Christina Lake Stewardship Society starts a new home at the Welcome Centre
By Erin Perkins
The Christina Lake Stewardship Society (CLSS) hopes their new home in the Christina Lake Welcome Centre on Highway 3 will enable them to continue their work educating the public about our natural surroundings and, in turn, help keep our environment healthy.
On Friday, July 20 the society held an open house to show off their new office and display area. Local politicians, residents and tourists dropped by over the day to check it out.
“We hope this new location will put us out in the public to educate more people,” said Brenda LaCroix, (CLSS) stewardship coordinator and project manager. “We want to be able to show people what we do on a regular basis … I think this is a new beginning and an opportunity to continue our work.”
The non-profit organization was located in the Christina Lake Community Hall for the past 13 years. The site was good but wasn’t public friendly. Now the new office is located in an important hub for the community. The society will be able to have permanent educational displays on hand and be more accessible to tourists and community stakeholders.
“(The new location) will mean more community involvement. Everyone needs to take responsibility and ownership of what happens in our watershed,” said LaCroix.
She especially likes that the educational displays can remain up in their new space. Before, volunteers would move the often heavy and awkward displays featuring information about invasive species, the watershed and wildlife, to different places in the community.
“They’re all set up now and don’t have to be moved around,” said LaCroix. “Volunteers will be able to work from here.”
The CLSS is responsible for administrating numerous educational and scientific programs including the watershed management plan, forestry practices, monitoring non-native species and fisheries sustainability. They also provide information about BearAware, host summer youth programs and work with the Regional District Kootenay Boundary on the milfoil issue.
For more information about the Christina Lake Stewardship Society visit their website at www.lakesteward.ca. Their hours of operation are Tuesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
