Planting Beach Trees
10 successful years for Love Your Lake
Lakes and rivers are the most sustainable source of freshwater and are essential for ecological function and social economic needs. Since Canada has more lake area than any other country, we have a responsibility to protect it. You can improve your lake health and shoreline environment with help from the Love Your Lake program.
Participating in Love Your Lake is a great way to gauge the health of your lake and become a steward of your local freshwater! Over the past 10years, Watersheds Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation have been proud to support waterfront communities coast to coast across Canada through the Love Your Lake program.
About Love Your Lake
Love Your Lake is a shoreline evaluation program designed to encourage waterfront property owners to take proactive steps toward improving lake health by creating and maintaining healthier shorelines. Each property owner on an assessed lake receives a personalized and confidential report that outlines voluntary actions they can take on their property to protect their freshwater. Anyone can discover how to become a steward of their local freshwater and explore helpful tips to keep your shoreline happy and healthy for future generations by visiting LoveYourLake.ca.
Click here to download the article!
Help Protect Okanagan Lake and Create a Corridor For Wildlife
Join us in supporting the B.C. Parks Foundation in its efforts to conserve 151 acres of waterfront private land, surrounded by Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park.
The foundation has already raised all but $750,000 of the $4 million required to complete the deal, but the remainder must be raised before the closing date on the offer to private owners of July 15.
The alternative is development of this beautiful parcel of land, located across from Peachland.
The SILT board has unanimously voted to offer its support to the foundation, but the land trust is not in the business of contributing money to other causes, but in conserving land for wildlife and restoration work for lands already in its portfolio.
But, we can inform and encourage our supporters to lean more about this opportunity to protect this key part of the puzzle which could provide a corridor of connectivity from the border north through Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park for wildlife.
As wildflowers, grasslands and forest are rapidly being lost to concrete and asphalt in the Okanagan, it’s vital that we set aside some wild land so our children’s children will know what this valley is like naturally, and so some wild critters can continue to survive.
Learn more about this opportunity and donate whatever you can at:
https://bcparksfoundation.ca/projects/parks-bank/okanagan-mountain-park/
Waiting for Spring at Ginty’s Pond / Nʔaʕx̌ʷt
Waiting for Spring at our Ginty’s Pond restoration area!
This part of Ginty’s Pond, known as Nʔaʕx̌ʷt in the syilx language was restored in fall 2022 in collaboration with Lower Similkameen Indian Band, the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Protection, the BC Wildlife Federation, our property neighbours, local businesses, and others.
Our team deepened over a hectare of cattail-clogged wetland to restore it to a more productive open water condition, introduced a lot of coarse woody debris, and planted about 1700 native trees and shrubs to create new habitats for several species-at-risk. While we wait for Spring to arrive, SILT is continuing work on improving site signage and visitor experiences at the property, as well as working with Similkameen Elementary-Secondary School and community volunteers to conduct post-restoration monitoring.
Use the link below to learn more about the Ginty’s Pond restoration project and to donate to help SILT conserve even more wildlife habitat.
Read more about the Ginty’s Pond Restoration Project
DONATE TO SILT
Shoreline restoration projects at Twin and Skaha Lakes
Shoreline Restoration Projects Completed
SILT completed two shoreline restoration projects this fall at Twin Lakes and Skaha Lake, with support from Love Your Lake, Canadian Wildlife Federation and Watersheds Canada. Restoration plans were designed based on recommendations from the 2020 Love Your Lake property surveys, which can now be downloaded by shoreline property owners throughout the Okanagan.
The restoration projects included planting native shrubs, perennials and trees along the shoreline and within the riparian area on both lakes. The goal of these projects was to create a naturalized riparian buffer that will stabilize the bank, reduce erosion, and filter runoff into the lake. Adding native species and trees into the riparian buffer will also create wildlife habitat for aquatic and land-based species.
A special thank you to Sagebrush Nursery for their involvement in both restoration projects.
Read the full story on Castanet