Ginty’s Pond, named after Ginty Cawston, is a 15.5-acre wetland located in Cawston within the territory of the Smelqmix people. SILT acquired it in 1990 for its riparian value and to protect public access. It is also known as Lowe Slough and as nʔaʕx̌ʷt in the syilx language,. In 1992 the land was leased to the Ministry of Forests Lands & Natural Resource Operations to manage.
When purchased by SILT, the pond was mostly open water fringed with cattail. In recent decades, the cattail has expanded to infill the open water, reducing the pond’s habitat value. While this is a natural process, it does not suit the reason why SILT acquired Ginty’s Pond—which was to maintain the pond as a productive wetland wildlife habitat forever.
In 2020, SILT, the (now) BC Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship (MLWRS), the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB), and the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF) decided to collaborate to restore Ginty’s Pond, with substantive funding provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Province of BC, and the Real Estate Foundation of BC.
Our group formed a co-leadership team to develop and implement a plan to return a portion of nʔaʕx̌ʷt – Ginty’s Pond to its former open water habitat condition.
Read more about the Ginty’s Restoration Project by clicking this link.
SILT is a registered non-profit society and tax receipts can be issued for donations of cash or property or bequests from estates, so consider making a tax-deductible donation of money or land or including the society in your will, in order to further our common objectives of conserving habitat for the Okanagan’s wildlife. Learn more about how you can make a difference. SILT has no paid staff, so all donations go directly to fulfilling the society’s mandate of purchasing and restoring habitat for fish and wildlife. Instead it is operated by a volunteer board of directors.
