Oct 11, 2006. Trench Society applauds provincial grassland recovery program.

The Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resources Society says the B.C. government’s decision to fund a province-wide grassland recovery program is welcome news for hunters, ranchers and environmentalists in the East Kootenay.

 “The Trench Society has been working for many years to convince successive provincial governments that ecosystem restoration on Crown land is a responsibility of government,” Society coordinator Maurice Hansen said.

“Last week’s announcement of a B.C. grassland recovery program with $2 million in funding signals that the government recognizes the wide-ranging importance of ecosystem restoration.”

Restoration of grassland and open forest ecosystems is of particular benefit to large grazers such as elk and cattle and provides vital habitat for a broad range of at-risk species, including bighorn sheep, badgers and sharp-tailed grouse.

The restoration process, which involves harvesting, thinning and prescribed burning to remove forest ingrowth, also leaves healthier forests while reducing fuels that feed wildfires. 

“The launch of a provincial program is a significant step in ensuring we have a solidly based restoration program here in the Trench,” Hansen said.

Restoration project sites in the Rocky Mountain Forest District will be the first to be funded under the new program. Operating conditions permitting, more than 5,100 hectares of ingrown Crown range in the Trench will be treated in 2007-08. Projects in the Central Cariboo Forest District are also being considered for next year.

Although a grassland/open forest restoration program has been underway in the Trench since the late 1990s, it has depended for funding on a variety of sources such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program.

Hansen said establishment of a program with stable government funding is the result of individual and collective efforts by Trench Society members, East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett, and Ministry of Forests staff in Invermere, Cranbrook and Victoria. “We’ve worked hand-in-hand over the years so it’s heartening to see that collaboration ultimately pays off.”

The Trench Society is a coalition of nine environmental, hunting, ranching and wildlife organizations: Cranbrook Archery Club, East Kootenay Wildlife Association, Kootenay Livestock Association, Rocky Mountain Naturalists, Southern Guides & Outfitters Association, The Land Conservancy of BC, Waldo Stockbreeders Association, Wildsight and Windermere Farmers Institute.