What are grasslands?

Grasslands are way more than just grass and sagebrush. They have many native flowering shrubs, aspen groves and, in springtime and early summer, are chock-a-bloc with wildflowers, butterflies and birdsong.

Our grasslands are a mixture of native bunch grasses with associated dry-land adapted trees and shrubs growing in moister areas such as ravines, protected hollows and on slopes experiencing lower evaporation losses. Highly desirable grassland components are small lakes and drying ponds for drinking and spawning as well as access along natural corridors to lake shores, stream sides and suitable over-wintering/seasonal feeding areas.

What’s the problem?

Sadly, only a minority of our local grasslands remain pristine or close to it. The major problems tend to be human induced such as overgrazing and/or the introduction of alien plants. Happily, restoration remains a viable option for most although some are beyond redemption…either fragmented into too small a parcel to remain ecologically viable or isolated by surrounding developments such that they are beyond the threshold of environmental sustainability.

Today, only limited grasslands remain in the public domain in the North Okanagan; mostly they were pre-empted by early settlers and are now privately held. In earlier days, the main threat was losses to agriculture. Grasslands became virtually synonymous with grazing and forage; they are easily farmed, make great orchards and are highly valued as hillside vineyards.

In more recent times, golf courses have replaced huge swaths of grasslands, large housing tracts have been developed on them and extensive existing grassland acreage is already approved in Greater Vernon for future housing to accommodate our forecast population growth.

In times past, from a public access perspective, private ownership of grasslands didn’t matter as much as it does today… but times change. Areas previously open to the public are now posted off limits for a variety of reasons. New owners, new rules, new no trespassing signs and so it goes.

Recently, yet another scientific report was released; this time under the auspices of Biodiversity BC called Taking Nature’s Pulse: The Status of Biodiversity in British Columbia. Once again, as earlier ecosystem oriented reports invariably do, it underlined that grasslands such as those found within Greater Vernon are BC’s most threatened ecosystem, bar none.

We continue to crowd out species that depend upon grasslands for their survival. Private owners are increasingly posting their grasslands thereby denying public recreational access. Nothing illegal with this; private owners are entitled to post their grasslands, to apply for rezoning for other uses and to offer them for sale. Grass Roots for Grasslands is meant to address the problem; to provide a means for preserving our grassland heritage in Greater Vernon as best we can.

What’s makes our grasslands special?

Well, there is the visual specialness. Our grasslands are what you see when looking up from our homes and workplaces. A truly spectacular vista, is it not? Few communities are blessed with such a magnificent skyline and scenic hillside slopes. It behooves us to cherish them in all their natural glory and to keep them as a feast for our eyes and those of children as yet unborn.

Then there is the environmental specialness. The ecological value of our grasslands is immense and cannot be replaced. The Bella Vista and Commonage grasslands are home to specialized birds and animals that either do not adapt or adapt poorly to cultivated fields, golf courses and housing developments. One such signature species is the Western Meadowlark, a bird whose sweet song carries over the blue lupines, yellow balsamroot and other wildflowers that turn these grasslands into a springtime rainbow of colour. One of Canada’s greatest birders, the Okanagan’s very own Dick Cannings, has noted worrisome declines in our Western Meadowlark population as their grassland habitat is converted to other uses.

Not much grassland remains around Middleton Mountain or in the Country Springs/Foothills areas and what does is rapidly being developed for housing, streets and other urban infrastructure. Likewise, rapid grassland loss has occurred on the Bella Vista slopes in just a few short years. The Rise is maybe 5 years old, Turtle Mountain is even more recent and at Adventure Bay another road is being built up the hillside to open another largely grassland tract for development.

Action needs to be taken soon if we are to preserve environmentally viable parcels of our remaining grasslands for our own enjoyment, let alone the enjoyment of future generations. We do not need more scientific studies to inform us, a simple look around from anywhere in Greater Vernon easily shows how prevalent our loss of grasslands is. Perhaps the most crucial problem of all is ongoing grassland fragmentation into smaller and still smaller parcels. These fragments are less ecologically sustainable and the accompanying loss of critical wildlife corridors to provide connections amongst what is left reduces them into isolated pockets incapable of maintaining ecosystem status.

How can we make a difference?

Fortunately, some important steps have been taken. We know fairly well where the high environmental value areas and wildlife corridors are. They have been mapped on a macro basis by biologists using provincially recognized sensitive ecosystem inventory (SEI) criteria/methodology and further refined by local biological consultants into environmentally sensitive areas (ESA).

Additional work identifying the top 10 properties along the Bella Vista slopes and on the Commonage containing large amounts of high and medium ESA values has been done and the properties have been ranked in order of their ESA values. This was done primarily by means of aerial photography and field verification where owners permitted access to their lands. It includes environmental values other than grasslands so is not ideal for our purposes but certainly points us in the right direction.

The Grasslands Conservation Council of BC’s priority grasslands analysis for the North Okanagan should be available by spring 2009. It will provide a distinct justification for the conservation of certain grasslands by identifying the minimum amount of land needed to ensure the survival of grassland plants and wildlife. In essence, it will identify what and how much grassland we need to preserve.

Much remains to be done in the realm of being proactive to make proper use of this work. One step we are initiating is to have a North Okanagan grasslands acquisition fund with a view to partnering with local governments, the province, local business/service groups and non government environmental funding organizations to protect the most critical areas of our North Okanagan grasslands when they come on the market. We also intend to seek out and apply for grants but often matching funds or a show of strong local support is a prerequisite. Hence, our Grass Roots for Grasslands initiative. So much has been and is being lost that we need to act fairly soon while opportunities to protect some viable grassland ecosystems still exist.

Where do we stand today?

1. We hope to do our fundraising through the existing North Okanagan Parks and Natural Areas Trust (NOPNAT). It is able to provide charitable receipts for cash donations and can also accept bequests in kind as well as provide stewardship for lands donated or protected by covenants. NOPNAT has reviewed our fund raising request on a preliminary basis and has asked one of their board members, Bill Wagner, to follow up and seek answers to concerns raised during their initial review.
2. The Grass Roots for Grasslands proposal has been endorsed by the North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club (NONC) executive and they have committed $300 to it once an appropriate fund raising mechanism is in place; that is the maximum the executive can subscribe to without going to the full membership for approval.

Jim Bodkin, October 2008, NONC rep on Vernon’s EAC

1. Tasha Sargent, Stewardship Planner, Grasslands Conservation Council of BC is aware of Grass Roots for Grasslands and fully supports the intent of the initiative. She has committed to provide us with detailed maps pinpointing the sites and relative ecological values of our local grasslands.
2. The Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program (OCCP) steering committee has discussed Grass Roots for Grasslands. They, according to Susan Latimer, Program Coordinator, think it might be a bit premature to endorse at this time given other funding initiatives that are currently under discussion but generally are supportive. Our intent is to meld our efforts and work towards the creation of a funding mechanism with some seed money at hand that is ready to go at once if and when an opportunity crops up to preserve some of our grasslands.
3. Al McNiven, Greater Vernon Parks and Recreation Director, is aware of Grass Roots for Grasslands and is generally supportive.
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