Share views on national park reserve

Parks Canada opens online consultation on proposal for South Okanagan-Similkameen

Parks Canada is urging people to have their say about a proposed national park reserve in the region.

Let’s Talk South Okanagan-Similkameen is a survey that was launched on Monday and will run until Feb. 28, 2019. It gives people the chance to have their voices heard, but online only at www.letstalksouthokanagansimilkameen.ca.

While people can simply say whether or not they support the park, Parks Canada is hoping for more from respondents.

“What is extremely helpful to us and to the process is indicating why Yes or why No,” Parks Canada director of protected area establishment Kevin McNamee told reporters during a conference call Wednesday.

The survey takes 15 minutes to complete, and answers will be kept confidential.

Once the consultation phase is complete, proposed park boundaries are expected to be made public sometime next summer.

Concerns for cattle ranching and the level of activity that will be allowed to continue weren’t thoroughly discussed during the teleconference, with McNamee only saying that Parks Canada is committed to working with ranchers so grazing can continue.

“We will be meeting with the ranching community separately to go over more details, but no decisions have been made yet,” he said.

“To make it clear, there are private ranchlands that would not be part of the national park,” he added. “Should ranchers want to sell their lands, it would be on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.”

Project manager Sarah Boyle noted Parks Canada is also committed to working with Indigenous communities, and she’s in the process of facilitating meetings with a variety of local groups.

An interactive map on the survey website allows users to drop pins for activities they would like to see in the park.

The site also offers a forum for users to discuss with one another their thoughts and concerns on proposed topics.

Boyle told the Regional District of South OkanaganSimilkameen in September it’s expected to take 12 years to get the park established, and operations would commence after that.

Discussion and research surrounding the proposed national park area, which stretches roughly from Vaseux Lake south to the Canada-U.S. border and west to Keremeos, has been ongoing for at least 15 years.