After a year of fundraising, 11 hectares of river corridor and temperate grasslands along the Similkameen River will be protected by the Nature Trust of BC.
The organization announced on Oct. 8 that they successfully acquired the land that form the Nighthawk Hill Grasslands southeast of Keremeos and west of Osoyoos in the traditional land of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (sməlqmix) and Okanagan Nation (syilx People).
The trust began fundraising in June of 2023 for the $425,000 needed for the land, which contains 100 meters of connective river corridor that provides local endangered wildlife access to the river.
According to the Nature Trust, the area is home to at least nine federally listed at-risk species, and connects the Similkameen River to the South Okanagan Grasslands Provincial Protected Area.
The South Okanagan Grasslands Provincial Protected Area is another 435 hectares of protected land.
“Thanks to the generosity of the Okanagan and Similkameen community, protecting Nighthawk Hill Grasslands is a meaningful step toward protecting B.C.’s biodiversity. These lush, thriving ecosystems will continue to provide vital habitat for hundreds of species from mammals and birds to amphibians and reptiles for generations to come,” said Dr. Jasper Lament, CEO pf the Nature Trust of BC.
The Nighthawk Grasslands are considered temperate grasslands — one of the most altered terrestrial ecosystems on earth and endangered on most continents according to the Nature Trust.
Rare and endangered big sagebrush and blue bunch wheatgrass ecological communities are prominent throughout the Nighthawk Hill Grasslands and bunchgrass ecosystems being some of the rarest land cover types in B.C. The province has less than one per cent of its land area covered by grasslands.
The Nighthawk Hill Grasslands are also home to a diverse range of imperiled species.
Endangered mammals in the area include the Pallid Bat, American Badger, Western Harvest Mouse, and Nuttall’s Cottontail. The property is home to eight at-risk birds, such as the Sage Thrasher, Barn Swallow, Common Nighthawk, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Chat, Bobolink, Bank Swallow, and Lewis’s Woodpecker.
The hot and dry climate attracts a plethora of reptiles and amphibians, such as the Western Yellow-bellied Racer, Western Tiger Salamander, Great Basin Spadefoot, Western Rattlesnake, and Great Basin Gophersnake.
In addition to the support of the Government of Canada's Natural Heritage Conservation Program, donours and members of the Okanagan and Similkmaeen community helped make the purchase possible.
