SVIMS is sad to hear of the passing of mycologist Dr. Jim Ginns. He died on April 29, 2024.
Jim and his wife Anne retired to Penticton, BC in 1997. He has made presentations to SVIMS several times and was a member of the Pacific Northwest Key Council. He is the author of numerous scientific publications including Polypores of British Columbia.
Anne died in January of this year. The South Okanagan Naturalist’s Club has published a tribute to Anne and her work.
Jim and Anne were also noted conservationists. For nearly 50 years they owned an ecologically diverse 23-hectare parcel of land bordering Thetis Lake Regional Park. It was their goal to see the land permanently protected. The Ginns donated a significant portion of the value of the property to our regional land trust Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) to achieve this goal.
In 2018, they also donated their 42-hectare property in Gatineau, Quebec to the municipality of Cantley as a nature reserve, now called Parc écologique Ginns.
