An interview with The Nature Conservancy Canada

After our epic backpack through the Castle Crown Wilderness we got back to the "front country" near Waterton Lakes National Park to wash up and resupply, work on assignments, and talk with a guest speaker, Kim Pearson of The Nature Conservancy Canada.

We met her at a little RV camp ground on the edge of the park that doubles as a fine land trust of tall grass prairie and riparian habitat along the front range. The Nature Conservancy Canada helped broker this conservation easement with local landowners and keeps a small office and environmental education display here. Kim took us on a hike through the wild prairie ecosystem they protect here - full of tall grasses and colorful summer wildflowers it is a lovely place to bask in the sun and stare out at the huge slabs of mountain that punctuate the horizon just at our doorstep. We learned a lot from Kim about the on-the ground realities of conservation here with ranchers and landowners.

As this is major grizzly habitat, some of the most important things TNC Canada brokers are resolution to grizzly conflicts with people. For instance they provide metal dump bins for ranchers to stow dead cattle killed during the winter so as not to attract bears just out of hibernation. They help organize residents around common issues and facilitate ways they can conserve their land rather than develop or cede them to oil-gas exploration. More than anything though they provide a responsible example for residents here as responsible residents themselves that care about this place and this community. As Kim told us, and I've had echoed back to me so much in my own experiences. You can't change people, but you can lead by example and inspire others to change themselves.