Wildsight

Mountain Goats and Bighorn Sheep survive winter in part through their highly calculated habitat selection.
Mountain Goats favour steep, wind-scoured ridges and sunny south-facing cliffs where snow accumulation is minimal and escape terrain is close at hand.
Photos by Jess Findlay + Kevin White

“An excellent example of what the future looks like” – snowless valleys and, for now, snowy mountains The snowpack bulletin of the winter shows an above-average snowpack for most of the Kootenay-Columbia. But focusing too much on this high-elevation data risks painting an overly rosy picture.

It's a tale of two elevations. While the alpine snowpack was above normal for almost all parts of the Kootenay-Columbia region on Jan 1, valley bottoms tell a very different story — one that points to a warmer, riskier future for our region.

wildsight.ca/2026/01/27/a...

BC’s current forestry model is about simplifying complex forest ecosystems — meaning our processes and cut levels are founded on replacing most or all old and primary forest in the timber harvesting landbase with ‘managed’ forest.
Send a message to BC at vist.ly/4pvx2

It's simple. No new mines or expansions should be approved in the Elk Valley until Elk Valley Resources has proven it's dealt with existing pollution.
Speak up now at vist.ly/4p9kh

Photos from the vault! 📸 We started teaching kids about environmental education 25 years ago — and the need for these lessons and experiences has only grown since then.

For this #WorldEducationDay, it was fun to look back on how our youth engagement has grown and evolved.

Register at https://ca01web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JZpz17lNS8G-jhExK_WoKg#/registration and visit https://www.wildsight.ca/FRX to learn about helpful talking points, as well as the impacts that approving FRX would have on our watersheds, wildlife, and communities.

You can replant trees, but you can’t fast-forward forests. Old growth is not a renewable resource.

Speak up for our old growth at https://secure.wildsight.ca/ITR?source=BSky+-+Deadwood

Here in BC, one of the most effective nature-based climate actions we could take would be to protect old-growth forests.

Take action to protect the last old and ancient forests of BC's threatened Inland Temperate Rainforest: wildsigh.ca/ITR

Cartoon by Anneke Rosch

At our annual all-staff gathering a few months ago, we asked some of our colleagues a simple question: what motivates you to stand up for the wild?

As we close out the year, your support helps ensure our work for the wild can continue. vist.ly/4k6eu

The critical importance of established mycorrhizal networks is yet another example of why old growth forests are not renewable.

Happy solstice!
Today, we celebrate the shortest day of the year and the promise of longer days ahead. We celebrate the quiet and cold beauty of winter. And we give thanks for this wildly beautiful planet we call home.
Photo: Bruce Kirkby

We have an incredible $20,000 available in matching funds right now! If you give to the wild before December 31, your gift will be matched for double the impact on the wild places and animals you love.

vist.ly/4j376

"I am having the best day ever!" -K/1 student
Students in Golden explored both small and big: from the intricate patterns found in snowflakes to the overarching concept that all living things are interconnected, during Wildsight's Winter Wonder program. We agree, that sounds like the best day ever!

It’s taken our old growth ecosystems thousands of years to form, but it takes only weeks to destroy them forever.

Take action for our last remaining old growth at vist.ly/4hpte

Wildlife is what makes BC what it is. It's what we look for when we're outside, and it's what inspires us to learn, and care. It's what makes BC unlike anywhere else in the world.

Now, more than ever, we need to work together to protect the wild places our animals need to survive.

Giving Tuesday is a chance to invest not in more stuff, but in those values that cannot be bought back once they’re gone.

Nature doesn't have a marketing department. But it does have you. Give back what you can to the wild today. vist.ly/4gwne

Wildsight challenges Zincton Resort review process in BC Supreme Court Wildsight has filed a petition in the BC Supreme Court seeking a judicial review of the provincial government’s decision not to require an environmental assessment for the proposed Zincton All-Season ...

Wildsight has filed a petition in the BC Supreme Court seeking a judicial review of the provincial government’s decision not to require an EA for the proposed Zincton Resort in the central Selkirk Mountains.

wildsight.ca/2025/12/01/w...

The Narwhal recently led an investigation into wildlife collisions on railway tracks in B.C. The results: CN and CP have consistently under-reported grain spills and wildlife deaths on their tracks in B.C.

Read the full article at THE NARWHAL.

We often hear people say “What’s the big deal? Trees are a renewable resource and old growth will grow back”. Unfortunately, this is completely untrue. Old growth forests are biodiversity hotspots that can’t be replaced in a matter of decades.

https://secure.wildsight.ca/ITR?source=bsky+-+caro

Private land logging is a huge problem in BC. It is largely unregulated — meaning there are few requirements to protect riparian areas, watersheds, endangered species’ habitat, or anything else.

https://www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/article_7ce57224-5d3d-5d98-b5dd-8e3cc08204b5.html

St. Mary's field tours highlight forest still under threat Although new logging plans currently appear to be on hold in the St. Mary's valley, that pause should not be mistaken for protection. Recent field tours have helped demonstrate what's at stake.

Following a gathering in late 2024 , we've continued to engage the local community in the threats to the upper St Mary's valley, west of Kimberley. Read more about our field tours and what's at stake: https://wildsight.ca/2025/10/29/st-marys-field-tours-highlight-forest-still-under-threat/

For more information, see our latest press release: https://wildsight.ca/pressreleases/ottawa-acknowledges-serious-risks-of-fording-river-mine-expansion-orders-further-assessment/

Spotted on Sunday near Malakwa on Hwy 1, this ancient western redcedar heading eastbound towards Revelstoke.

This must end. Send a message asking the BC gov to protect old and ancient trees in one of the rarest and most carbon-rich rainforests on Earth: vist.ly/4c733

This fall, 26 classes are participating in a Wildsight Classroom with Outdoors program like this one to Luxor Creek near Radium — spending a full day exploring a richly-educational local landscape.

Find out more about Wildsight Education: https://wildsight.ca/programs/education/

Record Ridge mine faces legal challenge as push for protections continues The fight to protect Record Ridge and its threatened species and ecosystems is far from finished. Several major developments have reshaped the story, including some recent legal action and a Wildsight...

Several major developments are reshaping the story of Record Ridge, including some recent legal action by the Save Record Ridge Action Committee and back-to-back CBC interviews with SRRAC and the mine’s proponent West High Yield Resources.

Find out more: wildsight.ca/2025/10/09/r...

Last week, community members joined together to wrap up another incredible season of work in Kimberley's Lois Creek trail system.

This multi-year project has included stream enhancement, trail builds and the planting of thousands of native species.

B.C. coal giant penalized millions for treatment delays, 171 pollution breaches EVR Operations Limited — formally Teck Coal Limited — was penalized more than $3.6 million after failing to curb nitrate and selenium pollution

Simon Wiebe, mining & policy impacts researcher for Wildsight, said the penalties were a good start but came nowhere close the level required to deter further pollution.

“They made over $13 billion in profit over the same time period. The fines are really not large enough,” he said.

Two sites recently affected by wildfire in the East Kootenay's Southern Rockies and Purcells were replanted with thousands of endangered whitebark pine seedlings this fall thanks to ecologist Randy Moody with support from our Youth Climate Corps.

Amazing news for Fernie with the announcement that 120,000 acres of private timber lands have been secured for conservation by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Congratulations to the NCC for its leadership in ensuring these lands will be protected for generations!

fernie.com/blog/elk-val...

As the Honourable Murray Sinclair once said: “Education is what got us into this mess and education is key to getting us out of it.”

Today marks the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. We take this time to remember, reflect and honour.

📸 Andy Wright