New Projects Support Biodiversity, Improve Basin Ecosystems

Thinning conifers will help improve habitat for birds and reptiles like Lewis’s woodpeckers, common nighthawks and northern rubber boas. Planting and armouring mature cottonwood trees will help protect valuable forests from human and beaver damage. These are just a couple of the ways a five-year project is improving habitat for eight at-risk species within rare, sensitive and threatened ecosystems between South Slocan and the Pend d’Oreille River. The project is a collaboration between the Okanagan Nation Alliance, Trail Wildlife Association and provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

“By increasing the productivity and resilience of these threatened ecosystems, the project aims to improve habitat availability and connectivity for wildlife across the region, especially for at-risk species,” said Yvonne Patterson, Wildlife Biologist, Okanagan Nation Alliance. “Together with key partners, we will work to build awareness and support for ecosystem stewardship, plus collaborate with others in the community on actions that will benefit sensitive ecosystems and wildlife in the future.”

Placed just right, a boulder can redirect flow away from an eroding bank and create features like pools, riffles and scours that improve habitat for threatened aquatic species. The Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers Society is planning improvements like this over three years to enhance a critical ecosystem in the Salmo River, just north of the town of Salmo. Other activities will include restoring approximately 245 metres of a former side channel, protecting old-growth cedar trees and encouraging the growth of native plants like cottonwood.

“Human activities have left a simplified ecosystem, while bank erosion threatens key habitat features, degrades water quality and widens the channel, which raises water temperature,” said Gerry Nellestijn, Coordinator with the Salmo Watershed Streamkeepers Society. “We look forward to proceeding with this project to address both erosion and simplified habitat. This will help us obtain our long-term vision of restoring the Salmo River watershed and increasing aquatic biodiversity.”

Opening forest canopy and promoting vegetation growth are both vital steps in enhancing 296 hectares of forest, grassland and wetland ecosystems at the Big Ranch Conservation Property Complex for Rocky mountain elk and other species. Big Ranch is owned by The Nature Trust of BC and is located between Elkford and Sparwood. The five-year project, led by the Sparwood and District Fish and Wildlife Association, involves activities such as removing trees to allow light to reach the understory, fertilizing grasses and treating invasive weeds. Other steps include creating wildlife trees, repairing a wetland complex and planting trees in some areas to create visual buffers between humans and wildlife.

“Land-use changes and a fragmented landscape have harmed critical habitat required to support thriving wildlife populations in the Elk Valley,” said Matt Huryn, President of the Sparwood and District Fish and Wildlife Association. “This project will help reverse the impacts as the property returns to its natural state as a forest-grassland corridor, increasing winter range and restoring grassland ecosystems for the benefit of elk and species-at-risk.”