private donors.
Key funding partners include the Government of Canada through its Nature Smart Climate Solutions Fund, the Province of British Columbia, Elk Valley Resources’ $20-million contribution, the BC Parks Foundation, the Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program, the Columbia Basin Trust, and numerous philanthropic organizations and individual donors.
The scale of protection is significant. The Kootenay Forest Lands influence 42 watersheds and nearly 930 kilometres of streams, many flowing into the Elk River, and form part of a 7,000-square-kilometre connected conservation network stretching across the Canadian Rockies and into Montana. The landscape supports critical habitat for species including grizzly bear, wolverine, lynx, bull trout, bighorn sheep, badger, and whitebark pine, while also protecting rare high-elevation grasslands and ancient forests.
Under NCC stewardship, the lands will transition away from industrial-scale forestry toward conservation-focused management, emphasizing ecosystem restoration, carbon storage, and improved resilience to wildfire and flooding. Public recreation access will continue, with long-term stewardship guided collaboratively with Indigenous Nations, local communities, and partners.
For Fernie and neighbouring communities, the significance is practical as well as symbolic. These lands protect headwaters, reduce environmental risk, sustain wildlife corridors, and preserve the natural setting that underpins recreation, tourism, and quality of life in the Elk Valley.
In a region often defined by difficult land-use trade-offs, the Kootenay Forest Lands stand as a clear example of what coordinated, multi-partner conservation can achieve—at landscape scale, and for the long term.
