The Village of Radium Hot Springs is now over a quarter of the way to reaching its $400,000 campaign goal to save the Radium bighorn sheep herd.
Canfor donated $50,000 to bring Radium’s total to just over $100,000.
Mayor Clara Reinhardt said the declining bighorn sheep population has been an issue for a long time, but it’s only getting worse.
“For 20 years there’s been biologists and local people trying to draw attention to the mortality of bighorn sheep on the highway,” she added.
“It really came to a head in February when we had almost one a day for a few weeks.”
She said the province and the federal government are now involved and are working on an overpass.
The project is expected to cost approximately $4.2 million.
“The deal is there will be an overpass where most of the mortality was happening,” said Reinhardt.
“There will be fencing from the Radium village limits to the top of the hill, so the sheep are directed to the overpass on that part of the highway.”
The village is on the hook for the fencing costs which are expected to be around $400,000.
She said Canfor’s donation is a big step in getting started and the company has been a big supporter since the campaign began.
“Canfor has a big presence in Radium and they had already talked to us about having speed limits reduced on the main road down into the mill,” she added.
“Their trucking companies were totally on board and they wanted to do more.”
If you want to do more to help the campaign, Reinhardt says they are always accepting donations through the village’s website or in person.