Previous Projects in Grassland Habitat Conservation
East Kootenays and Rocky Mountain Trench
The website and brochure of the East Kootenay Conservation Program (EKCP) provide an excellent orientation to the region and the rationale for the grassland conservation projects we have supported the East Kootenays and Rocky Mountain Trench. Briefly, the Rocky Mountain Trench is an enormous valley that lies between the Purcell Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The valley is the source of two great rivers: the Columbia which flows north, and the Kootenay, which flows south. This diversity in the landscape along with variations in climate and water cycles, has created conditions and habitats that support rare plant life, productive aquatic systems, and abundant wildlife populations. Read more background on the NCC website.
Thunderhill Ranch, in Canal Flats, BC. is a 1486 acre working cattle ranch. NCC purchased 1,044 acres of the ranch, and placed a conservation covenant on the remaining 442 acres.
Pine Butte Ranch, in Cranbrook, BC. is a 1306 acre working cattle ranch. The current owners of the ranch have always practiced excellent land and water stewardship, and earned the 2004 Environmental Stewardship Award from the British Columbia Cattlemen's Association. NCC purchased a portion of the ranch, and placed a conservation covenat on the remaining acreage. Read the announcement from NCC.
Kootenay River Ranch, in Canal Flats, BC. is a 3100 acre property on a flat, low plateau bordering the Kootenay River on the east side of the valley floor.
In each case the Tula Foundation helped finance initiatives conceived and led by the East Kootenay Conservation Program and the BC Chapter of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Rocky Mountains, Thunderhill Ranch
Map of the region, lifted from the EKCP brochure