A campaign has been launched on Friday to name a parcel of land in southwestern Alberta after late Premier Jim Prentice.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada announced a project to protect a critical wildlife corridor in the Crowsnest Pass and name it the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor, in memory of the politician who died in a plane crash in 2016.

The five kilometre wide section is located between Crowsnest Lake and the community of Coleman and has served as a natural link for wildlife passing from the forested Crown lands in the Castle parks and Waterton Lakes and Glacier National Parks in the south.

The NCC has been active in preserving land in the western portion of Crowsnest Pass for over 10 years and the Jim Prentice Wildlife Corridor will give the group an opportunity to complete the corridor.

To do that, it is working to raise $5M through public donations and support to secure the remaining lands needed for the project.

Once it is complete, the NCC says it will then have a chance to make conditions even safer for wildlife by installing overpasses and fencing to help them cross Highway 3.

The NCC says that the project is a fitting tribute to Prentice, who always held a special place in his heart for the Crowsnest Pass.

Jim Prentice was killed along with three other men when the small plane the group was traveling in went down in a wooded area near Kelowna, B.C. on October 13, 2016.

His family says that they are pleased that the NCC is honouring Prentice with the commitment to land conservation.

“It is a fitting tribute to his connection to the Crowsnest Pass and passion for nature. The creation of the corridor in Jim’s name will be a meaningful legacy for Canada that I hope his friends and colleagues will help support this project,” said Karen Prentice, Jim’s wife, in a release.

According to traffic data from Highway 3, there has been a steady increase in the number of vehicle-wildlife collisions and the financial costs of just one of those incidents can reach $30,000 in damage, insurance and health care expenses.

Prentice’s family is inviting the public to help support the project by donating on the official website.