NATIONAL PARK PROPOSAL A WAY TO BRING BALANCE TO AREA
OSOYOOS TIMES-March 19, 2008
There has to be just as much give as there is take when it comes to the land in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys.
The proposed South Okanagan-Lower Similkameen National Park preserve is a good way to balance all the development projects underway or planned for the area as it will help protect some of the natural treasures that have encouraged many to come and live, and build, here in the first place.
Parks Canada has set out some realistic goals in its ideas for how a national park would work here and it would appear the organization has a genuine wish to be fair to many of the residents, businesses and organizations that could be affected by the park's possible creation.
There could be some changes, such as reduced grazing lands for local cattle ranches and the loss of hunting and forestry.
Yet in other ways, according to a Parks Canada newsletter, it would seem so many things would stay the same, including heritage ranching and access to water licences and utility corridors.
It's inevitable that some will lose out if the park is created and the way the land is used changes.
But conservation measures are almost a must here as we surrender more and more land to development.
Keeping certain areas intact will mean that the human residents of the valleys will have a place to enjoy unspoiled nature, while local plant and animal populations will have a protected area to live and breathe.
Because even making new subdivisions and resorts that are popping up throughout the area green or sustainable doesn't change the fact they are altering the land and water forever.
It's only fair for nature to get to keep a piece of the pie here in the valleys.
