Western Meadow Lark Photo by Terry Parker
Myths and Facts about the Proposed Park
Myth: Parks Canada will expropriate private land to make the national park reserve. Local people
will be forced to leave their homes.
Fact: This claim is untrue. It is illegal under the National Parks Act to expropriate land
for a national park. Private land will become part of the park only if the owner is willing to sell.
Myth: A national park will increase the fire hazard to local communities by eliminating
cattle grazing, thereby allowing the grasses to grow taller, resulting in more intense wild fires.
Fact: A national park will decrease the fire hazard in the area by bringing greater
resources and expertise for wildfire management. Parks Canada personnel are foremost experts
in Canada on wildfire management and prevention and will augment existing Forest Service fire
crews.
Preservation will encourage a bunchgrass ecosystem which is less prone to serious fires.
In addition, studies show that cattle grazing actually raises the risk of catastrophic
wildfires over time. This is because the suppression of native bunchgrasses by grazing cattle
and the tilling of the soil by their hooves assists the growth of large woody shrubs and the
encroachment of trees into the grasslands. Woody shrubs and trees burn much hotter than grasses
do. Fires also “climb up” young trees and spread to the crowns of much larger trees, which
normally are fire resistant at their bases due to their thick corky bark.
Myth: Cattle grazing is necessary to keep BC’s grasslands healthy. BC’s grasslands
evolved with intense grazing pressure from native wildlife and therefore need cattle now that
most of the native grazers are gone.
Fact: The Okanagan grasslands naturally never had any major sedentary or semi-sedentary
grazers like bison or elk (the elk here are introduced) unlike the Canadian prairies. Heavy
cattle grazing suppresses and weakens the native bunchgrasses here. Threatened grassland birds
like Brewer’s sparrows and grasshopper sparrows lose their nesting habitat when grasses are
cropped short by cattle. Invasive weeds like cheatgrass and knapweed colonize the barren soil
trampled by cattle. There is a place for cattle ranching – virtually all of the BC interior’s
public lands are open to cattle. But at least a few areas must be left in their natural state.
The antelope brush ecosystem or “pocket desert” is unique in Canada and highly endangered. Photo by Steve Cannings.
Myth: The national park reserve will exclude local people from accessing the land for
recreation.
Fact:
Hiking, horseback riding, fishing, rock-climbing, picnicking, bird watching and
photography are all enjoyed in national parks across Canada. Local people will be guaranteed
access to enjoy these lands – as the lands will remain in public hands from then on, safe from
being sold-off to private owners that threatens Crown lands throughout much of southern BC.
It is true that off-road vehicles are prohibited in national parks – however there are plenty of
areas outside national parks where they can be driven (most of the province).
Myth: Hunters will have no options left if the national park reserve is created.
Fact:
The national park would only take a small fraction of the hunting lands in the region. A 15
minute drive east of Osoyoos brings you to vast tracts of public forests and grasslands, almost
all of which is open to hunting. First Nations’ subsistence hunting would be allowed to continue
in the national park reserve, as is consistent with Canadian law.
Myth: The park will eliminate cattle ranching from the region.
Fact:
The park will result in the gradual phasing out of only a few ranches (on a willing seller,
willing buyer basis). It would remove only avery small fraction of cattle grazing lands in the
southern interior.
Myth: Expensive park entrance fees will prevent local people from enjoying the park lands.
Fact:
Parks Canada has publicly said there will be no entrance fees for the park.
