Local elk herd on Bench is under threat

The Greyback elk herd whose winter home is on the Naramata Bench is in danger.

The development company, Canadian Horizons, is proposing for the third time, a housing development on approximately 126acres of beautiful land that is inhabited by a significant herd of elk and several at-risk species.

Over 140 elk live on these hillsides above the Naramata Bench from November to March, prior to moving up the mountain to raise their babies in summer.

With each subsequent revised subdivision plan at 1050 Spiller Rd, the developer's environmental reports get watered down. The current report says “overall, elk might not be expected to use the site in the future, given the proposed plan.”

According to Swanson Forestry Services, the developer is going to clear cut 11,250 trees. So much for kicking off Penticton’s Urban Forest Management Plan. And that will just be the beginning of clearing trees from the landfill to Three Blind Mice and destroying the elks’ territory.

We need to be concerned about the elk and loss of habitat, the fragile ecosystem of the steep hillsides, trees, water runoff and resulting erosion.

The Sierra Club of B.C. are concerned, why aren’t we? (Source: rb.gy/z2tqo)

The Penticton Indian Band is very concerned and have let city council know this in no uncertain terms.

According to B.C.’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act development of the land can’t go forward without agreement from Indigenous governing bodies that reflect free, prior and informed consent.

Lynn Walford Penticton