Stoltmann Wilderness Facts:
- The Stoltmann Wilderness Area is endangered. MacMillan Bloedel is currently building a logging road up the Upper Lillooet River Valley and Interfor is building a logging road up Sims Creek.
- Its remote wilderness characteristics provide outstanding back country recreation opportunities to a rapidly growing population in Southwestern B.C.. "The wilderness values of this area are dependent on the protection of these undeveloped valley-bottom to mountain-top landscapes which make this area special compared to the surrounding region where virtually all major valleys have been roaded and at least partially logged" (Randy Stoltmann - 1994 Clendenning/Elaho/Upper Lillooet Proposal to Protected Areas Strategy).
- It contains the closest viable population of grizzly bear to the Lower Mainland and is the south-westerly limit of moose in B.C. The high numbers of deer and the presence of wolf, wolverine, mountain goat, black bear, cougar, and pine marten that use this area for food and shelter make it crucial to keep the low elevation forests in these valleys.
- The old growth Douglas fir and cedar forests of the Stoltmann Wilderness are virtually gone everywhere else and are severely under-represented in existing protected areas.
- Conservation biologists recognize that the best means to protect natural forest ecosystems and wildlife that depend on them is protecting intact watershed areas.
- According to the Ministry of Forests' own study, the Upper Lillooet is recognized as having the most diverse wilderness values of any candidate study area in the Squamish Forest District.
- Special features of the Stoltmann Wilderness include waterfalls, volcanos, wetlands, record-sized rare white pines, and precious winter cover for wildlife.
