Photo by Dianne Bersea
SILT Achieves Conservation Excellence Certification!
By: Gordon Wilson
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SILT Achieves Conservation Excellence Certification!
The Southern Interior Land Trust is one of the first in Canada to receive Conservation Excellence Certification from the national Centre for Land Conservation.
This recognition for conservation leadership was announced today by the CLC, which noted this marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Canada’s land conservation sector.
At this point, SILT is the only land trust in Western Canada to be certified, in company with four in Ontario and one in New Brunswick.
Similkameen-sylix weaving – nʔaʕx̌ʷt – Ginty’s Pond
Similkameen-sylix weaving:
This video features Wendy Hawkes with her niece Sarain Squakin gathering cattail and bulrush at nʔaʕx̌ʷt – Ginty’s Pond for basket weaving. This video is from a webinar put together by the UBC Learning Circle, in the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health.
Wendy shares history, knowledge, and important messages about harvesting practices: “these places are the places that clean our water, and without water, none of us can live… we have to take care of these places, these wetlands..”
Re-connecting people to the land and supporting indigenous use was an objective of the Ginty’s restoration project.
Learn more about the UBC Learning Circle here: https://learningcircle.ubc.ca/
A standalone version of the film can be viewed below
About the Presenter
Wendy Hawkes
Wendy is similkameen-syilx and a grandmother of 6. Originally introduced to traditional tulè weaving by her great aunt 40 years ago, Wendy continues to research, practice and teach weaving.
Wendy says, “Weaving is so much more than a craft. It is science, engineering, biology and ethnobotany.
Weaving connects the past, present and future, It deepens my connection to the land and water and calms my soul”.
Civil Lawsuit Filed in Penticton Law Courts – Edwards Pond Land Damage
SILT has filed a civil lawsuit in the Penticton Law Courts for a motorized vehicle trespass and the destruction of a wildlife tree on SILT’s Edwards Pond conservation property near Grand Forks.
Read the full story on Castanet:
Land trusts are not in the business of confrontation, but they have a responsibility to protect lands which the public have donated funds to purchase for conservation of wildlife habitat.
Protecting habitat for conservation is a public promise that extends well beyond the simple purchase of the land. SILT commits to defending biodiversity forever but needs your help to safeguard the properties and their values for all time. Conserving biodiversity is not a liability, it is a responsibility we all share. Your donations will help SILT to better protect the lands we hold, and to purchase more lands so we may all enjoy wildlife, and all living things, forever.
Land earmarked for donation during ecological bus tour near Osoyoos
A neighbour plans to donate 14-acre parcel beside Southern Interior Land Trust’s Bourguiba Spring property
A six-hectare (14-acre) parcel of pristine sage and bunchgrass hillside near Osoyoos has been committed to the Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT) while on their first ever bus tour of the land trust properties on Saturday, Oct. 14.
One of the three stops during the bus tour was at the 16.6-hectare (41-acre) Bourguiba Spring property, purchased just last year with the support of dozens of donors from around the province. It was at this stop that Steinar Johnsen, owner of an adjacent property announced the commitment of land.
The Bourguiba Spring property on Highway 3, is three kilometres southeast of Osoyoos.
Johnsen explained that he has always turned to nature to “recharge his batteries” and he hopes his four new neighbours on the property he just subdivided and is building his home on, will feel as passionately as he about conservation of natural areas.
SILT president Judie Steeves thanked Johnsen for the donation of land.
“It takes a commitment from each of us to ensure habitat for wildlife is conserved for all time. Everyone needs to give what they can, whether it be time and energy, financial support, or gifts of skills or natural land features. Otherwise, our children’s children won’t know the wildflowers and creatures which have brought us joy during our lives,” said Steeves.
From bighorn sheep to endangered bird and insect species, the property is considered very good quality habitat confirms biologist Jason Jones of EcoLogic Consultants. He has been working on a University of Guelph invertebrates study on the Bourguiba Spring property this past summer. He figures he collected six million insects from the property for the survey.
During his time there he says one day he counted 27 rattlesnakes in just a 15-minute hike and there are more than 80 bird species and three dozen butterfly species, including the endangered Behr’s Hairstreak butterfly, which relies entirely on Antelope Brush for its existence.
Ecologist Don Gayton, who provided interpretive information for the tour guests, noted that the bluebunch wheatgrass that populates the rocky hillsides of the property are a great carbon capture mechanism due to their vast network of roots.
Those along on the day-long bus tour included representatives of the B.C. Conservation Foundation, the RDOS, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, local naturalists’ clubs, and other donors to SILT’s work.
The first stop was to the R.E. Taylor property in Olalla, a 4.9-hectare (12-acre) intact wetland of mature water birch and cottonwoods on Keremeos Creek that is habitat for such endangered species as the Yellow-breasted Chat.
Next was a visit to restoration of Ginty’s Pond in Cawston where B.C. Wildlife Federation staff and volunteers were working with members of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band and SILT to re-vegetate the margins of the pond to enhance the habitat for aquatic species such as the Painted Turtle and a variety of waterfowl. It is a 6.3-hectare (15.5-acre) former oxbow of the Similkameen River.
All of SILT’s properties are open to the public for non-motorized use and enjoyment without endangering natural features.
The tour wound up with a wine-tasting courtesy of Hester Creek Winery where SILT board member and marketing manager for the winery, Bruce Hibbard provided a tour of the crush pad and barrel room.
