Massive Wildlife Corridor Linking Banff to U.S. Protected Forever

A critical wildlife corridor connecting Banff National Park to the northern Rocky Mountains in the United States has been permanently protected after the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) acquired 45,000 hectares of privately owned timberlands in southeastern British Columbia's Elk Valley.

Known as the Kootenay Forest Lands, the property consists of several former private timberland parcels spread across the Elk Valley and Rocky Mountain Trench. In what conservation groups describe as one of Canada's largest private land conservation deals, the acquisition protects habitat for grizzly bears, lynx, wolverines, bighorn sheep and other wildlife travelling through the Rockies.

The lands, located near the Alberta-B.C. border around Fernie, were previously owned by Vancouver-based Doman Building Materials Group Ltd., which sold all of its remaining private timberlands in southeastern British Columbia to NCC in September 2025. Doman said it had owned the property for nine years, managing it under sustainable forestry standards while planting approximately 10 million seedlings before deciding to sell.

"The Nature Conservancy of Canada will be a unique long-term steward for these very special alpine forest lands," Doman chairman Amar S. Doman said when announcing the sale, adding the company believed the agreement would ensure the lands remained "in great hands for many years to come."

Eric Greenwell, senior connectivity specialist with the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, said the project's significance extends well beyond a change in ownership because of the role the landscape plays in connecting wildlife habitat across the Rocky Mountains.

"That's a major corridor for wildlife coming out of Banff, moving south and heading into the States and down to Glacier National Park," said Greenwell.

Situated near the junction of British Columbia, Alberta and Montana, the Kootenay Forest Lands form a critical link in a broader network of protected areas spanning roughly 7,000 square kilometres. According to NCC, the property includes forests, rare high-elevation grasslands and more than 930 kilometres of rivers and streams across 42 watersheds. Together, those ecosystems provide habitat for grizzly bears, wolverines, lynx, bighorn sheep, bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout and numerous other species.

Greenwell said wildlife moving south through the Rockies encounters increasing fragmentation from private land and transportation corridors, making protection of the Elk Valley especially important.

"You have unprotected private lands, and then you have Highway 3, which is that major east-west barrier for wildlife."

Protecting large tracts of private land is only one part of maintaining wildlife connectivity, Greenwell said, with projects such as wildlife crossings along Highway 3 also needed to help animals safely move across the landscape.

Before the sale, Greenwell said the privately owned timberlands remained vulnerable to future subdivision or other forms of resource development.

"If they're not owned by a conservation organization…they can essentially be subdivided," he said.

Rather than leaving the landscape untouched, NCC said it plans to actively restore and manage the forests by planting ecologically suited tree species, re-naturalizing roads and using ecosystem-based forest management to improve ecosystem health while balancing conservation, recreation and sustainable economic activity.

Greenwell said NCC's ownership removes those concerns because the organization plans to manage the property for wildlife connectivity, biodiversity and thoughtfully planned recreation.

The Kootenay Forest Lands acquisition was made possible through a coalition of Indigenous Nations, governments, conservation organizations, industry partners and private donors. Contributors included the federal and British Columbia governments, Elk Valley Resources, the BC Parks Foundation and Yellowstone to Yukon, among others.

Greenwell said the project also demonstrates that conserving wildlife corridors spanning international borders depends on organizations working together.