The 2007-2008 GCC Board of Directors consists of 24 board members, ten of whom comprise the Executive. Our board members come from varied walks of life and a multitude of professional backgrounds. Each member contributes a wide range of skills, knowledge and opinions to our organization, its programs and its strategic direction.
Dave Zirnhelt (Chair), Big Lake Ranch
David was born and raised in the Cariboo and left for 10 years to attend University in Ottawa and Vancouver. He and his family raise cattle and are about to enter a transition into organic production. The Zirnhelt family has a woodlot and produces lumber, timberframe houses and birch syrup. David's formal education is in Political Science, but he has been a student of agriculture and forestry and has farmed/ranched for over 30 years. His volunteer activities include the GCC and the Board of the First Nations Agricultural Lending Association. He was an elected member of the Legislature in BC for 12 years from 1989 to 2001, where he served as Minister of Economic Development; Agriculture, Fish and Food; Forests; and Aboriginal Affairs. He is currently ranching and consulting in economic development and land use policy.
Micheal Kennedy is a retired professional and avid grasslands enthusiast who resides in Lillooet, B.C.
Dr. Michael Pitt (Past Chair), Pender Island
I joined the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at UBC in 1975 where my primary research interests included (1) biological interactions among forestry, wildlife, and livestock, (2) grassland plant community floristics, and (3) sampling techniques for estimating browse production and utilization. Since stepping down as Associate Dean in 1998, I served as Coordinator of the Faculty’s new Agroecology Program in Sustainable Agriculture.
I have participated actively in professional and public interest groups, including the Society for Range Management (Editorial Board; Pacific Northwest Section Newsletter Editor, Board of Directors, 1991 President), the, Southern Chilcotin Mountains Wilderness Society (1987-2000 President and Chair, 2001-present), the Vancouver Natural History Society, Northwest Scientific Association (Trustee, 1989-1995), and the BC Institute of Agrologists (President, 1987 & 1988). I feel fortunate to have served the Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia on its initial Board of Directors in 1998.
More recently I developed a love and passion for the tundra landscapes of northern Canada. Since 1990 Kathleen and I have completed seven extended canoe journeys in the Northwest Territories. Perhaps the most satisfying period of my life was January to June of 1999 when I lived in splendid isolation in a 1-room cabin 150 km north of Great Bear Lake. This winter sojourn continues to call out to me, such that I resigned my position at UBC in September 2002 and moved to Pender Island, where I am now free to spend more time paddling and enjoying Canada's natural landscapes.
King Campbell will be completing his fifth year with Ducks Unlimited Canada (Kamloops) this fall, after leaving the Range Officer position with the Ministry of Forests in Alexis Creek. King was in Alexis Creek with his wife Sonya for eleven years. The career change required them to leave their bunchgrass property with 2km of Chilcotin River frontage. King has had grassland management experience since his youth as a cowboy in the Okanagan, and several years of coordinating weed control and collecting bio-control agents for knapweed. These summer jobs were a motivator for his degree in Grazing Management from the University of Alberta. King is proud of the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stewardship projects he has facilitated with the Cariboo Cattlemen's Association. King looks forward to using this experience to assist us in achieving the objectives of the Grassland Council.
Leanne Colombo, Cranbrook
I have worked in the Range Program in the Rocky Mountain Forest District since 2005. Previously I worked in an environmental consulting company, mainly with vegetation work. My partner, Don Lancaster, and I ranched until 2006 and now raise horses and a few beef in Mayook. In my spare time I enjoy working with horses, gardening, fondling fescue, hiking, and cross-country skiing.
Dr. Lauchlan Fraser, Kamloops
Dr. Fraser is an associate professor in the natural resource science department at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C.
Bill Henwood,Vancouver
I was raised in the agricultural hinterland of Toronto, and as I grew up, I watched it and most of my childhood haunts disappear under the onslaught of urban growth. I was also blessed with a family that liked to escape all of that on the weekends, and we spent many in the lake and forest country of the Canadian shield. I think that duality allowed me to understand the difference between wild and unwild places, and I knew from an early age what I wanted to do in my professional life. I am fortunate to be able to say I am still working in my chosen profession almost 30 years later. I have been a park planner for over 29 years, beginning in the mid 1970’s as a planner in southern Alberta, and this is where my love of grasslands emerged. I spent over two years travelling extensively around the world, visiting, among many places, the grasslands of New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Africa. For the last 23 years, I have worked with Parks Canada in the field of establishing new national parks and national marine conservation areas. Most recently, I was involved in the establishment of the new national park in the Gulf Islands and the proposal to establish a new national park in the dry interior grasslands of British Columbia. I am currently the Project Manager for the study to assess the feasibility of establishing a national marine conservation area in the southern Strait of Georgia, also in British Columbia. As a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), I founded and currently lead the Task Force on Grassland Protected Areas, with a mission to increase the level of protection for grasslands around the world.
Mark Quaedvlieg, Keremeos
Mark Quadvlieg is a rancher living in Keremeos, B.C.
Jim was raised on a ranch, where he first started to develop the interests that came to be a love for grasslands. He is now ‘semi-retired’, whatever that may mean, and lives just south of Kamloops.
Jim continues to spend a lot of time on the grasslands, on a good horse whenever possible, as principal of Rangelands Associates, a consulting firm in Kamloops that has worked primarily in the fields of rangeland inventory, monitoring and planning. He holds a degree in Rangeland Management, is a Professional Agrologist and Certified Professional in Rangeland Management. Jim has been active with the Grasslands Conservation Council for some years, serving on the board of directors and numerous committees, acting as vice-chair, and often assisting with the organization of the field workshops.
Prior to starting Rangelands Associates, Jim’s career was with the BC Forest Service, the last 19 years at Kamloops Forest District as Range Officer. In that position he led four to five staff, interacted with many of the 200 ranchers who graze about 30,000 cattle on Crown range, and helped ensure integration of grazing with wildlife, silviculture, recreation and natural values.
Jim and his wife Marilyn live just south of Kamloops. Marilyn is currently a practicing Parish Nurse. They try to spend a fair amount of time canoe-tripping and in other outdoor activities, are teaching their grandson about life on the land, and enjoy their involvement with the Alpha course in Kamloops.
Barry Booth, Prince George
Barry Booth works with The Land Conservancy and lives in Prince George, B.C.
Darren Dempsey is a rancher in Kamloops, B.C.
Mike grew up in Arizona and went to school in Tuscon (Mechanical Engineering) and New Orleans (MBA). Working with Honeywell and Boeing as Director of Manufacturing Engineering and Strategic Planning respectively, he had the opportunity to travel and work all over the world. Ever since he was a kid, Mike has been in love with plants and now (finally) is fervently pursuing his second career as a budding botanist. Mike and his wife (Leslie) - a flight test engineer - love cross-country skiing and road biking, and have homes in both Seattle and the 108 Ranch, just north of 100 Mile House. The flowers in the background of Mike's photo are part of a large (mostly native plant) garden that surrounds the Duffy house at 108 Ranch, which Mike designed to celebrate the unique beauty of the Cariboo!
Bruce Gordon is a lawyer in Vancouver, B.C
Francis Njenga works with the Ministry of Forests and Range in Kamloops, B.C.
Hillary Page is a biologist based in Invermere. She holds a undergraduate degree in Conservation Biolgy and a Masters in Rangeland and Wildlife Management. Her background is in plant and disturbance ecology with a focus on monitoring open forest and grassland response to restoration activities (e.g. prescribed fire) in the East Kootenay Valley.
After consulting for several years, Hillary has recently joined Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) to support stewardship and management activities on NCC land in the Canadian Rockies Region.
Darrell Smith, Invermere
Darrell Smith works with the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands in Invermere, B.C.
Honorary Board Member
Bob Peart, Sydney
I am a professional biologist with a Masters Degree in Education and have completed formal training in Dispute Resolution at the Justice Institute. I am presently self-employed. Previously I was the Executive Director of the CPAWS-BC chapter between 2000-2003. Prior to CPAWS-BC, I worked as Assistant Director at the Royal BC Museum, was the Executive Director of the Outdoor Recreation Council, been a political advisor to Cabinet Ministers and was also the provincial co-chair of the Central Region Board in Clayoquot Sound. Currently I’m an honorary director of the Grasslands Conservation Council of BC and on the board of The Land Conservancy of British Columbia, The Fraser Basin Council and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative. I was a member of the BC Roundtable on the Economy and Environment in the early 1990’s.I’m a keen kayaker and backpacker and pretend to be a bird-watcher. After growing up in Southwestern Ontario, I spent 10 years in various federal government roles in Ontario and Saskatchewan, and then moved to BC in 1980 where I’ve been since.
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