Subalpine meadows and old burn on Little White. The old burn on Little White dates back to the 1930's. Photo credit: Ian Pooley
Save little White Mountain and the South Slope
Little White is a mountain in crisis. At an elevation of nearly 2,200 metres, Little White is the only mountain with alpine habitat near Kelowna. Currently, its approximately 20,000 hectares of subalpine forest and alpine meadow are threatened by logging, cattle grazing, and uncontrolled use of ATVs.
The "South Slope" is the forested slope, cut by several large canyons, that extend from the urban boundaries of Kelowna to the summit ridge of Little White. It needs park protection, too.
For such a relatively small area, Little White and its South Slope harbour an amazing amount of diversity, including extensive old growth Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir at lower elevations, a hotspring at mid elevation, and uniquely beautiful alpine meadows near the summit.
With an elevation gain of nearly 1.4 kilometeres from where the outskirts of Kelowna end barely 350 meters above Okanagan Lake, all the way up to the summit, its deep-walled canyons, cliffs, and granite escarpments are unequalled anywhere else in the central Okanagan for their breath-taking beauty. It encompasses grizzly bear, elk and mountain goat habitat.
The Little White Mountain-South Slope wilderness is threatened on all sides by relentless clearcut logging. Pine beetle salvage operations and massive clearcuts have already denuded much of the high plateau to the south, east, and west. It urgently needs protection as a wilderness area park.
The backyard wilderness of Kelowna—Little White—must be treasured and protected, not developed and destroyed. It's an irreplacable recreational and natrual wilderness—a priceless asset—for the largest city in the Okanagan to hold in trust forever.
Save Chapperon-Shorts
...and keep it as an unspoiled natural marvel!
Chapperon-Shorts wilderness area lies to the west of Okanagan Lake. At roughly 20,000 hectares. It is the largest undisturbed area on the west side of the Okanagan Valley. It contains a spectacular deep canyon and old growth forests of Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. Chapperon-Shorts wilderness is home for a remnant population of California Big Horn Sheep.
It provides a unique remaining natural corridor from the floor of the Okanagan Valley to the high South Thompson Uplands and the grasslands of the Douglas Lake plateau.
Like every other wilderness area left in Okanagan, it is threatened by logging on all sides and the threat is growing. The area around Terrace Mountain to the south and the Chapperon and Whitman Creek drainages to the north have been extensively clearcut, and more logging in the area is in industry's short term plans.
The high hiking trail on the north rim of Shorts Canyon leads to one of the finest mountain and canyon networks in the Valley. Shorts Creek deserves special protection as a natural marvel!
