Spring 2026 Harrop Wetlands

May 30, 2026: Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society Awarded Native Plants for Native Pollinators

This spring (2026), KNPS launched the second consecutive year of community restoration support.  Building on the success of our 2025 pilot program, Milkweed for Restoration, Native Plants for Native Pollinators, affectionately called ‘NP²,’ expands its focus to support a broader suite of native pollinators, particularly specialist bees and the Western Bumble Bee. This year’s theme reflects our growing understanding of the unique relationships between native plants and the pollinators that depend on them.

The program is rooted in discoveries from KNPS’s five-year Pollination Pathway research initiative, which has documented plant–pollinator interactions across the West Kootenay. This research has identified the native plant species that provide the greatest value to our region’s diverse pollinator communities, allowing us to translate science into meaningful, on-the-ground conservation.

To kick off the program, 12 volunteers joined the Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society at the Harrop Wetlands to plant more than 200 local ecotype native plant plugs, representing over 10 native species including Brown-eyed Susan, mock orange, and autumn sneezeweed. These efforts will help enhance the habitat with native flowering plants that will provide nectar, pollen, and shelter for a wide range of pollinators while strengthening ecological connectivity across the landscape.

This planting day was just the beginning. The Harrop Wetlands launch offered a first look at what Native Plants for Native Pollinators will continue to grow into as the program expands across the West Kootenay.

Stay tuned for the official launch of the NP² program in Fall 2026! Applications open this July on our website, and we encourage organizations and communities across the West Kootenay to get involved.

If you’re looking to enhance pollinator habitat, strengthen ecological connectivity, and be part of a growing network of community-led restoration efforts, NP² is for you.