A Wildlife Paradise
Huge Douglas fir in the Clarke Grove, Upper Elaho Valley. Photo credit: Kerry Dawson
The 260,000 hectare Stoltmann Wilderness is a rich mosaic of oldgrowth forests, alpine meadows, marshes, rivers and glaciers. All together it's a lot of ideal fish and wildlife habitat!
The four big pristine valleys-the Upper Elaho, Sims, Clendenning and the Upper Lillooet-all have outstanding fish streams. The lower five kilometers of Sims Creek is known for its large trout. According to the B.C Ministry of Environment, it is a Class A fish bearing stream (government's highest possible rating). The Upper Elaho River is also rated as a Class A stream below the canyon which begins just upstream from its confluence with Clendenning Creek (see the map above). The Clendenning too, is a Class A stream with trout living in all but the uppermost headwaters. Because fish migration into the Upper Lillooet River was blocked by lava flow that formed a barrier to migration several thousands years ago-Key Hole Falls-the fish there may be genetically unique.
B.C. government biologists have estimated the numbers of some of the large wildlife species inhabiting the Stoltmann Wilderness at 8 grizzly bear, 700 black bear, 55 moose, 240 mountain goats, 8 wolves, and 15 cougars. This is a 'wildlife roll-call' unequalled by any provincial park in the Lower Mainland.
Tree hugger on the WCWC hiking route. Photo credit: Kerry Dawson
The Stoltmann Wilderness also contains a number of species made rare by habitat destruction elsewhere. One of these is the Keen's long-ear bat, found only in the low elevation forests of the Elaho, Sims, Clendenning and Lillooet valleys. This bat, which depends on oldgrowth forests for its nesting habitat, is red-listed (classified as endangered) by the B.C. Environment Ministry.
The extraordinary variety of wildlife found in the Stoltmann Wilderness should come as no surprise. After all, the Stoltmann Wilderness is the biggest wild area with the largest extent of oldgrowth forests left on B.C's southwest coast.
