The Nature Trust of British Columbia is working to protect up to 1,052 hectares of the Princeton Grasslands. SUBMITTED/Nature Trust of B.C./Graham Osborne

Nature Trust of B.C. buys hundreds of hectares of Similkameen grassland

The Nature Trust of British Columbia is working to protect grassland near Princeton with the recent purchase of hundreds of hectares.

The non-profit land conservation group is working to buy up to 1,052 hectares of land known as the Princeton Grasslands-MapleCross Meadow in three phases, according to a Nature Trust of BC media release. Phase one and two are now complete with 868 hectares acquired with 189 left to go.

The property is home to important habitat for the Williamson’s sapsucker, a small woodpecker that is estimated to number less than 500 adult birds in Canada. The Princeton Grasslands are also habitat for barn swallows and olive-sided flycatchers, both threatened species, and the western screech owl. It is also adjacent to provincial winter range for mule deer.

The Princeton Grasslands is home to two threatened species, the Williamson’s Sapsucker, left, and the Lewis’s Woodpecker, right. | Credit: SUBMITTED/Nature Trust of B.C./Glenn Bartley

"By working with partners like the Nature Trust of British Columbia, we are protecting our iconic British Columbian landscapes and the wildlife that call those places home," Minister of Environment Jonathan Wilkinson said in the release. "Through programs like the Canada Nature Fund’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program, we are making progress toward conserving a quarter of Canada’s land and a quarter of its oceans by 2025.”

The project has been made possible through Canada’s Natural Heritage Conservation Program, the Lightburn family, the B.C. Conservation Foundation, Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, Okanagan Similkameen Park Society, the Atkinson and Hodgson families and other supporters.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to tips@infonews.ca and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

Create a free account

Tags
Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

Steve Arstad's Stories

Related Articles