The Kootenay Conservation Program has honoured Evan McKenzie with one of its annual Conservation Leadership Awards.
These awards recognize one person from a partner organization in both the East and West Kootenay who have demonstrated leadership, innovation, and dedication to conservation.
McKenzie is an ecologist nominated through his work with the West Kootenay EcoSociety (now Neighbours United). He has worked as a plant ecologist in the West Kootenay region for over 30 years, and his local expertise and extensive knowledge of the plants and ecosystems is truly one of a kind in the region.
McKenzie has worked on numerous projects that document ecosystems and their conditions in areas such as the Fort Shepherd Conservancy, Darkwoods Conservation Area, Beaver Creek Provincial Park, and Syringa Creek Park. The work has included describing and conducting research on dry, non-forested brushland communities and monitoring ecological restoration treatments in dry forest ecosystems along the lower Arrow Reservoir.
McKenzie's efforts to map rare brushlands in the Lower Columbia has brought together various stakeholders including Teck, the BC Conservation Data Center, BC Hydro, Ministry of Forests, and the Kootenay Native Plant Society (KNPS).
His work on brushlands and other dry ecosystems, that includes a field guide to best management practices, has helped raise awareness of these rare and important ecosystems and facilitate better management by numerous organizations.
McKenzie is a contributor/co-author of three field guides to Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification in the West and East Kootenays where he provided his knowledge of all ecosystems as both a reviewer and author of numerous sections. He has also contributed to a number of Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping projects in the Kootenays including the mapping of Valhalla, Kokanee Glacier, and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Parks and the Harrop-Procter Community Forest.
McKenzie’s leadership comes in the form of teaching and mentoring numerous people in the field. He provides direction to others in collecting ecological data and carries decades of knowledge behind his advice. Evan has a strong desire to see our ecosystems conserved for their intrinsic values as well as for the enjoyment and benefits of present and future generations, and he quietly pushes for better management and knowledge through his work.
He served as a member of the West Kootenay EcoSociety Board of Directors from January 2010 to June 2018, and considered it a privilege to be able to serve the organization as a board member, including as board chair, and as chairperson of the organization’s Conservation Committee from January 2010 to May 2023. As part of the committee, he participated in initiatives such as developing and promoting an overarching conservation plan for the West Kootenay, investigating forest stewardship practices in the region and promoting protection of wildlife, critical wildlife habitats including old growth, and wild spaces throughout the region.
He also served as a director of the Kootenay Native Plant Society in the early days of the organization.
In recognition of his contributions, Evan received a framed photo of the very photogenic slime mold Lamproderma nigrescens taken by local ecologist Tyson Ehlers.
For the East Kootenay, the 2024 honour goes to Mark Thomas, who was nominated through his salmon restoration work as Shuswap Band Councillor and Chair of the Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative (CRSRI) Executive Working Group. He received a framed photograph of the Columbia Wetlands with bald eagles overhead, taken by local photographer Pat Morrow.
