Healthy ecosystems are essential for sustaining biodiversity and community well-being. To support ecosystem improvements, Columbia Basin Trust is providing over $3.3 million for eight projects that will restore habitats and strengthen ecosystem resilience across the region.
“These projects reflect the commitment of Basin communities and organizations to restoring and enhancing local ecosystems,” said Johnny Strilaeff, President and Chief Executive Officer, Columbia Basin Trust. “By working together, we are not only protecting biodiversity but also ensuring that future generations benefit from healthy, resilient landscapes.”
Through its Ecosystem Enhancement Program, the Trust is investing over $3.2 million in six large-scale, multi-year projects. Since launching the program in 2017, the Trust has committed nearly $20 million to 37 initiatives. See all projects at ourtrust.org/eep.
In addition, the Trust is supporting two smaller-scale, shorter-term projects with $97,000. These initiatives also play an important role in taking immediate on-the-ground action to improve local ecosystems. See the backgrounder for more details.
Planned Fire Clears the Way
The community of ʔaq̓am continues to use fire as a mechanism for stewarding their lands, something they have done for thousands of years. Two prescribed burns are planned for 2026 on ʔaq̓am’s Kootenay IR#1 lands—one near the Cranbrook airport and one near Crown land to the north. These will be undertaken in collaboration and partnership with the City of Cranbrook and BC Widlfire Service, among others. ʔaq̓am’s objectives for the work include ecosystem enhancement through thinning dense forest stands to create new habitat, reducing wildfire risks by removing dense surface fuels, and reclaiming the cultural practice of ʔa·kinq̓uku (fire) on the landscape.
“Our community is well acquainted with prescribed burning and the impacts of wildfire,” said Cheryl Casimer, NasuɁkin (Chief) of ʔaq̓am. “We are committed to continuing to collaborate with partners through implementing prescribed burning to restore wildfire resiliency to our lands, protect our community, and be proactive to climate change.”
A Former Floodplain Returns to a More Natural State
If you see a small brown and white songbird at Moberly Marsh near Golden, you may have spotted a bank swallow. It’s one of the many species that will benefit from the restoration of floodplain wetlands within the area of the marsh owned by Ducks Unlimited Canada, called Spike Elk Farm. Over five years, the organization will be returning 20 hectares to its natural form and function through activities like removing dikes, disabling ditches and restoring historical wetland areas. This will complement a BC Parks and Ducks Unlimited Canada project on neighbouring lands in Burges James Gadsen Provincial Park.
“Spike Elk Farm has been impacted by agriculture since the late 1800s,” said Matthew Wilson, Head of Conservation Programs, Ducks Unlimited Canada. “This project aims to restore wetlands on the property while retaining existing values for migratory waterfowl and songbirds. The restoration effort will increase habitat values for a diversity of species and provide climate resilience by creating additional water storage and re-establishing connectivity to the Columbia River and Columbia wetlands.”
To the Benefit of Elk, Deer and Bighorn Sheep
Wander through Wigwam Flats and there’s a high chance you won’t be the only species enjoying this land near Elko. In spring, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep raise their lambs here, while in winter, elk and mule deer forage. The Fernie Rod and Gun Club is overseeing a five-year project to improve at least 250 hectares of this ecosystem, which includes activities like planting native seed mixes to add food for ungulates and reducing tree density to improve sightlines when it comes to staying safe from predators like wolves. The group will also engage with the public along the way. The project is a partnership with Yaq̓it ʔaꞏknuqⱡi ‘it First Nation, as well as the Province of BC, Nature Trust of BC and Nature Conservancy of Canada.
“Wigwam Flats is truly a special place both for wildlife and for community members and First Nations Peoples,” said Kevin Marasco, President of the Fernie Rod and Gun Club. “The area has seen significant forest encroachment following a regime of fire suppression, and restoring and enhancing open forest and grasslands will enhance biodiversity values and wildlife habitat for critical ungulate species.”
A Culturally Important Lakeside gets Attention
From kwiǂqǂi (Rocky Mountain big horn sheep) to ʔaꞏq̓uku kaǂmuxu (woodland strawberry), the east side of Columbia Lake provides valuable habitat for animals that are culturally meaningful to Ktunaxa ʔaqⱡsmaknik (people), as well as traditionally harvested foods and medicines. To increase the cultural value and resiliency of this ecosystem, Ktunaxa Nation Council, in partnership with ʔakisq̓nuk First Nation and the Nature Conservancy of Canada, will be thinning the forest and doing prescribed burns on 101 hectares. The five-year project takes place on Nature Conservancy of Canada conservation land, and will also reduce wildfire risk to nearby communities and culturally and archeologically important sites.
“Ktunaxa have always used fire,” said ʔakisq̓nuk Elder Alfred Joseph. This resulted in more open areas, including grasslands in key wildlife habitat. Joseph recounted what Granny Sabine Kaius had told him, that Naⱡmuqȼin (the giant whose body is now the Rocky Mountains) grew hair (meaning trees). When she was a young girl playing outside, she could hear the snowslides coming down the mountains. Since those times, the slopes have become much more ingrown with trees.
Jaime Vienneau, Ktunaxa Nation Council Lands & Resources Sector Director, said, “The east side of Columbia Lake is a spiritually important place for Ktunaxa ʔaqⱡsmaknik. Through this project, Ktunaxa will exercise our inherent right and sacred responsibility to steward our homelands, which will support ʔa·kxam̓is q̓api qapsin, all living things.”
Looking to the Future of a Long-living Tree
Whitebark pine is a long-living, slow-growing conifer found at high elevations throughout BC. To restore and protect its ecosystems and the creatures that rely on them, like Clark’s nutcracker, Simpcw First Nation is leading a five-year, multi-staged project on 238 hectares near Valemount. This effort involves selecting seeds from blister rust-resistant trees, propagating seedlings, and planting and removing competing species. Guided by Simpcw’s Six Directives, this project reflects the Nation’s commitment to protecting watersheds, restoring culturally and ecologically significant landscapes, and ensuring the resilience of key wildlife habitats. It integrates cultural knowledge with ecological science, reinforcing Simpcw’s responsibility as caretakers of Simpcwúl̓ecw (Simpcw territory).
“Whitebark pine is a very important keystone species thriving in harsh high-elevation climates,” said Mandy Ross, Ecosystems Biologist with Simpcw Resources Group, which is owned by Simpcw First Nation and overseeing the project. “This project’s methodical approach, combining ecological science with community engagement, aims to create resilient whitebark pine populations that contribute to broader ecosystem health and cultural continuity within Simpcwúl̓ecw. This initiative is a step toward long-term stewardship, ensuring future generations can continue caring for the land and the species that depend on it.”
Revitalizing a Keystone Species
Whitebark pine stands have a vital, symbiotic relationship with the entire environment. Even so, the species is under threat on a variety of fronts. Pathogens in the form of a fungal disease known as white pine blister rust is a main culprit. Pine beetle outbreaks, increased competition from shade-loving trees cause by fire suppression and the ultimate effects of climate change are all leading causes that have pushed the species to the brink; the pines are now classified as an endangered species under the federal Species at Risk Act.
This spring, Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation of Canada will begin cone collection and the extraction of 300,000 seeds from 100 healthy trees. In early 2026, these seeds will transform into 150,000 seedlings. The plan then is to plant 50,000 seedlings per year between 2027 and 2029 to restore 200 hectares of high elevation ecosystems surrounding Arrow Lakes and Slocan Lake.
“As an organization, our mission is devoted to the conservation and stewardship of whitebark pine ecosystems through partnerships, science-based active management restoration, research and education,” said project lead Adrian Leslie. “This project highlights our mission and will contribute to the recovery of the species at a local level.”
Columbia Basin Trust supports the efforts of the people in the Columbia Basin to strengthen social, economic and environmental well-being. To learn more about the Trust’s programs and initiatives, visit ourtrust.org or call 1.800.505.8998.
