B.C.’s top award that recognizes service to the public will be given to a man whose family has become a household name in Delta and beyond.
George Conrad Reifel will receive the Order of British Columbia this fall, along with 13 other British Columbians.
Reifel is the grandson of George C. Reifel, after which the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary is named.
That sanctuary, on the west side of Westham Island, was created by George’s father, George H. Reifel in 1963.
George Reifel though has continued the legacy with an interminable list of achievements which help nature and keep birds alive.
“I was quite honoured. I was not expecting it,” he said.
Reifel grew up on the Westham Island family farm, which is now part of the sanctuary, and still remembers the rich environment where the sea meets the fertile Fraser River delta. He used to take the school bus into Ladner to attend high school and lived on the farm until 1973.
He now lives in Vancouver as he continues his career in real estate, which has paralleled his life-long conservation work.
It was during his 20s, when he was seriously ill, that he decided to spend a major part of his life, and put in the hours of volunteer time needed, for conservation.
“I wanted to put back, while I still had the chance, wanted to leave the world a better place,” he explained.
Reifel has been a director of the B.C. Waterfowl Society, which manages the sanctuary, for 45 years.
He’s also past director of the Nature Trust of B.C. and was responsible for high-profile projects such as the South Arm Marshes Wildlife Management Area, next to the Deas slough, along with the Hoodoos conservation area, in southeastern B.C., and riparian areas of the Englishman River on Vancouver Island.
The Nature of Trust of B.C., has created dozens of areas that help wildlife, with Reifel involved in many of them.
In addition to serving with the Pacific Salmon Foundation, he’s also a lifetime member of the BC Wildlife Federation, and last April, was named by the federation as conservationist of the year. He is also a lifetime member of the Tyee Club of B.C.
A major task, as the longest-serving national director with Ducks Unlimited Canada, was creating the Continental Conservation Plan.
“That was a major accomplishment getting Canada, the U.S. and Mexico together. The entire continent needs to look after the life cycle needs of water fowl and we share that,” he said.
Despite the work, Reifel still worries.
His main focus remains farmland in Delta and wetlands and estuaries around B.C.
Those lands are, “disappearing at a rapid rate,” he said. “It’s home for a large number of plants and animals that need a home.”
Reifel’s advice for conservation groups is never to compete against each other in attempting to save a particular habitat and that if one group is focused on one area, then the other group should find another project.
Reifel will receive the order at Government House in Victoria in November.
He previously was awarded the B.C. Medal of Good Citizenship in 2020, and the Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals.
