Here are the current project KWHF is working on.

Winter Feeding of Big Game

The Kootenay Wildlife Heritage Fund, when a punishing winter threatens big game, has responded  since 1981 with hundreds of volunteers by conducting winter feeding programs for Elk, Deer and Bighorn Sheep. The Kootenay Wildlife Heritage Fund was originally established to meet the "need to feed" after heavy snowfalls occurred during November /December of 1980. 

In November and early December 1980, we had over 42 " of snow on the winter ranges, in some places over the top of fence posts. Thousands of elk and deer in the valley bottoms had little no feed available, due to deep snow.

Carmen Purdy approached the then Minister of Environment, Stephen Rogers, for a $10,000 dollar start up fund to begin a Big Game feeding program. The money was to come from the new HCF  bank account. The request was quickly denied although they came through eventually with some money for feeding.  

However, first, an emergency meeting was called, involving guide outfitters, trappers and hunters, in the basement of the Marco Polo restaurant in Cranbrook. The meeting room was packed. It was at that meeting that the Kootenay Wildlife heritage fund was formed. Local lawyer, Gerald Kambeitz incorporated a society at no charge,  an accounting firm was retained, banking, tax registration number were obtained and the Society was born. This all culminated in the summer of 1981, almost at the same time that the HCTF was created.

We did feed elk at various locations in the winter 1979/80, but heavy rains that winter washed away the snow and elk herds were spared.  The East Kootenay had no high fences in the valley and most ranchers in the valley contributed toward the big game feeding program that winter and some ranchers still do to-day.      

Anyone familiar with wintering big game populations knows that ungulate populations can be severely diminished during the lean winter season, especially when deep, crusted snows prevail.  The winter of 1996/97 was such a winter; the Kootenay Wildlife Heritage Fund stepped up to the plate, feeding thousands of elk and deer. The government of the day was totally opposed to our actions, threatening our directors daily. The current prohibition against feeding starving elk, deer and sheep is yet another example of how governments do not understand how to manage big game populations at sustainable levels. Older wildlife biologists support feeding during harsh winters because they understand that any theory against wildlife feeding is defeated by dead animals. Starving is NOT a better option.

Some of our technical advisors are retired wildlife biologist managers or esteemed academics who know what works and once practiced policies that worked to grow big game populations. Unfortunately, government wildlife managers today are constrained by the ignorance of urban-based MLA’s and by urban-focused political correctness. This plays out on the ground with inadequate removal of predators such as wolves, bears and cougars and in hyper-cautious views about wildlife feeding.  Concerns about feeding starving animals are grossly over-blown and our technical experts are available for those who require information to support our point of view.

In brief, well-fed pregnant cow elk, doe deer, and bighorn ewes ensure healthy springtime calves, fawns and lambs.  Healthy well-fed mothers can escape predators, spend less time feeding, more time watching for and avoiding predators, and are able to produce enough milk in the spring to keep their young ones healthy.

Winter feeding would be expensive if government conducted the program. The KWHF has a data base of experienced volunteers who do the work. Reliable high-quality local feed producers are known to us. Truckers familiar with the program are willing to accommodate our trucking needs. And donations to the "BIG GAME FOOD BANK  are tax deductible!

Big game feeding sites allow photography of animals and analysis of numbers and behaviour. Gathering and analyzing population information plays an important role in the conservation and multiplication of our elk, deer and sheep populations throughout the Kootenays. 

Please reach out to our provincial government, encourage them to support winter feeding during tough winters. It is the least they can do!

 CLICK HERE to donate online or send your donation to:

BIG GAME FOOD BANK 
KWHF 
PO BOX 100 
KIMBERLEY B.C.  V1A 2Y5

Land Acquisition and Enhancement

We work closely with the Nature Trust of BC. KWHF was instrumental in the formation of the Habituate Conservation Fund. Since the inception of the Habituate Conservation trust fund and the creation of the KWHF in 1981, we together have contributed to every land acquisition by the Nature Trust in the Kootenay region. 

With out the regional financial contributions made by the KWHF most of these lands would not have been acquired.  Local input is essential.

Since inception the KWHF has been involved in the enhancement of over 32,000 acres of crown and conservation lands. Our objective is to benefit big game populations. These enhancement projects have spinoff value for many other species including fish, various raptors fur bear’s etc… 

We most strongly believe these lands are for all of us forever. The KWHF is committed to ensuring the proper governance of these lands. People are important.

Conservation vs Preservation

We at the KWHF believe in “conservation” as the approach that must be taken to grow big game populations and sustain them over time. Implicit in the concept of conservation is that surplus animals and plants can be harvested from the natural world, while keeping all species at sustaining levels.

We disagree that “preservation” is the correct approach to big game management because humans have been actively managing and impacting natural habitat from time immemorial. Indigenous people in the Kootenays set fires to burn off young trees and generate plants big game fed on and natives harvested. Today, logged cut blocks produce some of the best habitat for deer, elk and moose. Implicit in the concept of preservation is the assumption that humans need only leave nature alone and all will be well. That misguided assumption has led to an overabundance of predators in BC and low populations of the critters we hunt and eat.

Many conservation groups seem to assume that humans have no role in management of wildlife, that it is only required to set fallow land aside and healthy wildlife populations will automatically show up. The last 100 years in North America have proven conclusively that much more than fallow land is needed to ensure healthy populations of big game. The KWHF knows that in some cases, logging, wildfire, even livestock grazing to condition forage, is required, as is aggressive control of predators. Advocating for proven wildlife management practices is part of our mandate.

The KWHF and our partners will continue to  provide enduring direction, sound stewardship, directed toward appropriate big game management practices. Simply put, we envision British Columbia as  a world leader in big game stewardship, a goal not currently in sight but always possible with enough will and courage. We will stay the course and do our part.