A Montana group that has been recognizing conservation heroes for the past several decades is honoring Kylie Paul. Kylie joined the staff of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation as a road ecologist earlier this year to advance the development and implementation of wildlife-friendly transportation policies and projects. But she has been making a positive impact on wildlife and ecosystems for many years.
The Missoula Conservation Roundtable awarded Kylie their 2021 “Emerging Conservationist” award. They established the award for early career volunteers or professionals who have demonstrated growing potential to enhance natural resource and environmental protection through individual action and effective partnerships.
The following remarks were made by Bert Linder of the Roundtable during the award presentation on November 17:
Kylie Paul is this year’s winner of the “Emerging Conservationist” award. We recognize Kylie for all she has done professionally and as a volunteer for wildlife in western Montana. Kylie has spent much of her career finding ways for volunteers to help resolve wildlife issues. Her master’s thesis compared the opportunistic observations of live animals by volunteers along Canada’s Highway 3 at Crowsnest Pass to systematically collected data.
In 2010, Kylie formed the People’s Way Partnership to evaluate and communicate the conservation value of wildlife crossing and mitigation structures along US Highway 93 in the Flathead Reservation. From 2015 to 2019, Kylie organized several hundred volunteers to monitor hair-snare stations in the Bitterroot National Forest for observations of wolverines and fishers.
From 2017 to 2018, Kylie served as one of the citizen members of the Environmental Quality Council, an interim legislative committee that oversees three state natural resource agencies.
In recent years, Kylie served as a volunteer for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ Region 2 Citizens Advisory Council.
But enough about Kylie’s sterling conservation accomplishments. You’ll want to know that Kylie wields a mean hockey stick and goes fast, whether she’s on skates, her mountain bike or skis. Meanwhile, if you need someone to organize your wildlife courtship Valentine’s Day Trivia contest, talk to Kylie.
Congratulations to Kylie Paul and to her new employer, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation.
