Monte Hummel: A Legacy of Conservation Leadership

A founding figure in conservation across Canada, Monte Hummel has turned personal passion into lasting, national-scale change.

For nearly two decades, Monte Hummel has been a constant and influential presence on WCS Canada's Board of Directors, contributing decades of conservation experience, strategic vision, and an unwavering commitment to protecting Canada's wildlife and wild places.

Monte's own conservation journey began with a transformative moment in the summer of 1969. After honeymooning at Woodstock and fishing in the Yukon, he returned to White Dog Falls in northwestern Ontario, the place where he'd grown up. What he discovered changed his life forever.

"I saw these signs up and down the river that said, 'fish for fun only,' against a skull and crossbones," Monte recalls. The English-Wabigoon River system had been contaminated with mercury. The Ojibwe kids he'd gone to school with had lost their commercial fishery and guiding opportunities.

"When I saw what happened to my home river and what happened to the people that I knew there, it literally catapulted me into a career of working for the environment and nature."

That same summer, Monte co-founded Pollution Probe at a time when there were no ministers of the environment or Environmental Protection Acts anywhere in Canada. For 56 years, he has dedicated himself full-time to conservation.

Monte's proudest accomplishment remains the 10-Year Endangered Spaces Campaign, which he designed and led as President and CEO of WWF Canada. The campaign resulted in over 1,000 new protected areas across Canada, translating conservation ambition into policy outcomes across multiple provinces and political contexts.

"I'm proud that we positioned the Endangered Spaces Campaign in such a way that it was embraced equally by premiers on either end of the political spectrum," Monte reflects.

Why WCS Canada?

Monte joined WCS Canada's Board in the mid-2000s, shortly after transitioning to President Emeritus at WWF Canada. He was drawn by three compelling reasons: the leadership of Dr. Justina Ray, whom he recognized as having both exceptional scientific credentials and natural leadership abilities; the organization's commitment to science-based conservation; and the opportunity to work in regions close to his heart, Northern Ontario, the Boreal, and the Arctic.

With WCS Canada, Monte saw an opportunity to ensure that science remained at the forefront of Canadian conservation. "WCS Canada brings credibility and science to the conservation scene," Monte emphasizes. "If WCS Canada says it's so, then it is so."

He co-authored the book "Caribou and the North: A Shared Future" with Justina, illustrated with original sketches by renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman. Monte recently donated these Bateman originals to WCS Canada, paintings with extraordinary personal significance, dedicated to the memory of his friend Glen Davis.

After decades in conservation, Monte remains fundamentally optimistic. "People want this," he says. "Canadians have a notion of the country as being one of the last big patches of green on the globe, and they're right; they want to maintain that."

Why Support WCS Canada?

When asked why people should support WCS Canada, Monte's answer is characteristically direct: "We're your proxy for wildlife. As an individual, you can't make sure that wolverine and sturgeon are conserved in the boreal, or that acoustic studies of bowhead whales happen in the Western Arctic. But if you give to WCS Canada, we can do that for you." He adds: "We help deliver on people's dreams.”

A Continuing Commitment

Though Monte has stepped down from the WCS Canada Board after 18 years of service, his commitment to the organization and its mission remains unwavering. He continues to work on critical conservation issues, including the recommended Nunavut land-use plan, and remains connected to the organization he helped shape.

"I'm not disappearing," he says with characteristic warmth. "I'm still very committed to the organization."

Monte's legacy at WCS Canada is one of bold vision, dedication to scientific integrity, and an unshakeable belief in the power of individuals to create meaningful change. His 18 years of service have helped WCS Canada stand strong as a science-based conservation leader it is today, and his influence will continue to inspire the organization's work for generations to come.