International League of Conservation Photographers’ Flathead Valley exhibition comes to Cranbrook

Cranbrook, BC — A breathtaking exhibition of photos by internationally renowned conservation photographers is about to arrive in Cranbrook.

Members of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) came to BC in July to document the stunning, unprotected landscape of the Flathead River Valley.

The best photographs will be unveiled at the Key City Gallery on Thursday, February 4 during the Flathead Valley International Photo Exhibit and Film Premiere.

The evening event will also feature the Kootenay premiere of the ILCP film ‘Flathead Wild’, which had its world premiere in the US at the Wild and Scenic Film Festival this January. Guest speakers for the evening, including Pat Morrow, local mountaineering legend, Garth Lenz, ILCP photographer, and Simon Jackson, Spirit Bear Youth Coalition founder, will add personal touches, sharing their stories of what makes the Flathead Valley so special.

Each year the ILCP chooses areas under threat to highlight through their Rapid Assessment Visual Expedition (RAVE). Last summer, they chose the East Kootenay’s Flathead Valley as the site of a 10-day RAVE.

Now, the best photos from the RAVE are gathered in a traveling exhibition. The exhibition opened in Washington DC and is now journeying west towards Victoria, making stops along the way at the Banff Film Festival, Fernie Arts Station and, next, the Key City Gallery, where it will be on display from February 4th through 25th.

“Images are irrefutable evidence of the beauty of our planet and the critical resources we can’t afford to lose,” says ILCP Executive Director Cristina Mittermeier.

In March 2009, the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC declared the Flathead River BC’s Most Endangered River.

The Flathead Valley is home to the largest concentration of inland grizzly bears in all of interior North America and acts as a vital link for animals to move between the US and Canada. Photographers captured images of these powerful and iconic animals during their RAVE, along with mountain goats, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, deer, elk, moose, bull trout, endangered westslope cutthroat trout, and a large diversity of plants and flowers.  

The ILCP was not the only international organization to visit the Flathead Valley in the past year. In September, a delegation from the United Nations arrived to assess the Flathead Valley’s relationship to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The final report from this mission will be released in Brazil at the upcoming UNESCO meetings in July 2010. 

Come to the Key City Theatre on February 4 for an evening of photos and videos of the spectacular mountains we call our backyard.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the film will be shown at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $10 each and are available through the Key City Theatre box office, at High Country Sports in Cranbrook, and at Black Bear Books and Video in Kimberley.

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About Wildsight
Wildsight works locally, regionally and globally to protect biodiversity and encourage sustainable communities in Canada's Columbia and southern Rocky Mountain region. This area is internationally recognized as a keystone to conservation in western North America. For more information, please visit www.wildsight.ca.

Contact:
Robyn Duncan, Southern Rockies program coordinator
250.432.5422 • robyn@wildsight.ca