The Kootenay Lake Education & Stewardship Program
The FoKLSS Kootenay Lake Education & Stewardship Program aims to empower people to be stewards of Kootenay Lake through citizen engagement in hands-on citizen science projects, beach clean ups, volunteer training, stewardship workshops at local community events (markets, festivals etc), as well as promoting learning through social media, monthly newsletter, websites, radio, and podcasts. Our program is grounded in our organization’s mission to improve the health and stewardship of Kootenay Lake through monitoring, habitat restoration, capacity building, and the empowerment of local communities, First Nations, and stakeholders.
Kootenay Lake is a large, long, narrow, ultraoligotrophic lake bordered by the Selkirk and Purcell mountain ranges in southeastern British Columbia. The lake connects numerous quaint mountain communities and holds immense cultural, spiritual, ecological, economic, and recreational value. History has shown that without diligence on the part of local people, the values that lakes provide can be lost over time. Climate change, droughts, fires, development pressures and the cumulative impacts from shoreline development, increasing recreational demands, impacts from industrial and/or hydro-electric development, all present challenges for protecting the lake’s many features and values.
Communities can play an active role while many decisions affecting Kootenay Lake are made by various governments, agencies, and utilities. The Friends of Kootenay Lake has benefited the lake by bringing a grass roots perspective to how these organizations collaborate and exercise their responsibilities.
