An East Kootenay ranch won this year’s British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association environmental stewardship award.
J-2 Ranch at Canal Flats, owned by the Calgary company Mo-Mac Investments Ltd., is managed by Gerard and Chris Breton and Blake Taylor, who have been there since 1990.
The ranch was awarded for developing ecological programs with the B.C. Forest Service that met grazing needs and enhanced rangeland resources. They have worked on three different management areas in the Inveremere Forest District. Using a controlled burn system to restore the ecology overrun by forest ingrowth, they were able to improve the area for grazing and wildlife habitat on public lands.
Other award winners were Laurie and Judy Guichon of Quilchena, B.C. They received the Society for Range Management award for working with the environmental community and allowing them to see how native crown range has been maintained since the 1860s.
The range management plan on the Guichon Ranch is more than 100 years old and has shown that, with planned grazing programs, land can remain healthy.
