Small ship cruises on the Maple Leaf
Meet the Management Team - Kevin Smith
 


Kevin Smith

President
An adventurer and explorer all his life and a professional mariner since the age of 18, Kevin is also the president of Maple Leaf Adventures.

His experience as a geographer, backcountry park ranger and teacher all contribute to his leadership of one of the premier ecotourism organizations on the coast.

Kevin continues Maple Leaf's tradition of building the framework for ecotourism on the coast, and is an executive member of respected industry organizations including the Wilderness Tourism Association and the Commercial Bear Viewing Association. In addition to educating youth, Kevin developed and taught the Ecotourism for Entrepreneurs course for North Island College in British Columbia. His 5-year tenure as a negotiator on the central coast (Great Bear Rainforest) land use plan brings a rare depth of understanding to the area's history and current situation.

Kevin's extensive marine experience began with family cruising (under sail) while growing up on this coast. To pay for his university degree he took any job that involved being on the ocean. Skill and experience developed from years as: a rowing coach and sailing instructor, a Coast Guard rescue training officer and rescue boat coxswain, fisheries research vessel Captain, backcountry (marine) ranger, sail training instructor, and Captain on passenger carrying vessels. He is one of the very few Full Bear Guides certified by the Commercial Bear Viewing Association.

Kevin was raised on Salt Spring Island in the Southern Gulf Islands. He was employed for a decade by the B.C. government to steward the marine parks of northern Vancouver Island. He is a strong advocate for protecting the north coast. As Maple Leaf's owner since 2001, he has continuously explored the breadth of this, North America's last great rainforest, from Victoria to Juneau. He is a genial host whose love of B.C. and Alaska's wilderness places is infectious.