As the project has entered its second year, we are starting up a regular newsletter to keep in contact with the people and organizations that have worked with us or may have an interest in our work.

Many of you are already familiar with the Elephant Hill Wildfire Riparian Restoration Project and the Secwepemcul’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society. For others, this is a first introduction to the project or to the society itself.

About the Project The Elephant Hill Wildfire Riparian Restoration Project (EHWRRP) is a major project undertaken by the SRSS to restore forests that create and sustain aquatic habitat throughout the area burned in 2017. Funding for this project comes from the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund. The Secwepemcul’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society (SRSS) is a society formed to advance the sustainable management of lands and resources, restoration of degraded lands, and adaptation of landscapes to climate change in the traditional territories of its eight founding Secwépemc Communities: St’uxwtews (Bonaparte Indian Band), Llenlleney’ten (High Bar First Nation); Skeetchestn (Skeetchestn Indian Band); Stswecem’c Xgat’tem (Canoe Creek/Dog Creek Indian Band), Ts’kw’aylaxw (Pavilion Indian Band), Tsq’escenemc (Canim Lake Indian Band), Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc (Kamloops Indian Band) and Pellt’iq’t (Whispering Pines Clinton Indian Band).

What are we doing?

Crews from the Secwépemc member communities have already begun a second summer of surveys that will be used to plan tree planting in riparian areas.

In addition to this survey work, we are:

• Continuing to build internal SRSS community capacity to conduct technical work and stakeholder engagement
• Planning to conduct a trial to evaluate whether and where direct seeding can be used in riparian restoration
• Building SRSS community capacity to collect seed for local aspen stock that will be used in riparian planting
• Conducting thermal mapping of the upper Rayfield River, south of Crater Lake
• Developing water quality and riparian health monitoring systems to measure project success

You can find out more about this work and our long term planned activities in our Project Information Package (attached to this email), or contact us at valerieberseth@gmail.com.

COVID-19 Adaptations

As we all adapt to the new normal of COVID-19 risk mitigations, the EHWRRP has undergone a number of important changes.

We are continuing to monitor guidance from the communities we work with, health authorities and governments and adapt our practices with safety as our top priority.

Our new protocol for keeping staff and communities safe includes the following changes:

• Ensure and, if necessary, support SRSS Community implementation of updated Safe Work Practices to align with government mandates to control and reduce the spread of COVID-19
• Require safe physical distancing practices during all in-field work and training sessions
• Maintain SRSS Community cluster isolation measures until advised otherwise by First Nation, regional and/or Provincial health authorities
• Where possible, conduct all communication and training remotely, by phone or online software

In light of the current situation, some of our planned activities have been slightly delayed.

Staying Connected

As much as possible, we would like to stay connected with you. You can reach us at ceo@srssociety.com, tim@srssociety.com, or josh@srssociety.com at any time.

In the meantime, stay safe and take good care.

The Secwepemcul’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society