Land purchase helps create unbroken wildlife corridor

The Silver Tip Ranch near Bull River in the East Kootenay will be conserved by the Nature Trust of BC, thanks in part to $335,000 in support from Columbia Basin Trust.

CBT supports Nature Trust's purchase of the Silver Tip Ranch with $335,000.

A once privately owned 137.5-hectare portion of the Columbia Basin will now become a conservation property thanks in part to $335,000 in support from Columbia Basin Trust (CBT). CBT—along with other funding partners and the generosity of the previous landowners, the Logan family—has helped The Nature Trust of BC (TNT) purchase the Silver Tip Ranch, near the East Kootenay community of Bull River, for conservation purposes.

"CBT has committed to long-term and enduring stewardship of the Basin's natural resources," said Neil Muth, CBT president and CEO. "The purchase of the Silver Tip Ranch will help ensure an unbroken wildlife corridor from the Kootenay River to the Rocky Mountains."

The property features wetlands, forest cover, grasslands and agricultural fields that serve as a habitat for many wildlife species. It provides a migration route and winter range for ungulates such as elk, white-tail deer and mule deer. Predators, including coyotes, wolves, black bears and cougars, also utilize the area.

"The Nature Trust is honoured to be conserving Silver Tip Ranch in our 40th anniversary year. Partnerships are key to our success and this property is a wonderful demonstration of partners in action," said Doug Walker, CEO of the Nature Trust.

"The fact that we sold the ranch to the Nature Trust says a lot about our love for this land and the fact that we want to care for it," said Patricia Logan, the previous owner. "We chose the Nature Trust because it is a provincial conservation organization and we felt we could work with them on the future of the land. We are happy to know that at least Silver Tip Ranch will be returned to the way it was before people moved into this area and it will be looked after for wildlife."

The Nature Trust of BC is a non-profit land conservation organization dedicated to protecting the province's natural diversity of plants and animals through the acquisition and conservation of critical habitats and other areas of ecological significance. Learn more at www.naturetrust.bc.ca.

CBT's Land Conservation Strategy supports community-supported, multi-stakeholder land conservation efforts that assist in maintaining a range of community values on lands in the Basin. Since the program's inception, CBT has contributed over $3 million to conservation and securing opportunities in the Basin, helping protect over 100,000 hectares of land. Learn more at www.cbt.org/environment.