$4M in donations means expansion coming for Okanagan Mountain Park

Okanagan Mountain Park will soon expand thanks to the generosity of the public.

The BC Parks Foundation (BCPF) has hit a lofty $4-million fundraising goal that will allow for the purchase of 151.7 acres of private land that will be added to the provincial park.

The new protected area is along the waterfront, north of Rattlesnake Island.

BCPF CEO Andy Day says that the new addition to the park will allow wildlife and threatened species in the area to have a home free from disturbance.

Of course, it will also be preserved as a spot for people to enjoy the beautiful Okanagan outdoors.

“This land will be protected forever because of the spirit of people like you, who care about BC and want to keep it beautiful. You are the source of the magic and result,” he said in an open letter.

“Please take a moment to feel proud of what you have accomplished, and to celebrate this wonderful news. It’s a wonderful gift you have made together--- one that will keep giving to species and people now and in the future. Thank you!”

The BCPF says this purchase is just the start of a larger campaign to create a wildlife corridor that runs 65 kilometres to Kalamalka Provincial Park.

On an even more significant scale, the larger vision from the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) and the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program (OCCP) is to extend that wildlife corridor down into Washington State.

According to the BCPF, the Okanagan is home to one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in Canada, with a significant concentration of threatened species.

ONA cultural coordinator Dixon Terbasket sees the corridor and the protection of lands within it as an essential move.

"If we block the animals...we're slowly going to peter out the numbers, the numbers are going to decrease, and we're not going to have any more,” he explained.

The BCPF notes there are more than 150 species that would have a better chance at long-term survival with the creation of a wildlife corridor like this.