The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) is funding nine conservation and enhancement projects in the North Columbia area this year with more than $200,000 — a three-fold increase over last year.
“During our grant application intake, the Columbia Region Board made the North Columbia one of its priorities,” FWCP Columbia Region Manager, Crystal Klym said in a statement released on Friday, June 24. “As a result, we received many grant applications from stewardship groups, First Nations, and consultants, and many of those have turned into projects for the North Columbia.”
The projects approved for funding from the FWCP Columbia Region Board for 2016-17 are:
- $5,000 for wetland habitat creation in the Kinbasket Reservoir area;
- $20,000 for a Great Blue Heron inventory and stewardship;
- $18,685 for Common Loon floating nesting platforms in Bush Arm and Staubert Lake;
- $29,998 to restore Western Painted Turtle nesting habitat at Red Devil Hill;
- $5,000 to study of the feasibility of protecting wetland features at Airport Slough in Revelstoke;
- $78,110 for the Mountain Caribou maternity penning;
- $4,950 for an assessment of Moberly Marsh, near Golden, for wetland restoration;
- $31,586 for a Revelstoke Reach riparian restoration project; and
- $10,770 to develop potential ecosystem enhancement projects from Shelter Bay to Mica Dam.
The Board approved funding another 46 projects elsewhere in FWCP’s Columbia Region including the operations of the Kokanee spawning channel at Galena Bay, adding nutrients to Arrow Lakes Reservoir, and efforts to help the endangered White Sturgeon of Columbia River; all of which are a core component of the FWCP.
“A number of stakeholders and members of the public have asked us to support more projects in the North Columbia, and the Board listened,” Klym said. “Now we look forward to seeing the results and how well these projects will benefit fish and wildlife in the area.”
The projects approved for FWCP funding reflect conservation priorities in the region and were selected after review by FWCP’s Columbia Region fish and wildlife technical committees and its 10-member Board, which is responsible for reviewing and approving all FWCP projects in the Columbia Region.
The FWCP is a partnership between BC Hydro, the Province of BC, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations and public stakeholders, to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by BC Hydro dams
Across the province, FWCP is funding more than 116 fish and wildlife projects for a total of approximately $8.7 million. For more details visit fwcp.ca.
