Ginty's Pond, Cawston BC
Wetland Design – 2021
Grand Forks Grasslands – Wildlife friendly fencing
In 2020, the Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT) purchased 144 hectares of grassland habitats just east of Grand Forks, in the Dry Interior of British Columbia. The property is within one of the smallest and rarest ecosystems in BC, the Ponderosa Pine very dry hot biogeoclimatic subzone of the Southern Okanogan Highlands ecosection.
You may have seen in some of our recent posts, a mention of “wildlife-friendly fencing”. SILT has been installing this fencing at the Grand Forks Grasslands conservation property, to protect and maintain the valuable ecological features of the property.
The Grand Forks Grasslands is home to at least six federally listed species-at-risk. Since being purchased by SILT, we have faced ongoing challenges with cattle and motor vehicles trespassing, which hinders habitat recovery. Despite our prohibition of these activities on our conservation properties, trespassing remains an issue.
To address this, we have installed 1.3 kilometres of new wildlife-friendly fencing and a cattleguard to help protect the Grand Forks Grasslands for wildlife.
Though the permanent fence constructed is a “wildlife-friendly” design it is still a fence and thus poses a potential obstacle and hazard to wildlife, care was taken during final layout to reduce the amount of fencing wherever practical. In addition to the fencing, drop-down wooden rail sections and seasonal gates were added at wildlife travel ways where identified.
So what exactly is wildlife-friendly fencing? These fence designs can allow animals to effectively pass over or crawl underneath a fence more easily, and also remain visible for both ungulates and birds.
Here are some key features:
- Bottom Wire: A smooth bottom wire is placed 16-18 inches from the ground, providing enough space for wildlife to crawl under
- Top Wire: The top wire is a smooth, barbless wire set at about 40 inches, making it low enough for adult animals to jump. Vinyl markers were added along the top rail, to increase visibility for ungulates and birds.
- Middle Wires: The fence has two middle wires, placed at least 1 foot below the top wire to reduce the chances of catching the legs of animals during a jump.
This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program, other donors, and in-kind support from several individuals and businesses. We would also like to extend a special thanks to the Good Samaritan in Grand Forks who has been picking up garbage at the Grasslands property – your support in keeping the conservation property clean is greatly appreciated!
Click on the image below to view the complete project report.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this project was provided in part by the Government of Canada Habitat Stewardship Program, the Southern Interior Land Trust with support from the Tom and Jennifer Foss Foundation and other donors, the Nature Trust of BC, and the BC Habitat Conservation Foundation Public Conservation Assistance Fund. SILT appreciates the several volunteers and businesses that donated their time, services, and equipment to this project, notably the Brandow family, Len Mehmal, Andy Kusch, Greg McNeil and the bridge crew from YRB Road & Bridge, and Mike Grosch from D&M Excavating. Granby Guide Outfitters, the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, JR Clifton Contracting, and Robbie Heinrich provided valuable services and expertise to the project, all of which is much appreciated. Thanks also to all those in the Grand Forks community who respect and appreciate wildlife and habitat conservation, for all living things.
In 1990, the Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT) purchased Ginty’s Pond to protect the pond’s wildlife habitat and recreation values in perpetuity. Ginty’s Pond, known as Nʔaʕx̌ʷt in the syilx language, is a 6.3 hectare oxbow wetland at Cawston, B.C., within the territory of the Smelqmix people.
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| Ron Taylor & Mark Cawston: Ginty’s Pond June 1991 | Ginty’s Pond Cattails: Pre-Restoration, August 2022 |
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 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. The project goals are to:
- Support recovery of at-risk ecosystems and several at-risk wildlife species.
- Help engage Smelqmix people in conserving and recovering at-risk species.
- Build capacity for the Smelqmix people to continue to conserve wildlife in Smelqmix territory.
When the project began, the leadership team anticipated that wetland excavation would occur in drought conditions in 2021. However, a series of challenges delayed and affected the project. These included the COVID-19 pandemic, sub-contractor availability, the unanticipated discovery of a wetland soil contaminant, an unexpected extreme flood event and, finally, the onset of severe cold weather, which forced a delay to summer 2022.
Wetland excavation got underway in September 2022 and our target to deepen and restore 1.2 hectares of cattail-fringed open water wetland habitat and to create about 0.5 hectares of new tree and shrub habitat adjacent the wetland has been achieved. Pond construction has included placing large pieces of woody debris and some large flat rocks within and near the wetland for wildlife to rest and bask on.
Next to the newly deepened wetland, over 1,700 native trees and shrubs have been planted with the help of local secondary school students and other community volunteers. In time, these plants will grow to create new habitat for species at risk such as Lewis’s Woodpecker, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Western Screech-owl, along with other wildlife. The open, deepened water created by the excavation will benefit Western Painted Turtle, waterfowl, other marsh animals, and aquatic plants.
This project has been a model of community collaboration & effort.
SILT thanks everyone involved!
The Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT) had an opportunity to construct an artificial snake den recently while disposing of some broken concrete and pipe debris on the R.E.Taylor Conservation Property.
To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to construct an artificial snake den in the southern interior of BC, for no other reason than to potentially enhance den and security habitat for snakes and other reptiles.
The site is just outside a natural stream floodplain; we are targeting rubber boa and gartersnake though other species may use the den. It was a ‘use the materials that are on hand’ and ‘use them close to where they occur’ exercise.
We researched this installation based on similar successful artificial dens constructed in Ontario and New Jersey.
The Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation helped fund SILT to clean up the debris. We thought this would be an interesting (and under budget) way of adding potential habitat value to what otherwise would essentially have been a dump run.
The Home Depot in Westbank (West Kelowna) generously donated materials to the project.
Biologist & Field Assistant, Lindsay Lalach, has created an eBird Hotspot as well as an iNaturalist Project for the R.E. Taylor property with funding provided through a grant from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
The goal of these virtual projects is to provide an opportunity for the public to continue to share any data they may collect while visiting the property in the future. This will provide useful insight to SILT on what species are present at the property at different times of year and may lead to new knowledge of species-at-risk that may be present. Click on the above links to either contribute or learn more about the wildlife species observed on this unique conservation property.
Visit the R.E.Taylor Conservation Property page to learn more about this wonderful conservation property.
The Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT) has, for over 30 years, worked in the southern interior of British Columbia to protect and preserve habitat for all living things. Natural lake shorelines, with their ribbon of native plants benefit wildlife and animal movement; protect properties from flood and erosion; and support ecological processes essential to clean, drinkable, swimmable, fishable water. Purchasing lakeshore for conservation is prohibitively expensive, so SILT is exploring other ways to spark widespread voluntary care of lakeshores to benefit all living things, including people.
In 2019, SILT partnered with Watersheds Canada and the Canadian Wildlife Federation to pilot the highly successful Love Your Lake (LYL) program for the first time in British Columbia. SILT’s 3-year LYL project provided every lakeshore landowner on Okanagan Lake in Summerland, Skaha Lake, Vaseux Lake, Tuc-el-nuit Lake, Twin Lakes, and Trout Lake near Twin Lakes with access to a free, private evaluation of their shoreline. Every report includes property-specific voluntary suggestions for how to reduce flood and erosion risk and improve lake health while still protecting the waterfront view. These reports ‘run with the land’; landowners may obtain their shoreline property report by visiting the Love your Lake Report Download Page or contact SILT at office@siltrust.ca
Over the three years, trained project staff assessed almost 900 (all) shoreline parcels on the lakes listed from a boat on a property-by-property basis using a standardized protocol and data sheet. Following the assessments, each shoreline property owner was sent a personal online access code needed to download their free report. Each owner’s report contains information about the state of their unique shoreline and suggestions of voluntary actions they can take, specifically tailored to their shoreline, to improve the health of their lake. In addition, the LYL Program prepared Lake Summary Reports, available to everyone. These reports summarize the data over the entire lake and identify community values and stewardship opportunities applicable to that lake.
I believe this is a great project to help home owners on Skaha Lake look at ways they can contribute to the lake’s health. I appreciate that the funder(s) have seen the value of this project and supported it, particularly given the number of residences on the shores of Skaha Lake. I look forward to receiving the report on our property along with any recommendations and working with our neighbours to improve and enhance the lakeshore. We have tried to do things already such as encouraging reed growth and building a dock with a flow thru surface to let light through the surface to the water. Any additional suggestions regarding the foreshore, plants, etc. will be helpful. It was also great to receive information about the study in advance and to have the opportunity to talk with the individuals while they were in their boat taking pictures.
- R.C., Kaleden
All information contained in the individual shoreline property reports and lake summary reports is non-regulatory. All organizations involved in the LYL program take privacy issues very seriously.
As part of the project, SILT also encouraged several shoreline property owners and public property managers to implement some of their LYL suggestions to create demonstration sites where their neighbours and others can see how lakeshore restoration works. SILT and the LYL Program hope that the benefits of this project will continue on the lakes already assessed, and be carried to other lakes in future. Follow the links below to see SILT’s annual project reports.
Funding and other support for this project was provided by the South Okanagan Conservation Fund administered by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, Watersheds Canada, SILT, and other contributors.
Love Your Lake Project Reports
Click the Logo to open report
Useful Resources & Links for Shoreline Property Owners
Provincial Shoreline Management Information:
Dock Rules and Applications: General Permissions Available or contact Front Counter BC 1-877-855-3222
Shoreline Development: Requirements under Riparian Areas Regulation
Septic Systems: Installing, managing and maintaining them
Retaining walls and erosion control structures: Regulations under Water Sustainability Act and Approval for Work in and about a Stream.
Government Contacts:
Province of BC, Best Management Practices
Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen 101 Martin Street, Penticton, BC Canada V2A 5J9 – Toll Free in BC and Alberta: 1-877-610-3737 Phone: 250-492-0237
District of SummerlandDistrict of Summerland Location: 13211 Henry Avenue, Summerland BC Canada; Mailing Address: Box 159, Summerland BC V0H 1Z0 Phone: 250-494-6451
Organizations to help with Water issues, Shoreline Stewardship and Conservation:
Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association
Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society
Vaseux Migratory Bird Sanctuary: Information about the sanctuary, and restrictions related to public use of the area.
South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program resources for landowners https://soscp.org/caring-for-your-space/
Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society: ideas about how to add value for wildlife to your property.
Southern Interior Land Trust
Okanagan Basin Water Board
Other Useful Websites:
Climate Change: Climate Change Guide for Landowners
Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Shoreline Management: Lakeshore Living in the Okanagan
Living with Wildlife in BC: Resource materials to address conflicts with wildlife
Native Plant List: Okanagan Xeriscape Association
Click here To download a complete copy of all these links
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