Six years after the provincial cabinet withdrew support for a national park reserve in the South Okanagan, the government is ready to talk about the idea again with the feds.

This is good news and is certainly better late than never.

The announcement came Friday from Environment Minister Mary Polak at a news conference held at Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre.

Nothing much has changed since the province released its Intentions Paper on protecting lands in the South Okanagan in August 2015.

That proposal recommends that two areas, one to the south of Highway 3 and one in the north between Vaseux and White lakes, be protected as national park reserves.

More controversially, an area in the middle called Area 2 (Mount Kobau area) would become a provincial “conservancy,” offering a lower level of protection.

Politically this makes sense because that area is closest to Oliver and Cawston, which have been the hotbeds of resistance to a national park.

Environmentally it makes less sense, because Area 2 includes Mount Kobau, the crown jewel of the landscape, and it is also a vital connecting corridor between Areas 1 and 3, both of which would receive full national park reserve protection.

Even if the plan remains the same, the good news is the two governments are talking.

Polak made other significant comments.

The maps, she said, do not have refined boundaries and they are not intended to be a firm and final line.

She left open the possibility that Mount Kobau could be protected in a more robust way than a conservancy, depending “on the conversations that we have.”

She also described her government’s position that existing land uses should be protected as a “starting” point in negotiations.

We welcome this flexibility, which Polak suggests is also being matched with new flexibility from her federal counterparts.

Cynics will point out that the government has waited 17 months since the release of the Intentions Paper and now any concrete decisions will have to wait until after the May 9 provincial election.

But Polak deserves full credit for being engaged in this file that is so important to the environment and the economy of the South Okanagan, as well as to those elsewhere who care about Canada’s natural heritage.

She has tried to find solutions that bridge the polarized viewpoints.

By holding the news conference at Nk’Mip and inviting Chief Clarence Louie to speak, Polak was also sending a strong signal that local First Nations must play a key role in finding a solution and must be at the table.

MLA Linda Larson participated by introducing the speakers and making some general comments about protecting the region.

But significantly, she did not speak to the substance of what the province is doing.

Larson has long opposed a national park and several times in the past 17 months her comments have appeared to undermine Polak’s good efforts. Hopefully, she’ll follow Polak’s lead on this file going forward.

The timing of the announcement is clearly intended to give the B.C. Liberals cover on this issue heading into the election. They can appear conciliatory to both sides, while leaving the hard decisions for later.

But the government can’t be let off the hook. Local residents and political opponents must continue to push for answers during the coming election.