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Lower Kootenay Band partners in adventure tourism proposal

An application to create an adventure tourism tenure on the east side of Kootenay lake south of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy includes participation by the Lower Kootenay Band.
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An application to create an adventure tourism tenure on the east side of Kootenay lake south of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy includes participation by the Lower Kootenay Band.

The LKB has partnered with Retallack, a Nelson-based heli-skiing operation, in a proposal to provide a range of summer and winter guided adventure tourism activities, Chief Jason Louie has announced. The partners have submitted a joint application for a 70,000-hectare multiple use tenure that would allow guided hiking, horseback riding, climbing, and mountain biking in the summer and guided ski touring, heli-skiing, mountaineering, snowshoeing and dogsledding in the winter.

“We are interested in developing an innovative, diverse and sustainable adventure tourism economy for the long-term well-being of the Ktunaxa people and local communities. We are pleased to partner with Retallack, which has a proven local track record of business turnarounds, operational excellence, environmental leadership and innovative growth expansion into new markets. In our opinion this application presents a model of stewardship, that balances local environmental, social, cultural, and economic values,” said Chief Jason Louie.

“It is important to note that the proposed tenure area is not in current or recently proposed Federal or Provincial Caribou habitat. With the exception of the construction of a limited number of mountain biking trails, the application proposes to use the current land base ‘as-is.’ No new roads will be constructed and old growth, including the sacred White Pine, will be protected. This will help with the ongoing preservation of wild spaces. In keeping with Ktunaxa values there are also a number of innovative conservation strategies that have been proposed, for example, the use of wildlife technicians who will facilitate better ongoing monitoring and management and the commitment in our management plan for our operations to remain carbon neutral or even negative,” said Curtis Wullum, LKB Director of Development Services.

The application also indicates a plan to construct a luxury tourist lodge on LKB land known as Burden’s Cut.

“By proposing this locally-based project we are looking to help create and support long-term local employment and existing businesses but also shape this operation so that it becomes an example of how to create and manage a sustainable operation that benefits the public, the Ktunaxa people and the habitat that we share with wildlife,” said Chris McNamara, Retallack CEO. “We are entering a new age of reconciliation and we are excited with our new First Nations partnership. For over 13,000 years, the yaqan nuʔkiy have inhabited the Kootenays. Their local land management and wildlife knowledge is second-to-none.

“There are many First Nations values and principles that can be applied to enable this to become a model of stewardship that is reflective of and adaptive to public and wildlife concerns. We, therefore, remain open to public consultation and suggestions for improvements to this application.”

To submit additional comments and suggestions email sustainabletenure@gmail.com.

Eddie Petryshen, a Conservation Coordinator for Wildsight, told the Kimberley Bulletin that if the tenure is granted, it could have a huge affect on the wildlife population, wilderness, and quiet recreation value in the Purcells.

“There is documented evidence that this area has high recreational use, along with a large wildlife population of mountain goats, caribou, grizzlies, and wolverines,” Petryshen said. “We have declining wildlife populations across a pretty wide spectrum of species in the south Purcells. Caribou have declined over the last 20 years and 13 to 17 remain in the south Purcells. Wolverines are believed to exist at an extremely low density and show low connectivity with other populations in southeast BC. The latest wolverine research suggests that wolverine presence is negatively associated with forest service road density and human disturbance, and positively associated with protected areas such as provincial parks and low usage wilderness areas.

“Mountain goat numbers are also in decline, the two goat population units in the south Purcells have declined by 44 percent and 17 percent each. The bottom line is, we don’t need additional stress, disturbance, and high impact recreation on these already stressed wildlife populations and this ecosystem.”

Petryshen explained that animals such as mountain goats and caribou will initiate a predator response to helicopters, which not only stresses them out but can cause abandoned habitats. He says that flight patterns won’t be able to completely avoid critical caribou habitat, especially during times with challenging weather.

There could also be large implications on the Grizzly population, Petryshen said, and the proposed area “substantially overlaps core, secure Grizzly bear habitat”.

“Huckleberry patches used by Grizzly bears are extremely important; they determine all kinds of success in terms of their survival, including reproduction. This could mean they no longer have secure refuge areas,” said Petryshen. “These are linkage areas for Grizzly bears and they are important. For example, from Duck Lake into the Selkirks is where Grizzlies move and interchange DNA, they keep the gene pool going, and there’s potential to fragment that.”

Another key point, Petryshen says, is that this goes against the Cranbrook West Recreation Management Strategy.

“Commercial aerial use isn’t permitted in those areas; they can’t land there,” Petryshen explained. “This was a public process and agreement. The tenure proposal undermines that public process.”

With regards to the public’s recreational use of those lands, Petryshen says it could affect the value of that wilderness for locals and tourists alike.

“If we’re [eventually] going to see 30,000 annual trips, as proposed, that is constant helicopter traffic. That area is largely used for public recreation and it’s a value that we don’t always think about; most people headed up there are in search of quiet, they are seeking that escape,” Petryshen said. “This could change the way recreational users use that land and where they go.

“I think there’s also an economic implication, we’re kind of the last area that isn’t heavily tenured. I think it’s really valuable to have those places of quiet for recreation, and where wildlife can sustain.”

Wildsight will be hosting a public information session in Kimberley, Gray Creek, and Cranbrook in the coming weeks, with dates and times to be announced.

The application includes a management plan outlines Retallack and yaqan nu?kiy’s proposal, and includes proposed area maps, safety procedures, construction, wildlife population, environmental impacts, First Nations territory, public use and more. The BC Government will be accepting comments for the application until May 13, 2018. To comment on the application, visit https://arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/viewpost.jsp?PostID=54966.

(With files from Corey Bullock, Kimberley Bulletin.)