Biodiversity management

EVR land in the Elk and Flathead Valleys are located within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa people (ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa). Both the Ktunaxa and EVR recognize the importance of working collaboratively with local communities, user groups, and the provincial government to successfully mitigate and manage impacts to land.

These lands provide important habitat for wildlife including grizzly bears, wolverine, badger, elk, lynx, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, Westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout, and hold significant cultural and community value.

Our non-mining lands that are available for public access can be safely used for camping, hunting, and hiking by motorized and non-motorized recreational users.

EVR works to integrate reclaimed land into the surrounding landscape so we can contribute to connectivity and support self-sustaining functional ecosystems. We are doing this by:

• Working collaboratively with Indigenous Peoples and stakeholders to improve our reclamation designs, beginning with the end in mind.
• Incorporating  long-term safety and stability of drainages, landforms and features.
• Focusing on an ecosystem-based reclamation approach.
• Fulfilling requirements of our Mines Act permits and the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in British Columbia.

EVR secures viable and ecologically suitable seed sources with local and Indigenous experts to support the production of seedlings, including through a regional native seed collection program. 

Our annual collection and procurement of seeds includes over 50 native species of trees, shrubs, forbs and grasses. In 2024, EVR constructed a whitebark pine seed orchard north of Elkford, B.C. While still currently in the development phase, the intended use of this orchard is to cultivate rust-resistant whitebark pine seed for production of seedlings that could be used for planting in reclamation areas and other regional enhancement initiatives.

EVR has over 7,000 ha of private lands in the Elk and Flathead River Valleys for conservation purposes, which includes Grave Prairie, Alexander Creek and Flathead Townsite. We have a Joint Management Agreement with Ktunaxa and are working together with Ktunaxa Nation and Yaq̓itʔa·knuqⱡi‘it members to develop plans for these areas. We are committed to working in cooperation with Indigenous Peoples, local communities and other stakeholders to help conserve areas of social, cultural and ecological value.

Recent work in the region includes:

• $20M contribution to the Nature Conservancy of Canada for the successful conservation of 45,000 hectares of timberland through the Kootenay Forest Lands project.
• Habitat reconnection support, including a $2.4M contribution to the Elk Valley Reconnecting the Rockies initiative and $2.5M to support wildlife connectivity in Radium Hot Springs.
• Implementation of a road rehabilitation program that has seen more than 80 km  of exploration roads rehabilitated in the last five years, including the removal of 180 culverts to improve fish habitat.
• Projects, data sharing and funding supporting regional conservation planning and wildlife mitigations, including the Elk Valley Grizzly Bear Coexistence Initiative, regional wildlife surveys, and the Elk Valley West Bighorn Sheep Study.

EVR is working to support high elevation grasslands in the Elk Valley. We are:

• Trialing methods to rehabilitate functioning high elevation grasslands, including recent trials at Elkview Operations and advancements in seed and plug sourcing of 18 native high elevation grassland plants.
• Partnering with the University of Alberta to improve grassland reclamation  in the Elk Valley.
• Trialing methods of enhancing and increasing high elevation grassland ecosystems and forage production for wildlife by removing forest encroachment in a project collaboratively designed and implemented with Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi'it.
• Monitoring recovery of grasslands after recent wildfires to understand how fires, traditionally used by Ktunaxa to create and maintain grasslands, might be used to support future high elevation grassland recovery and enhancement.
• Continuing to advance research into restoration methods, including recent learnings from decades old road restoration where agricultural grasses originally used for reclamation are being naturally replaced by native grasses.

EVR’s regional wildlife monitoring program data helps us understand how our activities influence wildlife habitat use and movements, as well as to assess the effectiveness of our mitigations for wildlife. Results are shared with the Province of British Columbia to support regional wildlife management, and learnings are used to inform mitigation planning and our reclamation program. The program includes over 240 remote cameras and other forms of monitoring including on the ground and aerial surveys.

In recent years, this monitoring program has shown that the Elk Valley East bighorn sheep population, which overlaps with EVR mine sites, is increasing. Reclamation contributes to year-round habitat for bighorn sheep in the Elk Valley, including important winter range.