There has been a number of concerning news items about declining wildlife populations reported in our local media over the past few months.

Mule and white tail deer numbers in the wild are dropping, which is why the Lake Windermere District Rod and Gun Club threw its support behind the deer relocation trial project that took place across communities in the East Kootenay earlier this year.

Moose numbers across the province are in decline, spurring the B.C. government into action, resulting in a moose management strategy to radio collar moose over five years and dissect them after they die to determine cause of death and better understand how to prevent the population from shrinking.

Currently, Great Blue Heron breeding is being examined in the East and West Kootenay and North Columbia regions because of the increasing number of abandoned nests over the past few years.

Then there is the ill-fated mountain caribou whose numbers in the Selkirk Mountains have dwindled to the point of near extinction.

Protecting wildlife corridors through habitat conservation is key to helping sustain these populations and this is where the Nature Conservancy of Canada comes in. A non-confrontational conservation organization that’s been in existence since 1962, the NCC along with its long list of partners, has helped conserve more than 2.8 million acres of ecologically significant land throughout Canada. The Luxor Linkage Conservation Area, identified as a “priority conservation property” by NCC’s science-based planning framework, is the newest addition that inventory (see story on pages 8 and 9), ensuring the protection of numerous local species for generations to come.