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Management plan laid out for popular Vernon park

Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park focus of plan and Dec. 10 meeting
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BC Parks is in the process of developing a management plan for Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park.

A draft management plan has been prepared and is now accessible.

Public comments will be accepted on the draft management plan until Jan. 31, 2019. Those interested can either fill out an online comment form or download the PDF comment form which can be mailed in.

To learn more about the plan, BC Parks will be hosting a public information session in Vernon on Monday, Dec. 10. Key BC Parks staff will be on-hand to answer questions on the draft management plan. Participants are welcome to fill out/submit hard copy comment forms at the public information session.

See related: Kal Park plan harvesting input

The draft and other documents are available here: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/planning/mgmtplns/kalamalka-lk/

“Steadily increasing park visitation, in all seasons, has created challenges; however, the implementation of strategic management approaches has greatly lessened impacts to park values,” reads the vision statement in the report. “This has been achieved by not only increasing public awareness and acknowledgement of the park’s unique and fragile ecosystem, but also by enacting strategies such as restoring and reclaiming sensitive grasslands, enhanced research and monitoring of species at risk, and deploying preventative measures to address issues associated with recreational impacts and carrying capacity.”

Some of the key strategies include:

- Utilize park zoning (i.e., Nature Recreation Zone-Linear) to avoid user conflict and limit trail expansion in areas that are highly sensitive to degradation (e.g., the Special Natural Feature Zone that includes areas such as Rattlesnake Hill and Cosens Valley).

- Investigate the reconfiguration of motorized watercraft access locations in high use beach areas (e.g., Cosens, Jade and Juniper bays) to minimize risks/conflicts with swimmers and beach users.

- explore opportunities to support horse use originating from the Twin Bays parking lot.


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jennifer@vernonmorningstar.com

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Jennifer Smith

About the Author: Jennifer Smith

Vernon has always been my home, and I've been working at The Morning Star since 2004.
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