See The West Kootenay Social Media Takeover

We are thrilled to share the West Kootenay social media takeover. For one week in August, Brontë, Hannah, Dan, Maya, & Sam gave us a peek behind the scenes of the work they're getting done in their community. Check out some of the highlights from the takeover.

Meet Brontë, Hannah, Dan, Maya, & Sam, the 2025 West Kootenay Youth Climate Corps! This year’s crew has brought a unique mix of passion, skills, and personalities to the table. From ecology nerds to wildfire mitigation enthusiasts, they’ve been passionately rolling up their sleeves and taking action for climate and community resilience across the West Kootenays.

The West Kootenay YCC, have had the pleasure of working alongside Living Lakes Canada on multiple different projects this summer and have learned how to be better stewards of Kootenay waters! We have:

• Completed water monitoring training in Kimberley, including water quality, quantity, and biomonitoring techniques.

• Helped with recurrent water quality monitoring of Cottonwood Creek in Nelson, and,

• Assisted in creating critical water resource maps for the Red Mountain area near Silverton

To help combat the threat of wildfires, the Kootenay YCC crews came together to conduct a wildfire fuel reduction project in Creston this summer in partnership with Creston Community Forest , who led the work. Wildfire risk reduction projects like this are critical to protect our communities and create more climate-resilient ecosystems.

The Kootenay region is a lesser-known biodiversity hotspot, encompassing numerous diverse ecosystems such as grasslands, forests, and wetlands, housing many rare and endangered species. By partnering with local organizations that prioritize local biodiversity through initiatives like monarch waystations, native plant conservation, caribou maternity pens, and wetland restoration, we’ve been inspired to deepen our connection to the land and take meaningful action for the surrounding ecological health.

As the season winds down, we look back on the amazing time we had as the West Kootenay YCC crew. Many lessons were learned, skills built, and connections made. We are all so grateful for the opportunity to have done such meaningful work and we look forward to seeing where these new connections take us!