By Steve Hubrecht
For the first time in several years the Columbia Valley has a WildSafe coordinator.
Fairmont Hot Springs resident Anna Grant started the position this summer, filling a void that has been empty since 2021.
The hire is significant. The WildSafe coordinator not only fills an important outreach, education and awareness role in the community, it also takes the burden off local conservation officers to do just that. For the past two years, local conservation officers have spent considerable amounts of time encouraging local residents up and down the valley to keep their garbage secure and otherwise reduce wildlife attractants on their properties (such as removing ripe fruit growing on trees in their yards and not putting out bird seed too early in the year – or better yet, not putting it out at all). This tied up conservation officers, keeping them from some of their many other tasks.
WildSafe BC communication coordinator Gabriela De Romeri told the Pioneer that WildSafe has struggled in recent years to fill the coordinator role not only in the Columbia Valley, but also in a few other communities around BC where it has typically had a presence. Sometimes it comes down to funding, with municipalities no longer willing to contribute money to fund a local WildSafe coordinator position. Other times it is a labour shortage and a lack of qualified applicants. In the case of the Columbia Valley, it’s very much the latter situation, outlined De Romeri: Columbia Valley communities are more than happy to contribute for a WildSafe coordinator, but none can be found.
“It really was just a matter of finding someone; we simply had not been getting qualified applicants,” said De Romeri.
Many businesses in the Columbia Valley have been struggling with labour shortages or with would-be employees unable to find housing during the valley’s ongoing housing crunch.
De Romeri couldn’t say exactly what factors had made it hard to get another coordinator in the valley, but did say the position has traditionally had high turnover, and that WildSafe BC was excited to have made a local hire, employing someone already living in the valley.
Grant brings a background in nonprofit management, events and fundraising to her new job. She grew up in Windsor, Ontario, and spent time living all over the country (Halifax in the east, and Calgary and Edmonton in the west, and Peterborough and Kitchener in the middle) before she and her husband settled down in the small village of Colchester on Lake Erie to raise their three now-grown children.
About three years ago Grant and her husband decided to pick up stakes and move to the mountains. As soon as they saw the Columbia Valley, they instantly knew it was where they wanted to make their new home. They love the natural surrounding and the strong sense of community here. On any given day you’ll find them out hiking or kayaking on Columbia Lake.
The couple have a strong conservation ethic, forged in part by having been fortunate enough to travel around the globe from Central and South America to several visits to Indonesia. They enjoyed their time abroad, but found it emphasized just how fortunate Canada — and especially the Columbia Valley — is in terms of its ecosystems and in its wildlife.
“It’s eye-opening. It really makes you realize what we have here in BC,” she said.
This inspires in Grant a desire to give back. “I feel that with this fortune (of living in the Columbia Valley) comes responsibility. A responsibility to mitigate and protect the wildlife whose habitats I am encroaching on,” she told the Pioneer.
In that vein she already volunteers and works with Wildsight Invermere, with Groundswell Greenhouse and Community Garden, and coordinates Groundswell’s apple rescue program.
Becoming the WildSafe coordinator fits well with those other roles, and Grant is excited by the new job.
“Knowledge is the most important weapon we can utilize to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. That said, I am looking forward to reaching out to our schools, hiking and mountain biking groups, campgrounds, service groups and dog owners alike. I would also encourage any group that would like me to come out and give them workshops on bear spray usage and electric fencing to please contact me,” she said. “I greatly respect the work the conservation and bylaw officers do in our communities to keep the public safe. If I can play even a small role in mitigating conflict between us and our local wildlife, then I will consider it a successful day.”
To contact Grant, email [email protected].
