It is our annual tradition to take a moment at this time of year, when we all focus on our families, and thank the people who make our Friends of Kananaskis family work. We pause to say thank you to the members of our team and our world who helped us repair and build trails, and who graced us with wisdom, insight, energy and enthusiasm.
 
When it comes to people, we have to start with the staff of Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP). The Friends operate in partnership with AEP, providing volunteer labour, advice, and collaborative assistance. This year, we’re going to start at the top, and thank Mark Storie, the Director of Kananaskis Country Region for his ongoing support of the Friends. We work closely with Michael Roycroft, Area Manager, Specialized Facilities & Trails, and need to give him a big thanks for all his work overseeing trails in K-Country, and for his dedication to working with the Friends. Also on the “thanks to the Senior Manager” list is Debbie Mucha, West Kananaskis Area Manager for her help on various initiatives we have presented.

We probably spend the most time working with the AEP trails staff: Duane Fizor, the Kananaskis Trails and Wayfinding Team Lead, Jeff Eamon, the Bow Valley Trails Supervisor, James Cieslak, the PLPP Trails Supervisor, Kyle Jacobson, the Elbow District Trails Supervisor, Chris Anderson, the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park Trail Specialist, and Dan Tatton, Public Land - Recreation Stewardship Coordinator. Each one of these folks have amazing, hardworking trail crews, whom we also thank. Thanks to all of those folks who keep Kananaskis trails fabulous.
 
Beyond the trail crews, we have had the privilege to have Jody Cairns and Julia Millen from Parks serve on our Board this past year. Each has brought us insight, wisdom and assistance, and our Board was better for their presence.
 
We also draw on expertise from Parks' Ecology staff, including John Paczkowski (his Ecology team are the on-going supplier of awesome wildlife camera images you see each month in the newsletter), and Scott Jevons. Scott is the AEP GIS Specialist, and has helped us with numerous maps.

There are numerous other full time and seasonal AEP staff who helped out too. We give thanks to all of these hard working folks from Alberta Parks, every one of whom help keep our Parks wonderful.

When it comes to energetic folks to thank, that includes you!

• First, we have our long list of volunteer Trail Crew Leaders. They plan their weeks around our trail care projects, and work with Parks staff to merrily lead you on our many projects. These superstars include: Andrew Faltus, Colin Graver, Crawford Smyth, Darin Langhorst, Derek Ryder, Don Cockerton, Ghulam Jamro, Jeff Gruttz, Karl Bauer, Kris Thesen, Tim Giese, Tim Johnson, Trevor Willson - and Canmore Trail Alliance Crew Leaders: Andrew Dickison, Bruce Gleig, Dan Spalding, Dwayne Brown, Eric Trouillot, Greg Thompson, Jacob Johnson, Ken Davies, Paul Kerfoot, Torben Jensen.
• Then we have the folks who do the work. THANK YOU to the over 226 volunteers who helped us build and maintain trails, helped clean Highway 40, and brushed trails at Chester-Sawmill and Mt. Shark. 
• Our 1,573 members make our organization thrive and push us to continuously do our best. Every one of you deserves our unending thanks.

The Calgary Foundation has become one of our most significant supporters. They have provided funding to assist in trail interpretive trail work, support for our trail stewardship program, and implementing of the Human Use Management project in partnership with the Town of Canmore and Kananaskis Parks. 

The Auxilium Foundation for supporting our Trail Stewardship program.

Alberta Government – Community Initiatives Program for supporting our new Trail Stewardship initiatives: trail inventorying, monitoring and data collection.

Banff Canmore Community Foundation for supporting our Trail Stewardship and Canmore Trail Alliance programs.

Alberta TrailNet for supporting our work on the High Rockies Trail.

Town of Canmore for supporting the Canmore Trail Alliance program.

Kananaskis Improvement District for supporting the Chester-Sawmill project.

Patagonia Elements Inc. for selected the Friends as the recipient of their 1% for the planet donation.

OnwardUP for selected the Friends as the recipient of their 1% for the planet donation.

Our organization just wouldn’t work the way it does without the tireless efforts of our Executive Director Nancy Ouimet. The Board is very proud of the work she has done, the bridges she has built, and the relationships she maintains with all our partners. She has represented us in numerous meetings and initiatives, including the Kananaskis Trails Committee, Kananaskis Trails Advisory Group, the Canmore Trail Alliance, the Interpretive Trails, the Canmore Nordic Centre Warming Hut, and assisted in leading the Chester-Sawmill and Razor's Edge work. Her exceptionally cheery disposition has made working with her just awesome.
 
And our finances have never been in better order thanks to Lawrence Nyman's attention to detail and ongoing effort to improve our financial management.

We had Tim Johnson work with us for 6 months as Program Coordinator. Tim's work on our flagship Trails Fest event and summer programs was instrumental to this year's successes. Thanks for all your help and good energy, Tim!

Hiding quietly behind the scenes, Karen Irvine also provides valuable proofreading of our monthly newsletters. It turns out that Derek can't spell, so Karen's checking is invaluable!
 
We thank the members of the Friends Advisory Council: James Early, Don Cockerton, Alf Skrastins and Gillean Daffern. Each has a long-standing commitment to support the Friends, and provides deep knowledge of the importance of trails to K-Country visitors. We are thankful for access to their time, and their kind and prompt wisdom.
 
We want to thank all the members of the Board of Directors of the Friends of Kananaskis – current Board members David Schultz, Kevin Smith, Kayla Simpson , Manika Suri, Jamie McPhail, Dave Nielson, Tony Paradis, Peter Irwin, Darin Langhorst, Melanie Booth, and past member Fred Folliott. Your Board members put in many hours to make sure things run smoothly, and they each deserve a big thank you.

Finally, a special thanks to our Co-Chairs, Derek Ryder and Ed Engstrom. Derek and Ed ensure the Board is running smoothly and have helped advance our bigger Board driven initiatives, such a developing a 5 year strategic plan and rewriting our mission statement. Thanks for your leadership Derek and Ed! And thanks Derek for your help in writing these great newsletters, including supplying all the beautiful photos of K-Country.

• The Friends partnered with Alberta Parks and rolled two speaker series into one KANANASKIS SPEAKER and DISCOVERY SERIES – offering a dynamic series of speakers and discovery events at the University of Calgary and and Peter Lougheed Discovery Centre. There were 13 presentations and events offered throughout the Winter and Summer (you can read about our upcoming 2019 series below!)

WINTER 2018 SERIES
MEGAN EVANS – January 25: The Buzz About Native Bees
CORRIE TURNER – January 28: Winter Ecology and Wildlife Survival
CHRISTIAN STENNER – February 15: Part 1 – The Caves of Kananaskis and Beyond
ROBYN MULLIGAN – February 25: Nature-Inspired Art Workshop
CHRISTIAN STENNER – March 9: Part 2 – The Caves of Kananaskis and Beyond (at the Rat’s Nest Cave)
JOHN PACZKOWSKI – March 15: Wolverine Populations in South-Central Alberta 
CHRISTIAN STENNER – March 23: Part 2 – The Caves of Kananaskis and Beyond (at the Rat’s Nest Cave)
JIM THORNE – March 25: Winter Survival and Shelter Building

SUMMER 2018 SERIES
BOW HABITAT STATION'S FinS PROGRAM - June 9: Mt. Lorette Ponds Rainbow Trout Release
GORD COURT - July 5: Owls of Kananaskis
ROBERT BARCLAY - July 21: Secret World of Bats
JOHN PACZKOWSKI - August 11: Grizzly Bears in Kananaskis
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY of CANADA - August 25: Kananaskis After Dark

• Despite the cool, wet weather on June 10th we celebrated Kananaskis trails at our annual TRAILS FEST event. 32 clubs, groups & organizations showcased what they do and contributed raffle prizing, helping FKC raise $338. 
• KANANASKIS COUNTRY 40th ANNIVERSARY ON SEPTEMBER 22. Since being created in 1978, the region has welcomed more than 75 million visitors. That’s millions of hikes, camping trips and fond memories. We are proud to help represent Kananaskis Country's magnificent natural wonder.
• The TRAIL LOVE - GIVE BACK fundraiser beat our $10,000 goal and raised $11,010 - now that's trail love!
• Another incredible TRAIL CARE season: 

University of Calgary
7:00pm-8:00pm - presentation rooms to be confirmed

MATT MUELLER, KANANASKIS PUBLIC SAFETY – February 13
Winter Backcountry Awareness

DANAH DUKE, MIISTAKIS INSTITUTE – March 7
How Do Animals in Alberta Cross the Road?

Transportation infrastructure across the world poses numerous environmental challenges, affecting our air, landscapes and water. From a landscape perspective, roads and railways cause wildlife mortality through collisions and act as a significant barrier to wildlife movements. The Miistakis Institute aims to generate awareness of the challenges that transportation infrastructure poses to wildlife and to promote workable solutions to these challenges. Examples will be given from their work addressing wildlife connectivity and highway mitigation along Highway 3, Highway 1 and Highway 68 in Alberta.  

KRIS KENDELL, ALBERTA CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION – March 27
Amphibians of Kananaskis: insights in their conservation and stewardship

Join Kris Kendell, biologist with Alberta Conservation Association, for an informative presentation about the amphibians of Kananaskis Country. The presentation you will increase your knowledge of the many unique adaptations and life histories of this fascinating group of animals. You will also learn about the greatest threats to their survival as well as actions you can take in your backyard, or on your land, that can benefit amphibians. The presentation will also explore how citizen scientists have contributed to the advancement of amphibian conservation in Alberta.

Peter Lougheed Discover Centre
All events start at 1:00pm, meet in Discovery Centre

NATURE INSPIRED ART – January 26

Join Canmore-based full-time artist Robyn Mulligan to create your own nature-inspired art piece to bring home. All supplies will be provided.

WINTER SURVIVAL SKILLS – February 17

Join Jim Thorne of Foothills Search and Rescue and discover basic winter survival skills, such as shelter building and fire starting!  Dress warm and prepare to be outside.

WINTER ECOLOGY – March 24

Join outdoor enthusiast Leith Monaghan as she explores how the world around us changes as we move into the winter season. Dress warm and prepare to be outside! Please bring snowshoes (limited snowshoes are available).

More presentations and details to be posted on our website.

• NEW Public Land Partnership & Trail Maintenance Project: To provide volunteer support for on-going trail maintenance in the Kananaskis Country and Sibbald Public Land Use Zones.
• Trail inventory and Auditing
• Chester-Sawmill Winter Trails: To engage volunteers in helping brush and clear an additional 9km of snowshoe, ski and fat biking trails in the Chester-Sawmill system.
• Razor’s Edge Connector Trails: Help us complete the 2km connector trail that will result in the designation of the Razor’s Edge Trail (McConnell Ridge) – a popular biking and hiking destination trail.

To all our Friends, wishing you Happy Holidays and happy trails. Your contributions continue to support the wonder of Kananaskis Country.

Friends of Kananaskis Country Team