Wayne McCrory presents Spirit of the Wild: Saving the Last Great Wilderness on Thursday (May 28)
LAUREN MCIVOR / WHISTLER QUESTION
Wildlife biologist Wayne McCrory will be visiting Whistler on Thursday (May 28) to give a feature presentation called Spirit of the Wild: Saving the Last Great Wilderness at Millennium Place.
McCrory has over 30 years of experience in British Columbia and the Yukon in wildlife biology, specializing in bears, and will be speaking about his experiences as one of B.C.’s experts in managing park use to protect the needs of wildlife.
The event will feature a two-hour program highlighting McCrory’s research and experiences with the Valhalla Wilderness Society (VWS), which aims to save B.C. wilderness, including spirit bears, wild horses and wolves. As one of the original founders and a long-time director of the VWS, McCrory has spearheaded work that has saved over 1.5 million acres of parkland collectively.
“We recently helped first nations protect a large wild forest preserve in the Chilcoltins, and a new tribal park, and we’ll be talking about wild horses,” said McCrory about his upcoming presentation.
The VWS was founded in 1975 in an effort to save the forest slopes of the Valhalla Provincial Park from logging. Since then, it has successfully played a role in the creation of numerous parks in B.C., and continues to work with aboriginal groups and people on issues of environmental justice across the province and nation.
“I just want to share with people all the work that has been done by ourselves and other conservation groups and first nations to protect the incredible biodiversity we have in British Columbia.”
McCrory will also be speaking about a study on the diet of wolves in the Chilcoltins area, conducted by Sadie Parr, Wolf Awareness Inc. director.
“The event in Whistler will be focusing on the four areas that we want to protect: the Selkirk Mountain Caribou Park Proposal, the Quinnell Lake Conservancy Park Proposal, and a few areas on the coast: the Green Inlet and Gribbell Island,” he said.
The VWS’ campaign to save parks in B.C.’s Inland Temperate Rainforest, the only rainforest of its kind on the planet, will also be featured in the presentation. “I just want to share with people all the work that has been done by ourselves and other conservation groups and first nations to protect the incredible biodiversity we have in British Columbia,” said McCrory.
McCrory will also be speaking about B.C.’s wolf cull, a controversial effort by the province to save endangered caribou by killing wolves, which started in January 2015 and will continue for at least the next five years.
To learn more about the Valhalla Wilderness Society and their efforts, visit savespiritbear.org.
The event will take place on Thursday (May 28) at Millennium Place. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event will start at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online for $15.
For more details, visit artswhistler.com.