timeline
history and vision
1975
Frank and Ann Kiyooka purchase a 72 acre property in Tête Jaune Cache, BC.
1980
Frank and Ann build a house on the property and move their family from Hinton, AB to Tête Jaune Cache, BC.
2020-2021
Hanae Kiyooka and Jeff Gusdal purchase the Tête Jaune property from the Kiyooka Estate and begin the process of creating a land trust. A volunteer board is established and The Kiyooka Land Trust Foundation receives BC not-for-profit status in May 2021.
2021-22
The Kiyooka Land Trust Foundation applies for charitable status (September 2021) and for land acquisition/conservation grants. (October 2021) Preliminary vegetation and wildlife inventories of the land are conducted (summer 2021). KLTF receives charitable status (March 2022).
2022
KLTF launches a fundraising campaign to purchase the property and to raise funds for the stewardship endowment fund in February. In May, KLTF receives a land acquisition grant through the Natural Heritage Conservation Program and Land Trust Conservation Program. In October. the land is transferred to the Kiyooka Land Trust Foundation and is now owned and stewarded by KLTF.
The KLTF is named after Frank and Ann Kiyooka. From 1980 until 2012, they lived on the property which KLTF plans to acquire and then moved into the village of Valemount. Frank was a potter and a teacher. Ann, who had trained as a nurse in Edinburgh, was a gifted flower arranger, gardener, calligrapher and homemaker. In addition to their love of artistic pursuits, Frank and Ann shared an interest in local history . Frank was instrumental in the creation and installation of a public sign commemorating the Japanese Canadian Internment work camps on Hwy 16, near Yellowhead Lake, and the sign outlining the history of Tête Jaune Cache located at the community hall.
They enjoyed showing guests around the property and pointing out the former location of various buildings of the original Tête Jaune Cache settlement. They both valued land for its natural beauty and as a habitat for wildlife. They planted many trees on their land while the forests on hillsides surrounding their property were clearcut. Ann enjoyed learning about and identifying the local plants. The presence of moose, deer, black bear, a wide variety of birds and other wildlife was a constant source of joy for them.
Ann passed away in 2015 and Frank in 2017. Their wish for their property was that it remain a natural protected area, that the natural and human history be recognized, and that their house be a resource for the community, such as a retreat space for artists and small community groups.
Sharing her parents’ desire to preserve the ecological integrity of the land in perpetuity, Hanae Kiyooka and her partner Jeff Gusdal, purchased the land from the Estate, with some financial support from her siblings, and then began the process of creating the Kiyooka Land Trust Foundation with the intention of transferring her parents’ property to the land trust.
In October 2022, the Kiyooka property was gifted to the Kiyooka Land Trust Foundation. The KLTF board is working towards realizing and expanding upon the vision first identified by Frank and Ann.
