By Steve Hubrecht
A conservation area in the south end of the Columbia Valley has just grown a little larger.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada recently purchased a 129-hectare property that includes part of the shoreline of Larsen Lake. The property will be managed as part of a complex of conservation properties south of Canal Flats collectively known as the Kootenay River Ranch Conservation Area.
The owner of the 129 hectares had hoped to create a nature retreat on the property.
When it proved too difficult to fulfill that dream, the owner was happy to instead see it become a conservation area, said Nature Conservancy of Canada Canadian Rockies program director Richard Klafki.
The new addition to Kootenay River Ranch is a mix of forest (larch, aspen, Douglas Fir), grassland and even some small wetland areas. It has particular value for conservation since it is part of the valley bottom and much of the valley bottom land in the Columbia Valley (and indeed the entire Rocky Mountain Trench) is already developed.
“It adds to connectivity,” said Klafki, creating linkages and wildlife corridors that a wide range of animals use to traverse from one habitat to another. Grizzly bears are just one species that use the area as a corridor, Klafki told the Pioneer, adding there have been grizzly tracks in the snow this October and in the mud this September on the Larsen Lake property.
The 129 hectares is used as winter range by ungulates such as moose, elk and mule and white-tail deer, and is home to endangered American badgers. The wetlands on it are habitat for migratory waterfowl, fish, amphibians, as well as bats. The property also has substantial songbird habitat.
The Larsen Lake property is surrounded by Crown land “so there is no development pressure,” said Klafki.
Residents in the Skookumchuck and Premier Lake area use Larsen Lake for recreation, including hiking and, in the winter, cross country skiing, and they will continue to be able to do so on the Nature Conservancy’s new land – the entire Kootenay River Ranch conservation complex is open to the public for walking and nature appreciation.
With the addition of the Larsen Lake property, the Kootenay River Ranch conservation complex is now 1,644 hectares in size. The conservation area began in 2004 when the Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased 1,255 hectares. It expanded significantly in 2020, with the addition of 260 hectares.
