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Biologist Al Peatt has been named the new executive director of the Southern Interior Land Trust.
Peatt, one of the founding directors of the society, previously worked as a senior wildlife biologist for the Okanagan Nation Alliance, and before that with the B.C. Ministry of Environment in the Southern Interior.
Peatt stepping into the newly created executive director position represents a new direction for the volunteer-run organization; his goal will be to “rejuvenate and raise the profile of” SILT.
The organization is nearly three decades old, and currently owns four conservation properties: Ginty’s Pond in Cawston, Cold Creek near Keremeos, and Edwards Pond and Wards Lake at Grand Forks.
It has also helped others acquire conservation properties (like Rose Valley Regional Park and vital bighorn sheep habitat on the east side of Skaha Lake) and collaborates with other conservation groups to administer projects such as the Okanagan River and Mission Creek restorations.
SILT’s primary emphasis is to “acquire local gems of productive wildlife and fish habitat that provide valuable linkages to other larger-scale habitats and conservation areas.”
Peatt was a key participant in several of the organization’s original acquisitions, and says he’s excited to bring his many years of experience in land securement and wildlife habitat management to the organization’s new role.
“With this step forward, SILT will renew its purpose to protect sensitive fish and wildlife habitat for all living things in the B.C. southern interior, including people” said SILT president Ross Everatt. “We are excited to continue and expand SILT’s long history of habitat securement.”
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