The Province has awarded $110,000 to the Rocky Mountain Trench Natural Resource Society to help restore grasslands and forests in the East Kootenay and Columbia Valley.

The Province is providing $250,000 to the Kootenay Livestock Association over the next three years for projects administered under the Grassland and Rangeland Enhancement Program (GREP), Bill Bennett, MLA for Kootenay East, announced on behalf of Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson.

The B.C. government has launched a multi-ministry study to determine how best to enforce violation tickets issued to out-of-province visitors who ride off-road vehicles (ORVs) on B.C. Crown land.

Vehicle access closures that took effect in early September in areas surrounding Iron, Big Sand and Little Sand creeks are being lifted to allow further study and more extensive community consultation.

Recreation Sites and Trails BC is warning residents and visitors to keep pets on leash in the Cranbrook Community Forest, or avoid the area altogether, after two dogs died recently from ingesting a poisonous substance.

Under the BC Rural Dividend, the Province is providing $204,992 to three successful proponents in the Cranbrook area, MLA for Kootenay East Bill Bennett announced.

Comments are being accepted until Nov. 7, 2016, on two discussion papers released as part of comprehensive timber supply reviews for the Cranbrook and Invermere timber supply areas.

A stewardship management agreement between the Cranbrook Snowmobile Club and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations will help protect endangered mountain caribou from snowmobilers.

New mobile radio communication protocols are being implemented on resource roads throughout B.C. and come into effect in the Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District on May 2, 2016.