Our mission is to promote civic awareness, engagement and action on issues threatening the environmental sustainability, affordability and community character of Canmore, Banff and surrounding areas.
Board of Directors
President
President
Karsten Heuer is a longstanding wildlife biologist and best selling author in the Bow Valley who currently runs the Bison Reintroduction Project for Banff National Park. He founded the Banff Wildlife Corridor Project in 1995 and co-authored the BCEAG Wildlife Corridor and Habitat Patch Guidelines for the valley.
Secretary/Treasurer
Secretary/Treasurer
Leanne Allison has lived in Canmore for over 20 years. She is a documentary filmmaker and much of her work over the last decade has focused on wildlife and conservation issues in the Bow Valley.
Vice-President
Vice-President
Zac Mills is a wildlife photographer and former United Nations economist. He founded the Wildlife Collective to be a voice for conservation and to share the most amazing wildlife experiences on the planet.
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Lisa Downing is a 20 year Canmore resident and retired entrepreneur and business owner. She is a long time environmental advocate with deep knowledge of the community and the long standing environmental issues as they relate to development in the Bow Valley.
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Kay Anderson has been a permanent resident in Canmore for close to 20 years. She and her husband have been active in many areas in the community; such as, supporting local school athletic programs, providing educational scholarships and being actively involved in environmental initiatives to help preserve and protect our environment with viable wildlife corridors and habitat.
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Tracey Henderson is a Veterinarian who lives and works in Canmore Alberta. She has been an active environmental advocate in the Bow Valley for over twenty years including 4 years as the Program Director for the Grizzly Bear Alliance.
Our History
2017: Bow Valley Engage (BVE) was created to help citizens understand and respond to the latest TSMV Area Structure Plans, which were defeated.
2020: BVE relaunched after TSMV submitted further development proposals for the largest block of remaining private land in Canmore (Smith Creek and Village Centre Area Structure Plans). Among other issues. they proposed to double the size of Canmore, expand our Urban Growth Boundary, develop areas zoned as wildlife conservation, and reroute a well-used wildlife corridor and highway underpass to accommodate more houses. This led to Canmore’s longest public hearing ever (6 days) and over 2,000 written and oral submissions, the vast majority (>90%) of which were opposed. The proposals were subsequently rejected by Council leading to TSMV suing the Town and other ongoing legal proceedings.
2021: BVE helped inform and engage citizens in the municipal election.
2022: BVE pushed for a higher proportion of affordable housing units in a proposal from the local school board to develop some of its downtown lands. The development (total of 120 units) is centrally located, making it ideal for much-needed affordable housing rather than weekender properties.
2022: BVE helped highlight problems with the 800 Canmore development proposal, which was mostly about building a number of large, estate homes beyond the Urban Growth Boundary and in a designated wildlife habitat patch.
2022: BVE rebranded the area to the south of Canmore (including the undeveloped TSMV lands) as “Grizz Corridor” to better capture its importance as the last best route for bears and other wildlife to get around the town so they can link important habitats in Kananaskis Country with those in Banff National Park.
2022: BVE incorporated as a not-for-profit society.