WHERE AND WHAT IS THE BABINE WATERSHED
The Babine Watershed in British Columbia is located north of Smithers in the ancestral territory of the Ned’ut’ten and Gitxsan First Nations. The Foundation works closely and collaboratively with the Ned’ut’ten and Gitxsan and deeply values their history, experience and guidance in conservation and watershed issues.
The Babine River joins the Skeena on its way south and west to the Pacific between the three elevations of Mount Thomlinson, Cutoff Mountain and Shelf Peak. Steelhead and Pacific salmon migrate upriver from Hecate Strait to spawn in the Babine which is regarded by experts as the world’s wildest steelhead and salmon river.
Steelhead returning to the Babine are considered to be the brute stock of the species. They are at their purest in these clean waters.
WHO ARE WE
The Babine River Foundation exists to be the voice of the Babine Watershed. We have pledged to protect the wilderness heritage and economic value of this special place in the hope that future generations will enjoy what we enjoy today.
The Foundation makes the case for the preservation of the Babine Watershed through research studies, lobbying at all levels of government, local community advocacy and public awareness.
The Foundation was originally created by the owners of the Babine Steelhead Lodge, Silver Hilton Lodge and Babine Norlakes Lodge in the 80’s and then in 2001, they re-grouped to form the Babine River Foundation in a formal organization. Since 2016, the organization consists of the Silver Hilton Steelhead Lodge and and Babine Norlakes. These lodges continue to support the Foundation to this day through a charge levied on every visitor to their lodges.
The Babine Watershed Monitoring Trust is a charity started in collaboration with the Foundation, community groups and provincial government agencies to conduct environmental tests into the health of the ecosystem. The Babine River Foundation has supported over 25 or the Trust’s research monitoring projects.