Web intern (Ottawa, ON)

This position will play a role in improving, updating and analyzing CPAWS’ web activities

• Making updates to CPAWS managed sites as directed, using our CMS
• Using public domain image repositories to find appropriate images for projects
• Coding HTML emails
• Suggesting ways to improve existing sites
• Assembling statistics on our email blasts, websites and social media accounts for analysis
• Organizing and tag images from our collection
• Using services like Google maps, Twitter, etc. to create interactive tools for our sites
• Researching and compare online service providers.
• Working with our chapters to improve their websites
• Writing and editing text for the web

• Experience with updating blogs and/or content management systems – if you have your own blog, site or social media presences, feel free to include them in your cover letter.
• Basic understanding of HTML and CSS syntax, tags/selectors, etc.
• Image editing skills (cropping, resizing)

• Stronger understanding of HTML/CSS
• Knowledge of Javascript
• Programming experience (especially PHP/MySQL)
• Bilingual
• Laptop with your own preferred image editing and web development software.
• Some background in conservation

How to apply:

Email webmaster@cpaws.org by March 30 with a cover letter and resume.  If you have a blog, social media presence, or site that shows off your skills, please include links to those as well.

This position is being offered through the Youth Eco Internship Program at YWCA Canada with funding from the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.  The YEIP particularly encourages applicants from visible minority, Aboriginal, immigrant, refugee and traditionally marginalized communities to apply, and is committed to providing employment supports wherever possible.  For more information please visit www.yeip.ca.

Alberta’s threatened grizzly bears need protection now

Alberta’s grizzly bear is a threatened species that needs special protection. In 2002, Alberta’s Endangered Species Conservation Committee (ESCC), representing scientists, universities, First Nations, industries, hunters, conservationists and ranchers, recommended that the grizzly bear be listed as a Threatened species under Alberta’s Wildlife Act. Unfortunately, the government so far has failed to implement this recommendation and Alberta’s grizzlies continue to suffer from a wide array of threats.

At roughly 600 bears, Alberta’s grizzly population remains far below provincially and internationally recognized thresholds.

The province has embarked on a further status review and, eight years later, it will ask the ESCC once again to re-examine whether the grizzly bear should be listed as a protected species.

Once the status review is complete it will be up to Mel Knight, the newly appointed Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, to decide if the grizzly bear will be listed as Threatened and given legal protection.

Please take a moment to contact Sustainable Resource Development Minister Mel Knight and let him know your thoughts on grizzly bear recovery, including legal listing and habitat protection.

Learn more at CPAWS Southern Alberta

Read our news release about the new status report on Grizzlies in Alberta

ALBERTA: Speak up for woodland caribou and wilderness

As you’ve likely seen in the news, CPAWS is warning that Boreal woodland caribou in Alberta’s oil sands region will perish unless the province moves to protect at least half of this area’s intact forests and wetlands.

• Read our news release and CPAWS’ open letter to Premier Stelmach
• See media coverage at the Globe, where you can add your comments, and in Canwest papers across Canada

Since 1993, nearly half of the Boreal woodland caribou in the area where the oil sands industry is concentrated have disappeared. You can make a difference. Please sign the petition now to protect at least 50% of Alberta’s Lower Athabasca planning region.

This region, part of CPAWS’s Athabasca Heartland campaign, contains some of the most pristine wilderness in the province. It’s threatened by heavy industrial development, including Alberta’s oil sands.

Take action!

• Sign the petition to protect Alberta’s last great wilderness: for people, for wildlife, forever.

ONTARIO: Bou needs your help to protect Boreal woodland caribou

 

Ontario’s Boreal woodland caribou are losing space to live, fast. In fact, the caribou’s rate of habitat loss is about 35,000 square km per decade. By protecting the caribou’s Boreal habitat we also protect ourselves, because the Boreal forest where caribou live is a major store of carbon. We already know that woodland caribou have lost 50% of their range, so we need to act now to ensure the species’ survival .

Please take a moment to send a message to the Ontario government to protect woodland caribou and their Boreal forest habitat. CPAWS is asking the government to put an immediate halt to logging and road building in the commercial forest that is critical for the Boreal caribou’s survival, until permanently protected areas are created.

Take action now!

ALBERTA: Your input needed on South Saskatchewan Regional Plan

The Government of Alberta is seeking input from Albertans on some of the important questions contained in the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan terms of reference. They are looking for input about:

• Challenges in developing the region
• Lands which should be conserved
• What you think are high-value tourism and recreation areas 

Take Action!

Comments are due by January 15, 2010.

CPAWS Saskatchewan Executive Director

• Location: Saskatchewan (variable)
• Type: Half-time (20 hours / week) position, with the possibility to evolve into a full time position depending on funding availability
• Applying: Please submit your resume and cover letter (indicate your salary expectation in the cover letter) to info@cpaws-sask.org
• Deadilne: January 7, 2010.  Those candidates selected for further screening will be contacted in January 2010.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is seeking an Executive Director for its Saskatchewan Chapter.

CPAWS is dedicated to protecting wild ecosystems and to promoting awareness and understanding of ecological principles within those ecosystems.  CPAWS works both cooperatively in multi-stakeholder processes and with individuals to achieve these goals.

As the Executive Director, the successful candidate will be responsible for the overall leadership of CPAWS Saskatchewan (CPAWS-SK). Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will:

• Generate and carry out projects and campaign activities as approved by the CPAWS-SK Board of Directors. 
• Engage with governments, First Nations, local communities, progressive industries and other environmental organizations on a regular basis to negotiate “wins” for conservation.
• Develop and implement fundraising strategies that will secure funds to finance CPAWS-SK campaign activities and CPAWS-SK overhead expenses.
• Oversee Chapter budgeting.
• Oversee liaison activities with CPAWS National.
• Manage the day – to – day operations of CPAWS-SK
• Assist with the planning, preparation and execution of board meetings.

Qualifications:

The successful candidate will demonstrate adequate education, experience and skills to successfully perform the duties of the chapter Executive Director.  The successful candidate will possess:

• Demonstrated experience in a leadership capacity
• Undergraduate Degree in a related discipline or equivalent experience
• Personnel, budget, time, and project management expertise
• Fundraising, communications, and marketing savvy
• Public speaking and presentation skills
• Substantial knowledge of environmental issues both provincially and nationally
• Computer skills
• Ability to travel
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Verifiable record of successfully completed projects
• Ability to build and maintain partnerships with governmental agencies and non-governmental agencies
• Ability to work out of a home office

The following experience would be considered an asset:

• Experience working with First Nations communities in northern Saskatchewan
• A demonstrated understanding of the forestry and/or energy sectors

For more information on CPAWS, go to www.cpaws.org.
 

BC: Help Protect Critical Salmon Habitat

The future of the Atlin-Taku region in BC’s wild north needs your voice.

You have the rare opportunity to speak out and help protect a region roughly the size of Vancouver Island. The Atlin-Taku region in northwestern BC has thrived for millennia under First Nations management and is a largely unroaded jewel. It is home to a vast array of wildlife and ecosystems as well as vital habitat to all five Pacific salmon species.

The governments of British Columbia and the Taku River Tlingit First Nation are about to make a decision that will determine the fate of the area. Will the Atlin-Taku continue to be a biological sanctuary for thousands of species? Or will it be fragmented by roads and mines?

Your voice is needed to show that there is broad support for a bold conservation vision in the Atlin-Taku.

Click here to take action!

For more information, visit:
Taku Legacy
CPAWS BC

ONTARIO: Bou needs your help to protect Boreal woodland caribou

 

Help us send 2,000 letters to Minister Cansfield before 2010!

Ontario’s Boreal woodland caribou are losing space to live, fast. In fact, the caribou’s rate of habitat loss is about 35,000 square km per decade. By protecting the caribou’s Boreal habitat we also protect ourselves, because the Boreal forest where caribou live is a major store of carbon. We already know that woodland caribou have lost 50% of their range, so we need to act now to ensure the species’ survival .

Please take a moment to send a message to the Ontario government to protect woodland caribou and their Boreal forest habitat. CPAWS is asking the government to put an immediate halt to logging and road building in the commercial forest that is critical for the Boreal caribou’s survival, until permanently protected areas are created.

Take action now!

NOVA SCOTIA: Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes under threat

The Halifax Regional Municipality appears to be backing away from its promise to protect the Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness, near Halifax, as a regional wilderness park. Your help is urgently needed.

The area is significant for its vast forests, interconnected lakes, and recreational opportunities only 10km from downtown Halifax. It also contains rare arctic-alpine plants and habitat for the endangered mainland moose.

In 2006, the Halifax Regional Municipality passed a 25-year regional plan to guide future development in the city and to identify green space for the citizens of Halifax. That plan identifies the Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness as a prime site for a new regional park and states that the city will work over time to acquire those lands for conservation.

Now, a development proposal is making its way through City Hall proposing high- and medium-density residential and commercial development for these same lands.

Please take a moment to let Mayor Peter Kelly know how you feel.

Southern Albertans: help plan the future of the region

A plan is being developed that will guide land-use decisions in Southern Alberta for decades to come. The South Saskatchewan Regional Plan under the Land-use Framework will set a new direction for how we live, work, enjoy and protect our land and natural heritage. Have a voice on your land, your plan, your future.

Alberta is currently engaged in a new land-use planning process, which is designed to balance environmental, ecological, and cultural needs. A regional advisory council (RAC) has been working on the plan for the South Saskatchewan region (where we live), for the past few months. This plan is slated for completion by the end of 2010. Once the plan is completed it will become law and any changes will be very challenging to implement. Help make sure the South Saskatchewan regional plan contains YOUR priorities for the landscape, ecology, and environment of Southern Alberta.

Some potential topics you may want to voice at the open house include:

• The legislated protection of the Castle Special Place.
• The need to effectively prioritize ecological integrity of the Southern Alberta landscape. This will help ensure our clean water, healthy forests and ecosystems for future generations.
• The need to protect areas of environmental importance through the creation of protected areas and other conservation tools.
• The need to allow flexibility in the plan so that when additional scientific research becomes available, the plan can be flexible enough in its response to effectively incorporate new science.
• The need to plan for connectivity. We need to ensure core habitats (like protected areas) are connected to allow for large animal movement across the landscape and to allow for ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change.
• The need to account for the impacts climate change is going to have on the ecosystems of southern Alberta.
• The need to recover the grizzly bear population and improve its core habitat in southern Alberta.

More importantly than voicing any of the above points is to voice YOUR concerns. This is the most important land-use planning process Alberta has seen in over 20 years. Make sure this plan reflects YOUR needs, your children’s needs, and your Province’s needs.

The sessions run from 4 to 7 p.m. in each of the 16 locations listed below.

Monday November 30
Calgary – Glenmore Inn – West Glenmore Room – 2720 Glenmore Trail SE
Vulcan – Vulcan Legion Hall 202 -1st Avenue South

Tuesday December 1
Strathmore – Strathmore Travelodge – Heritage Ballroom – 350 Ridge Road
Claresholm – Claresholm Community Centre – 59 Av & 8 St W

Wednesday December 2
Cochrane – Cochrane RancheHouse – 101 RancheHouse Road
Okotoks – Holy Cross Lutheran Church – 20 Banister Gate

Thursday December 3
Airdrie – Airdrie Alliance Church – 1604 Summerfield Blvd SE
Canmore – Quality Resort Chateau – 1720 Bow Valley Trail

Monday December 7
Lethbridge – Eagles Hall – 631 13 St N
Brooks – Brooks Heritage Inn – 1217 2 Street West

Tuesday December 8
Fort Macleod – United Church Hall – 220 20 St
Medicine Hat – Coast Hotel – Cabernet Room – 3216 13th Ave SE

Wednesday December 9
Pincher Creek – Ramada Inn – 1132 Table Mountain St
Taber – Taber Legion Hall – 5205 48 Ave

Thursday December 10
Cardston – Remington Carriage Museum – 623 Main St
Milk River – Heritage Hall – 213 Main St N

Please pass this information on to anyone who would be interested in attending. If you have any questions, you can contact:

Dave Bartesko, RPFT
Senior Consultation Manager
Land-use Secretariat
Alberta Sustainable Resource Development
Telephone: (780) 422-4871
Fax: (780) 644-1034
Email: dave.bartesko@gov.ab.ca
LUF Website: http://www.landuse.gov.ab.ca
LUF Email: LUF@gov.ab.ca