Parks congratulated before announcement

Contributed

The South Okanagan Similkameen National Park Network (SOSNPN) congratulates Parks Canada on today’s announcement that the sensitive and threatened South Okanagan ecosystem is one step closer to national park protection.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna was joined by B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman, Chief Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Chief Keith Crow of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band for today’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to negotiate the creation of the new park reserve.

“Congratulations are due to all three levels of government on this exciting government-to government achievement. It has been a huge amount of work” said Doreen Olson, the SOSNPN Coordinator for the past 15 years.

Trilateral negotiations will now commence to finalize the boundaries and the formal agreements required to bring the national park reserve to fruition. The final national park reserve will be co-managed with the Syilx/Okanagan Nation.

Canada’s only semi-arid “desert”, the South Okanagan-Similkameen, is a unique landscape of dry grasslands and open ponderosa pine forests. It is home to more endangered species than anywhere else in British Columbia, including a range of species from the Flammulated Owl and Great Basin Spadefoot to the Lyall’s Mariposa Lily.

For over 15 years, the SOSNPN’s affiliates and community volunteers, have been campaigning for the protection of this area. Today, their hard work is being rewarded by the signing of this agreement.

“We’ve been working relentlessly towards getting this special place protected as it is truly a remarkable ecosystem. We are particularly pleased that the Syilx Nation will have a permanent role in the governance of the national park reserve.” said Olson.

“Looking ahead, what is critical now is for the federal government to purchase the key private lands, and to ensure that future negotiations will include protection for the White Lake and Vaseux Lake complex,” Olson added.

The SOSNPN is a broad-based network of like-minded individuals and organizations of local and national scope who support the creation of a South Okanagan National Park Reserve and conserving the indigenous plants and animals that make this region home and enrich everyone’s lives.