SOS for a new South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park/Reserve

A new national park and reserve in one of the rarest and most threatened ecosystems in British Columbia is close to reality.

Flower and storm clouds, view of the proposed grasslands park

The proposed South Okanagan - Similkameen National Park and Reserve sits adjacent to the US border in Washington State and adjoins ecologically key areas that Conservation Northwest and our partners have long worked to protect. Combined, this "transborder" system comprises some of the most beautiful, diverse, and productive wildlife habitat in the region.

But time is running short with growing threats to these natural grasslands and interior desert communities, including hastening development, loss of natural grasslands to vineyards, and climate change. The transborder Similkameen and the ecosystems it drains are sensitive, priority conservation areas with the highest breeding bird diversity recorded and one-third of British Columbia’s endangered (red-listed) species, from sharp-tail grouse to spadefoot frogs to bighorn sheep. These natural grasslands and interior desert communities are critical passageways for terrestrial and aquatic species between the dry grasslands of interior British Columbia and western US.

The Canadian government needs a push from you and me to create a new national park and reserve in British Columbia in the South Okanagan-Similkameen. Please send a letter today.

Learn more at the SOS site

Subject:

Your Letter:

BC Premier Christy Clark
PO Box 21014, Waterfront Centre
Vancouver, BC V6C 3K3

Dear Premier Clark,

I am writing to ask you to complete the national park feasibility study, years in the making, and announce establishment of the South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park/Reserve.
 
The grasslands and mountains of the South Okanagan-Similkameen region are a continuation of the arid ecosystem of the Okanogan and Similkameen valleys of Washington State, and as an American I care about a healthy future for the shared wildlife of BC and Washington. And time is running short with growing threats to these natural grasslands and interior desert communities, including hastening development, loss of natural grasslands to vineyards, and climate change.

The region of the park includes natural grassland and interior desert communities found nowhere else in Canada. The proposed South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park and Reserve sits adjacent to the US border in Washington State and adjoins ecologically key areas that conservationists on both sides of the border have long worked to protect. Combined, this "transborder" system comprises some of the most beautiful, diverse, and productive wildlife habitat in the region.

The transborder valley and the ecosystems it drains are sensitive, priority conservation areas with the highest breeding bird diversity recorded and one-third of British Columbia’s endangered (red-listed) species, from sharp-tail grouse to Lyall's mariposa lily to spadefoot frogs to bighorn sheep. These natural grasslands and interior desert communities are critical passageways for terrestrial and aquatic species between the dry grasslands of interior British Columbia and western US.

There are many reasons why now is the moment to create this park in the South Okanagan-Similkameen. Not only will a new national park/reserve protect a rare ecological region and connect critical wildlife habitat between the US and BC. It will also:

•	Help with water conservation, headwaters protection, weed control, and wildlands fire control.
•	Boost the local economy and benefit local ranchers, hunters, and working lands.
•	Benefit people who love backcountry recreation and add to people’s enjoyment of the grasslands.
•	Protect First Nations' culture and their traditional ecological knowledge of the area.

Today, this area faces unprecedented change and pressures for development. Please consider:
•	The natural environments of the South Okanagan-Similkameen are among the most endangered in Canada. In the last fifty years, most of the natural diversity of the South Okanagan-Similkameen grasslands has been lost.
•	This is Canada's only desert ecosystem and one of the highest priorities for conservation in Canada.

I urge you to act quickly to announce the South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park/Reserve. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Christy Clark Premier

Province of British Columbia

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SOS for a new South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park/Reserve

Christy Clark Premier

Conservation Northwest offices