Nature lover Harry Nielsen points to places of interest in the South Okanagan grasslands that he hopes will be included in a future national park reserve. While many people in the tourist industry, municipal governments and environmentalists want to see a national park reserve created in the South Okanagan, some ranchers and the provincial government oppose this. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Dear Editor:
It was quite amusing to read the letter from J. Goncalves in the Dec. 3 edition of the Osoyoos Times relating to the proposed national park for South Okanagan and Similkameen valleys.
My wife and I resided in the Kilpoola area for 22 years and I pastured horses at Kilpoola Lake.
As a volunteer park monitor I found that his letter, where he states numerous concerns about wild animals threatening the safety of humans, to be very humorous.
I do believe there are some people who would believe that a park will expose us all to the dangerous zoo of wild animals as was described in his letter.
I just wanted to state that I was born and raised near Kootenay National Park and was never subject to any of the dangerous hazards which he listed in his letter.
Even though we had complete rein everywhere with very little parental concern. We have found that there is a much greater hazard in the proposed park area from speeding ATVs and four-wheel drive vehicles when they are out mud bogging and from shooters doing target practice.
People who routinely dump garbage leave an unsightly mess and there is debris of broken glass, tin and other building materials, which could easily cause people to injure themselves when hiking in the park. Research shows that there have been nine people killed by bears and only one person killed by cougar in the last 114 years in the national parks in the Western Rockies.
It is worth remembering that cougar and bear attacks are less fatal than dog attacks, snake bites, bee or ant stings or lightning strikes.
I think that we can all rest peacefully if a national park is realized. Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion.
Harry Nielsen
Penticton, B.C.
