HUMAN USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE SOUTH OKANAGAN AND LOWER SIMILKAMEEN VALLEYS

Richard J. Cannings and Eva Durance

HISTORICAL (NON-NATIVE LAND USE)

TWENTIETH CENTURY

1900-1960's

AGRICULTURE

In the last decade of the 19th and the first decade of the 20th century, the economy of the Okanagan Valley changed dramatically although still dependent largely on natural resource exploitation. Agriculture became much more diversified, ranching declined, and horticultural crops quickly came to dominate the field. As markets for livestock markets declined, the cattle industry was reduced to three large operations which dominated the Provincial market and forced small ranches to market through them or produce hay to support their operation. By 1910, almost all the non-native ranches in the Okanagan had been sold to foreign developers who invested in irrigation and turned the ranchlands into orchards.

In the 1952 report to the International Joint Commission United States of America and Canada, "Water Resources of the Columbia River Basin: Okanagan-Similkameen Basin", agriculture is said to occupy 27% of the labour force and have a value of $15,774,000. Of this total, however, only $1,906,000 was for dairy, sheep, hogs, and cattle. In the study area, there were about 21,000 cattle, a little less than in 1892 when the settled population of the Valley was about 400.

The shift in the type of agriculture practices in the area in the early 1900's occasioned a considerable increase in settlement. Before the turn of the century, miners had settled at Princeton, Hedley, and Cherryville, but the rise of horticultural agriculture was a much stronger impetus for settlement and the growth of urban areas. Transportation became more sophisticated when the CPR line was built from Kamloops to Okanagan Landing in 1892 and paddlewheelers plied the Lake down to Penticton. In 1915, the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) was built to Oliver and Osoyoos, giving a great boost to the developing ground crop industries, such as cantelope and zucca melon, and the orchard industry. These quickly became the mainstay of the economy in the South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen; they have remained the heart of agriculture in the region although, with the exception of a booming wine industry, have declined in overall economic importance.

In the South Okanagan and Similkameen, fruit trees were planted as early as the 1870' and the first commercial planting was James Gartrell's at Trout Creek Point in 1890. (Cox 1987). From 1900 to 1920, large areas of land were divided for orchards and open flumes were constructed for irrigation. The first dam was built on Penticton Creek in 1905. In 1914, the federal Summerland Research Station was built with an emphasis on the fruit industry, although research on other horticultural crops and livestock was conducted as well.

The completion of the Shuswap-Okanagan railway in the first decade of the century gave North Okanagan growers a link with the coast, and the orchard industry there developed quickly in the first two decades. The lack of adequate irrigation systems and of good transportation facilities for getting fruit to outside markets in the South, however, delayed widespread commercial production there until after World War 1.

In 1919, the BC government bought and subdivided 8900 ha of land along the Okanagan River for soldiers returning from the war, and built a permanent irrigation canal and system. This allowed orchards to be developed from Oliver to Osoyoos in particular and the area settled rapidly. In 1919, 2.5 million boxes of fruit were produced in the Okanagan. By 1940, the South Okanagan had 3/4 as many fruit trees as did the North, an increase of 25% in 20 years.

This trend continued after World War II as well when further development of lands chiefly as orchards was encouraged under the Veterans Land Act in Cawston, the West Bench near Penticton, Lakeview Heights across the Lake from Kelowna, and in Bankhead, Kelowna.

The 1941 Statistics Canada census (Bernard Houle, Statistics Canada, pers. comm.) reported that the then Division 3, Subdivision B, which covered the Okanagan, Similkameen, and part of the Shuswap, had 50,640 ha (125,131 ac) in agricultural use, 1042 farms, 37 ha (92 ac) in field crops, 236 ha (583 ac) in market garden crops, and 2826 ha (6983 ac) in tree fruits and vineyards. The remainder, 47,541 ha was grazing, forage crops, and related agricultural uses.

In 1950, pressurized irrigation systems were built in the 1950's, further boosting the orchard and ground crop industries. Agriculture in the Okanagan-Similkameen Basin occupied 27% of the labour force (in a population of 70,000) and was valued at $15,774,000; of this, $13,868,000 was for tree fruits the majority of which was in the South Okanagan Valley, and $1,906,000 was for vegetables.

The 1985 Environment Canada report, Okanagan Fruitlands,which included the fruit-growing area of the Lower Similkameen, reported that in 1958 of the 83,979 ha covered in the report, 67, 574 ha, or 81%, were in agriculture and related uses including forage, grazing, annual crops, tree fruits, grapes, and nurseries. Of this 3350 ha were in annual crop production, an amount that declined to 1139 ha in 1981, and 64,224 ha in forage, grazing, tree fruits, grapes, and nurseries. The area covered is more or less the same as in the 1941 Census except for the area of the latter within the Shuswap.

1960-1980

"Until the 1960's, the Okanagan-Similkameen region was a rural society with only three small towns, Vernon, Kelowna, and Penticton, and a number of villages. The South Okanagan had the highest percentage of the population at 40.4 per cent in 1956 ... . The economy was based on sawmilling and fruit growing with some summer tourism." (Durance and Gibson. Environmental Profile... p. 10)

The Environment Canada report, Okanagan Fruitlands, 1985, notes, however, that by 1969, the total amount of farmland (for their purposes, any land suitable for tree fruits and grapes, but not including all lands under agricultural uses) had dropped from 67,574 ha to 63,024 ha, a decline of 4500 ha, and occuped 76% of the area studied. Built-up uses (housing, industry, highways, etc.) had increased in the same period from 4% to 7% of the total land base.

By the 1970's, agriculture had declined somewhat in relative importance and forestry, recreation, retirement living services, and light manufacturing had developed a stronger place in the economy of the area. The 1971 census showed that the Okanagan Similkameen Regional District had 1623 farms with 115,840 ha (286,238 ac) in agricultural use. Of this, 12,925 ha (31,938 ac) were in annual crops and 5957 ha (14,720 ac) in tree fruits.

In the period 1958-69, a considerable amount of land had been converted from orchards to other agricultural uses as well as some to housing and other urban-related activities; however, from 1969 to 1975, before the Agricultural Land Reserve was set up, the greater part of this second, irreversible, type of conversion occurred; 1100 ha, or 69% of the total conversion to housing, etc. went on from 1958-75. Further, from 1971 to 1986, 26% of farmland in the Okanagan Valley was converted to non-agricultural uses. (Charting a Course...), much of it in the Kelowna area.

Grape growing and wine production in the study area is quite recent and in counter-distinction to the decline in other agricultural crops. Some attempts were made early in the 20th century to produce the fruit commercially in Penticton (Fisher, "Grape Growing in the Southern Interior", p. 31), but not until the late 1950's and 1960's did the crop become an important venture. Since 1957, however, grapes for fresh market and wine have been grown extensively in the Oliver-Osoyoos area, and to a lesser extent in Summerland and Penticton area. In the past five to eight years, the industry has expanded greatly with new vineyards and wineries appearing each year in the South Okanagan with a few in the Similkameen.

1980-PRESENT

Ranching has continued at much the same level as in the 1950's. Statistics for 1991 show 24,231 head of beef cattle in the South Okanagan and Similkameen; 1996 saw a slight increase to 24,815 head.

The 1981 Statistics Canada census reported that in the RDOS, there were 1734 farms with 74,910 ha (185,101 ac) in agricultural use; of this amount, 13,838 ha (34,194 ac) were in ground crops and 5305 ha (13,109 ac) in tree fruits. From 1971, there had been an increase of 111 farms, a decrease in total amount of land in agricultural use of 101,137 acres, an increase in amount of land in ground crops of 2,256 acres, and a decrease in orchard lands of 1611 acres. Agricultural activity had declined to 61% of the study area and general built-up uses to 15% of the area.

From 1986 to 1990 orchard lands in the whole of the Okanagan- Similkameen dropped from 11,249 ha to 10,769 ha (declines in orchard land somewhat offset by increases in grape production) and the Ministry's Annual Statistics reported that vegetable lands had dropped from 1077 ha in 1984 to 957 ha in 1987. Forage production had remained stable into the 1980's and grazing increased somewhat (Durance and Gibson Environmental Profile, p. 12.) . There were still about 4000 full-time farmworkers and agricultural processors along with hobby farmers into the 1990's.

By 1992-93, the area of the Okanagan-Similkameen planted in tree fruit had declined to 10,153 ha with 5,165 ha in the study area. By 1997 the total for the Okanagan-Similkameen had decreased to 9,471 ha.

Some of the land previously under fruit trees was converted to use for vineyards, but new land has been broken for grapes (primarily wine types) as well. By the mid 1990's, there were about forty small wineries in the Okanagan, mostly in the south, and the wine-grape land base was about 800 ha (Okanagan Timber Supply Area Economic Analysis 1994). In 1994, the wine and grape industry was valued at $75 million in the Valley.

In 1996, 2990 people, or 9.9% of the labour force in the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen was involved in agriculture and related service industries (Urban Systems. Demographic, Land Use, and Economic Profiles..., Table 2.4.4) While this is a considerable drop from a few decades previously, agriculture, particularly tree fruits and recently vineyards, remains the main primary industry in the study area.

FISH AND FISHING

As was stated earlier, the Okanagan people in the study area fished extensively, although they were not primarily dependent on fish for their livelihood as were the native peoples of the Fraser River Valley. The Okanagans fished for a number of species, but mainly salmon and primarily sockeye salmon of the Columbia River runs which spawned up into Lake Okanagan. Before 1900, the total Columbia river sockeye run was over one million fish many of which migrated to upstream rivers not accessible any longer because of dams. "Significant numbers" spawned at the mouths of tributary streams along Okanagan Lake. Many kokanee possess characteristics identical to those of sockeye and are thought to be remnants of these runs. The Vaseux Lake Dam, built initially in 1915 and upgraded in the 1950's, however, stopped salmon runs north of this point.

Even by 1973, about 19,000 ocean-run sockeye spawned in the Okanagan River from Osoyoos Lake to Vaseux Lake; about two-thirds of all sockeye using the Columbia River system. (Pacific Salmon: Population and Habitat Requirements 1973). Now, however, the sockeye migrate only as far as McIntyre Creek, and only in small numbers.(R. Manual, pers. comm.) Salmon never were in the Canadian section of the Similkameen River because of Similkameen Falls south of the border.

Kokanee were also numerous, and an important food source for both native people, who "dried kokanee and stored them for their winter food supply" and settlers who "raked them out and used them for fertilizer". (Frank Shannon, "Death of a Fishery"The Okanagan Saturday, Feb. 18, 1995: A13) They spawned in tributary streams and along the shore of the Lake; the latter, however, as Shannon points out, is precarious because of low water levels in February and March when the eggs hatch. Stream spawning habitat declined in the early 20th century with the damming of creeks and reduction of water in the fall when the kokanee spawn.

Anne Burgess, a lifetime resident of Penticton, wrote in 1963, that "Fishing was a great sport in those days, but when we went fishing in Penticton Creek we didn't always take hook and ine. We would go equipped with rake and hoe, wash boiler and tubs, and as fast as our parents would rake in the fish, we children would toos them into the containers. When we thought we had our winter supply we would be on our way home. This may sound like a tall fish story to some of you, but it is true. I was there. The fish were the kickanee coming up the stream to spawn; they were related to the salmon and were delicious to eat. As years went by they became more scarce, so the Government put on restrictions and we had to use the gaff hook. Then later hook and line." (OHSR 1963)

Other native species of economic importance were, and are, rainbow trout, mountain whitefish, and burbot.

Since the 1960's in particular, the decline in water quality and in fish habitat quantity and quality through damming, diversions, channelization, draining, and pollution has seriously affected fish populations in particular those of the kokanee and rainbow trout. The 1995? BC State of the Environment Report notes the role of nutrient overloading in the late 1960's and early 1970's in heavy algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and in some cases fish kills. It notes also that while there has been some reduction in this nutrient overload from municipal and agricultural sources, other areas have increased and water quality there has deteriorated. The damming of many upland lakes has altered their levels, shoreline and aquatic vegetation, and water quality to the detriment of the fish and other aquatic creatures.

The Report states: "The fish resource has seriously declined in Okanagan Lake over the past few decades. Stream escapements [numbers of spawning fish] dropped from 450,000 in 1971 to between 50,000 and 200,000 since 1974. ... A variety of factors may be contributing to this, including water shortages, overfishing, habitat deterioration, disease, competition, predation, and natural population fluctuations." (p. 82)

One factor not mentioned here, however, was the 1966 introduction of the mysid shrimp (Mysis relicta) to Okanagan Lake, which was to provide food for the kokanee; instead the shrimp was found to be eating the phytoplankton upon which the fry depend. By 1995, spawners had declined by 90% from the 1970's and kokanee angling was closed (K. Ashley and B. Shepherd (1996). Okanagan Lake Workshop Report and Action Plan) and estimates of spawning kokanee in 1997 were around 30,000 (J. Shaver, pers. comm.). In addition to this decline in absolute numbers, shore spawners have increased from about 50% in 1982 to about 90%, reflecting the decline in suitable spawning grounds in tributary creeks.

Rainbow trout, another popular native fish, appear also to be declining somewhat, perhaps with the decline in kokanee numbers; rainbow trout feed on the young kokanee, but not on the shrimp (Ashley and Shepherd). Rainbow trout are caught in the Similkameen River, especially upriver in a narrow canyon, but fish numbers in general are low in the Similkameen. This is partly because of diking and riprapping to prevent flooding which also silts up the gravel spawning beds and increases the speed of the water during runoff which scours out the bottom.

Another factor involved in declines in fish numbers in the main valley lakes and smaller lakes in the uplands is the introduction of species such as carp, eastern brook trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed or sunfish, yellow perch, black catfish or black bullhead, tench, and mosquito fish or top minnows. Some of these were introduced to the Okanagan system directly; others came in through the Columbia River system (Carl & Guiguet, "Alien Animals in British Columbia", in Butler 1987?). These alien species compete with native species for food and in some cases eat the native species. Carp destroy aquatic vegetation. The degradation of waterways and wetlands by the invasion of weed species such as purple loosestrife and Eurasian millefoil only adds to the problems.

As mentioned earlier, the connection between water quantity and quality and activities such as water recreation and fishing is (or certainly has been) usually unnoticed (p. ?); however, the connection is critical to maintaining a viable fishery in the study area. Fishing in this area is recreational, but its value to the economy is considerable.

A 1973 study (J. O'Riordan, The Value of Sport Fishing in the Okanagan Basin) showed that sport fishermen spent $6 million on their hobby in 1971, $1.1 million by residents. The net economic benefit to the Okanagan was estimated at about $446,000. The number of angling days for headwater lakes, main lakes, the Okanagan River, and tributary streams was 160,100, with about 45% in headwater lakes (72,045 angling days), about 6800 angling days on the River and tributary streams, and the rest on Okanagan Lake. In addition to actual dollars spent, anglers valued their recreational experience at almost $1.9 million.

In O'Riordan's report, angler days were projected to increase to 506,600 in 2010 with the net value to the economy (in 1970 dollars) estimated at $10.7 million and the recreational benefits estimated to be $41.6 million, $39.1 million for residents and $1.2 million for non-residents. Non-resident participation was expected to rise from 33% to 40% by the year 2000 with resident participation remaining the same relative to the population

From 1971 to 1981, angler days increased for the 40 headwaters lakes from which data were available to 151,610 days; assuming a similar percentage of angler days as in 1971 for main Valley lakes, this would put the total at about 289,000 angler days in 1981. (Report on the Sport Fishery in the Okanagan Basin (1982)) The number of fish caught was close to the number stocked, leaving few for natural reproduction, and the food-carrying capacity was estimated to be nearing saturation. At the same time about 60,000 kokanee were caught each year in Okanagan Lake resulting in an exploitation rate of 7% in 1971, 20% in 1980, and 30% in 1981. It was judged that 50% of these were from stream spawners; shore-spawning kokanee had declined since 1971 from extreme lake level fluctuations and increased fishing.

The British Columbia Freshwater Results: Report on Sport Fishing ?? estimated 591,400 (residents and non-residents) angler days in 1985 and 505,179 days in 1990. In the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks Similkameen Strategic Plan 1986, the fishery in that area alone was estimated to support about 155,000 angler days per year with an estimated catch of 240,000 fish. Of this catch, 90% was from 84 small, productive lakes stocked with trout which receive 85% of the fishing effort.

O'Riordan's above projection of the number of angler days was less than the estimates in 1985; however, there has been a considerble decline since then with the closing of the kokanee fishery. His assumption on which the increases were based also, that the quality of sport fishing woult remain the same, would seem to be undercut by the closing of the kokanee fishery, and the associated potential decline of rainbow trout which feed on the kokanee in the mainstem lakes. Given these factors, the benefits to the economy from the recreational fishery in the Okanagan will likely be considerably lower in the near future than this prediction thirty years ago. Since about 55% of angler days are in the main Valley, the decrease could be close to that amount. The Okanagan Lake Action Plan to recover kokanee stocks, begun in 1996, is slated to continue for twenty years.

FORESTRY AND WOOD PRODUCTS

1900-1960

Forestry was largely for local consumption in the Okanagan and Lower Similkameen until the 1940's, although it was an important element in the economy. At the turn of the century, the developing orchard industry and the rise of towns required more water. Sawmills supplied wood for the miles of flumes built to transport and distribute water from upland lakes and streams to the dry valley bottomlands.

The first sawmill in Pentinton was built in 1906 at Nine Mile Point (Naramata) by the S.C. Smith Lumber Company of Vernon which took several million board feet of lumber out, used mostly for flumes. In the same period, Hugh Leir obtained a contract from the Southern Okanagan Land Company for three million board feet of lumber, mostly Ponderosa (yellow) pine, for the flumes and built a sawmill near the present Carmi Road.

After 1915, forestry increased in importance in the South Okanagan economy when the CPR was under construction and mills to produce ties for the railway were built in Penticton.

After World War II, logging and milling (lumber, plywood, boxes, rail ties, and poles) for export increased in importance. A 1955 report notes that of the 1628 million board feet of accessible merchantable timber in the Okanagan Similkameen, 44% is Douglas fir, 23% yellow (Ponderosa) pine, and the remaining 33% in lodgepole pine, western larch, spruce, silver fir, and western red cedar. About 126 million board feet of lumber were produced in the region, including the Shuswap Lake area. The 1949 value of lumber and wooden boxes and baskets for the region was $5,889,575 with additional smaller amounts for furniture manufacturing.

The study notes, however, that "It is unlikely that the tinber industry in this area can continue the rate of growth experienced in recent years. Existing forest resources are apparently sufficient to maintain current production, but any large increase would seriously deplete existing timber stands unless further merchantable timber becomes accessible." (p. 26).

The Third BC Natural Resources Conference (1950) also documents the negative impact of inappropriate forestry practices leading to loss of habitat. It mentions in particular competition with domestic livestock for forage areas and winter food supplies and a decrease in some members of the deer family and birds from fire suppression.

1960-1980

By the 1970's, different types of logging equipment and market demand had made it physically and economically possible to log higher-elevation timberlands. Forestry became the single most important economic activity in the South Okanagan and Similkameen employing about 10% of the labour force (Okanagan Bulletin Area). The earlier small, portable mills had become large, more efficient, permanent operations near urban centres with logs trucked to them. About 70,000,000 cubic ft/year were harvested from the area which constituted about 4% of the Provincial total.

Penticton Sawmills still existed, but as part of the larger Northwood Mills, and in 1967, Greenwood Forest Products opened across the river channel from Penticton.

1980-PRESENT

In recent years, prices and timber company restructuring have made forestry in the Southern Interior less economically viable. In 1996, however, only 2% of the labour force of the area was employed in forestry including logging and forestry industries (Urban Systems (1996), Table 2.4.4) Most of this activity is in the higher elevation IDF and the ES-SF zones. Impacts on lower elevation lands are chiefly in the changes in spring runoff and absorption rates when the forest cover is removed and the damage caused to creeks by the removal of vegetation to the water's edge.

Currently, the only large forestry operation in the South Okanagan and Similkameen is Weyerheuser Forest Products. They employ about 175 people at their Okanagan Falls sawmill (1996 figure) producing mostly SPF dimension lumber at about 75 million board feet per year; they also supply lumber to the D.C.Chambers chipping operation at the Falls which employs about 10 people (1994). There are a number of independent loggers as well who have various types of licences for operating on Crown lands. In 1994, this was estimated to be 49 people in the Penticton Forest District who employed about 245 people. In addition, 6 log-home operators in this District employed about 40 people.

GEOLOGY AND MINING

NINETEENTH CENTURY-1960's

The gold rush of the mid century largely bypassed the study area. Gold was discovered and worked in small quantities along Twenty Mile Creek in the present Hedley area, and Camp McInney east of Oliver was ??. Fairview Mine ... In the late 1890's, however, the rich ore bodies of Nickel Plate Mountain above Hedley were discovered leading to the development of mines that produced gold for over fifty years, made Hedley the centre of the Similkameen economy, and also created an economic boom in Penticton as supplies were obtained from the latter for the mine and freighted to Keremeos up Green Mountain Road, surveyed and built in 1899-1900 (Cox, Mines... 1997).

Work on the Nickel Plate mining area began in 1899 and a reduction plant at Hedley began operation in 1904. The mine of that name was to run, under a variety of owners and with a break in production from 1931 to 1934, until it closed in 1955.

[The Minister of Mines Annual Report of 1914 reports an extracted ore value for the year of $797,340.76 from the Nickel Plate property alone and a net profit for the mine year of $388,228.65.]

Over its lifetime, the mines on the Mountain (Nickel Plate and Hedley Mascot) produced a total of 1,700,721 ounces of gold for a value of $50,307,892 (see Table ? for complete production figures) In the last year, it produced 90,000 tons of ore from which were produced 36,303 ounces of gold. It also produced over its lifetime 190,000 ounces of silver and more than four million pounds of copper (Cox, Mines... 1997). In 1987, the mine opened again under the Mascot Gold Mine Ltd. of Vancouver and was finally closed in 1996. At the time of closing, its payroll was at $11 million for the mine's 200 employees.

Other mining areas of importance in the study area were those at Camp McInney east of Oliver, Fairview Camp west of Oliver, and Horn Silver southeast of Cawston. These all operated from the late 1890's to the 1960's at varying times and with varying degrees of success.

Camp McInney was founded in 1884 when the 'Victoria' gold vein was found in Rock Creek, but little was done until 1887 when the 'Cariboo' vein was discovered. The camp was brought into prominence by the success of the Cariboo-Amelia mine which from 1894 when the first stamp mill was built to 1897 paid the owners dividends of $188,965. By 1901, this one mine had produced dividends of nearly $500,000 and the camp had five or six hotels, three or four general stores, a drugstore, butcher shop, church, school, telephone office, and a number of private homes as well as the mine buildings. The mine continued to produce, with a lull in the 1920's and '30's, into the 1960's; in 1960, it employed 19 men and shipped 4370 tons of ore at 1.7 ounces of silver per ton and 65% silica.

Fairview Camp just west of Oliver on the ridge between the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys was in place in 1897 under the ownership of Fairview Consolidated Gold Mines Company, but little work was going on. In 1889, placer gold was found on Reed Creek, leading to the development of claims for over 30 miles around. In 1901, the Mining Report states that the Stemwinder claim at the camp was the only one with good commercial possiblities, but that little work was underway. The Camp flourished as a gold mining town until after World War I, although without any outstanding discoveries.

In 1918, West Kootenay Power and Light had leased a number of mineral claims and taken up some forfeited Crown ones on the expectation of building their power line from Trail to Apex Mountain passing through the Camp. By 1955, the camp was shipping considerable amounts of quartz to Trail for use as a smelter flux, 28,269 tons in that year, and employed 19 men.

Other mines of some importance in the study area were the Horn Silver near Cawston (now the abandoned Dankoe minesite), Stewart-Calvert Company's mine at Spotted Lake which shipped sulphate of magnesium to the United States, and a number of small mines near Olalla.

In 1925, the production of major minerals in the Osoyoos and Similkameen Divisions was $15,412 oz of gold, 116,144 oz of silver, 15,493,571 lbs of copper, and 80,064 lbs of lead. By 1930 this had risen to 141,668 oz of gold, 23,182 oz of silver, 3,464,891 lb of copper, and 131,807 tons of coal.

In 1951, the production of all minerals in the Okanagan Similkameen was valued at $9.6 million with the great majority of this coming from the Similkameen copper and gold. A small mine in the Oliver area produced quartz which was shipped to Trail. The remainder of the production was in small amounts of silver, lead, zinc, coal, structural materials, and miscellaneous minerals (Cox, Mining... 1998).

With the exception of the Nickel Plate Mine, mineral extraction has declined to a relatively small place in the economy of the study area. As of 1996, mining employed just over 700 people, or 2.35% of the labour force.

By mid 1990's, Nickel Plate/Mascot Mine (gold, but silver and copper as well in the first half of the century, before its last period of operation from 1987-96) was winding down and closed in 1996; Similco Mine in Princeton (copper) closed; Horn Silver near Cawston closed.

RECREATION AND TOURISM

1900-1960

The generally mild climate of the Okanagan, especially the southern part, its beautiful scenery, and its many large and smaller lakes have made the area a draw for tourists for many years. Columbia River Basin studies of 1952 and 1955 note that tourism was important to the economy of both the Okanagan and the Similkameen and growing. Fishing was also noted as an important recreation industry in the area. Although the report had no figures on visitors to the study area per se, the 1950 Third BC Natural Resources Conference noted an estimate of 1,100,000 visitors to BC in 1949 who spent an estimated $35,000,000 on recreation. An estimated $180,000,000 was spent by BC residents for a total expenditure of $215,000,000 on recreation. If only 25% of those people visited the Okanagan Similkameen, a conservative estimate, then about 275,000 people came to the study area and north.

The Conference report also noted the changes in society that had increased people's time for travel and recreation. In 1840, the average work week was 70 hours. By 1930, this had decreased to 50 hours and by 1950, an average of 40 hours was becoming accepted. As well, in the 1890's, 20% of children ten to fifteen yeears of age worked, whereas in the 1950's, less than 4% of this age group worked, leaving again much more time for recreation.

1960-1980

By the 1970's, both tourism and recreation had increased signficantly. O'Riordan and Oliver reported in 1972 that although "no accurate statistics are available for the total population of tourists visiting the Okanagan during the summer" (p. 7), their preliminary survey showed that the tourist population about doubled from 1970 to 1980; at an estimated number of tourists in 1970 of 392,900 the 1980 figure would be close to 800,000. Over 71% of those surveyed stated that they had visited Penticton (about 275,00 in 1970 and 560,000 in 1980), and therefore one would assume also south and westwards in travelling east, west, or south to the USA. An OSPS submission on Brent Mountain in 1979 noted that "The Okanagan Valley is the third largest tourist area in British Columbia and ranks first in B..C. in percentage of income derived from tourism." (p. 13) A more recent report [Lutzig?] on the tree fruit industry gives an estimated 485,000 tourists for the Okanagan and Similkameen in 1970 and an estimated 1,046,000 for 1980 (Durance and Gibson 1991).

These studies found that a major reason at that time for visiting the Okanagan was to participate in water-based recreation (48-57% of people surveyed) including boating, swimming, and fishing; however, as the OSPS study stated, many repeat visitors were interested in other activities such as hiking. Both reports also noted, as in the 1950 report, the increased in population mobility, increased leisure time, and higher per capita income as driving forces for increased tourism and recreation.

Winter recreation was beginning to develop in the South Okanagan as well. By the 1970's, Apex and Mt. Baldy had been developed as downhill ski hills and cross-country skiing was seeing "a phenomenal rise in popularity in the Okanagan" with the Kelowna club alone having 300 members and the Apex area increasing in popularity for cross-country skiers from the coast because of the dry snow conditions. (OSPS (1979). A Brief Regarding Brent Mountain, p. 4) The report also notes that from inquiries at local outlets, they had determined that sales of cross-country equipment had "roughly doubled every year since 1972"(p. 12). The popularity of the Apex-Brent Mt. area for hiking, photography, and nature studies was increasing as well with the ski resort fast becoming an all-year recreation village.

1980-Present

Since the 1970's, Apex Ski Resort has become a major downhill destination with a hotel, greatly expanded ski facilities, crosss-country areas, snowmobile rentals, and horseback riding. Mt. Baldy has increased somewhat, although remaining largely a local hill. Nickle Plate Nordic Ski Club began in the early 1990's and now has 30 km of groomed and 20 km of backcountry trails, a chalet for day use, and extensive family and expert training programs.

Tourism and all-season recreation have continued to increased greatly in the Okanagan, and according to the 1993 report Charting a Course for the Okanagan, remains largely natural-resource based. In 1989, there were an estimated 1 million + non-British Columbia visitors to the area covered by the Okanagan Similkameen Tourist Association. If BC residents were included, the figure was estimated to be up to 75% higher, about 1,750,000; if, again, one assumes that about 70% visited Penticton south, this would be about 1,225,000 people. These 1.75 million tourists spent an estimated $120 million. The report notes an increase in adventure tourism in the area also including canoeing, hang-gliding, rock climbing, biking, and related activities.

A 1994 ARA study on the Okanagan Timber Supply Area divides tourists into two fairly distinct groups with somewhat different requirements and, for the point of view of this current report, different impacts on wildlife habitat and species:

• touring travellers, who primarily follow the main highways and stop at the main communities, parks, and other attractions and for whom visually attractive scenery is quite important
• destination and outdoor travellers, who visit the area for a particular purpose such as sport fishing, hiking rock-climbing, hunting, or winter recreational activities and for whom the quality of the natural features required for their particular activity is critical: wild lands, good fishing, natural settings, remoteness, plenty of game animals, or well-appointed ski resorts.

The 1996 Urban Systems study for the Okanagan Valley Transportation Plan put tourism as the second largest employer in the Okanagan Similkameen. Penticton has an estimated 650,000 tourists per year and is the focus for tourist activity. Conventions alone were expected to put $27 million into the economy during 1996. The Okanagan Similkameen Regional District's Community Profile for 1997 estimates the value of the accommodation and food and beverage services in the Region at $600 million per year with about 3273 people, or 15% of the workforce, in 231 businesses of these types. Room revenues alone have gone up steadily in the past decade at about 6-12% per year. Tourism is estimated to have grown in the Regional District by 15% over the past five years and to have generated an estimated $6.3 million in direct revenues.

The Urban Systems report notes the increasing popularity of winery tours that extend the tourist season into the autumn; indeed, the Okanagan Wine Festival is now one of the top ten destinations for bus tours in North America. The Penticton Community Profile 1997 states as well the increasing popularity, and therefore opportunity for businesses, of activities such as bird-watching, ecological studies and nature interpretation, historical interpretation, agri-tourism, adventure, and recreational sports. Most of these depend for their appeal and success upon maintaining a high-quality natural environment.

IMPACTS OF HISTORICAL LAND USE ON WILDLIFE AND HABITAT

Two hundred years ago, before the arrival of Europeans, the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys were the sites of extensive grasslands of great biodiversity, but with few large grazing animals. Human 'improvement' activities were limited to yearly harvesting of wild roots, berries, and herbaceous plants, some burning of the tall bunchgrass to reduce the inroads of trees in the upper elevations of the shrub-steppe and to encourage forage and browse for the animals the native Okanagans hunted. These grasslands "filled the valleys below the Douglas-fir and Ponderosa Pine woodlands and were home to badgers, Burrowing Owls, White-tailed Jackrabbits and Sharp-tailed Grouse" (Cannings, British Columbia: a Natural History, p. 247)

The settlement of the Valley and its conversion to agriculture, both livestock-based and horticultural, destroyed or severely damaged much of the lower and mid-elevation native grassland and shrub-steppe ecosystems. Severe overgrazing in the late 19th and early 20th century not only reduced the abundance of native bunchgrasses and other grasses palatable to cattle, horses, and sheep; it also destroyed much of the cryptobiotic soil crust of fungi, lichen, mosses, liverworts, and alage which provides a critical substratum in which other plants can grow in the generally nutrient-poor soil of this region.

To add to the problem, introduced, weedy, species such as knapweed, cheatgrass, Dalmatian toadflax, giant mullein, and sulphur cinquefoil have invaded these damaged soils over the past fifty years or so, various 'recreational' machines such as dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles have further destroyed the soil surface, and native grass species have been replaced by crested wheatgrass and other non-native forage species. Perhaps overall most damaging and destructive, however, is the ongoing, and in recent years rapidly accelerating, conversion of grasslands and steppes to housing developments, golf courses, roads, gravel pits, and landfills.

By the early 1990's, only about 9% of the lower elevation lands in the South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen Valleys were judged to be in a "relatively undisturbed" state (Redpath 1990). An even more recent report (Scudder, 1996?) has determined that less than 10% of the locally rare antelopebrush (Purshia tridentata) shrub-steppe remains in the South Okanagan; it is not found in the Similkameen and little north of Skaha Lake. Conversion of land to vineyards, housing, and related urban uses continues to erode this small amount remaining. In the study area, less than 3% of theBGxh1 land, is protected in some form and about another 3% is Crown land. Most of the remaining unalienated land is Indian Reserves (41%) or private lands (33%) (K. Chapman. South Okanagan Wildlife and Habitat Information [1995])

Bill Harper and Ted Lea in Biodiversity Inventory in the South Okanagan (1991) state that "Threats to this concentraton of biological diversity are as many and varied as the species being threatened. Chief among them relate to urban and agricultural development, and people's attitudes towards the species that are affected. While there are always occasional bursts of development activity, most times it is a gradual iterative series of small impacts that add up inexorably over time to major losses of habitat and populations ...". (p. 5)

In recent years, the strong development of urban areas, particularly Penticton, has meant a greatly increased service sector for both the local populations and for tourism, and a decrease in primary, land-based industries. In 1996, 14.26% of the labour force was employed in primary industry and related service industries; the remainder was in manufacturing, construction, transportation, communication, trade, finance, and general service industries, reflecting the shift to a much more urban-oriented society. The effects on the natural features and character of the Okanagan-Similkameen of this shift are quite detrimental chiefly because of the conversion of more and more land from even semi-natural state to housing and other urban and suburban uses, the increased demand for networks of roads and highways, the expanding requirements for water and for sewage and garbage disposal, and the expansion of recreational industries such as golf courses and ski resorts into previously semi-wild lands.

RANCHING

By the turn of the century, the grasslands had been extensively damaged by overgrazing which destroyed much of the cryptobiotic soil covering, reduced the bunchgrass and other native forage grasses, damaged much of the riparian vegetation along streams where cattle and horses were grazed, and allowed non-native, weedy, species to become established. As well, fencing of large tracts of land disrupted movement patterns for wildlife, especially for the larger mammals.

Some of these problems are outlined in the 1950 BC Natural Resources Conference papers: severe damage to rangeland soils from native vegetation removal without regard to topography, natural reservoirs, or water systems, and from constant grazing on the approximately 1,500,000 acres used for livestock. Although in better condition than 100 years ago, the Okanagan-Similkameen grasslands remain in a more or less degraded state depending on the location, elevation, and present use and management.

An additional pressure on wildlife habitat from livestock was, and continues to be, from grazing on forest rangelands. Over two-thirds of the BC's forests are grazed to some extent by livestock, mostly cattle, which compete with wildlife for forage, trample creek edges and wetlands, spread seeds of weedy species, and damage young trees.

HORTICULTURAL AGRICULTURE

Early orchard and ground crop practices affected wildlife habitat in a couple of serious ways. First, it removed the native vegetation cover completely in the 'clean cultivation' methods used then. Second, it exposed the land to serious erosion and runoff into waterways of fertilizers and pesticides. Third, it decreased soil pH to slightly acidic from excessive and acidifying fertilizers. (Third BC Natural Resources Conference (1950)). Current practices of leaving grassed alleys between the trees prevent most of the second problem and drip irrigation allows the orchardist to target fertilizers better thus reducing acidification problems. The loss of wildlands from removal of native vegetation for orchards, and vineyards, however, continues. Although a few species benefit from the orchards, the great majority of native species find no useful space in conventional orchards, vineyards, or ground crop operations.

Since the World War II as well, the use of chemical pesticides on most orchards, vineyards, and ground crops increased greatly adding another hazard for wildlife. Birds, whose reproductive capability was frequently reduced if they were not killed outright by exposure to the chemicals, have been especially hard hit. The Peregrine falcon, for example, as a predator at the top of the food chain, was severely affected principally by DDT, and no longer breeds in the South Okanagan. In the 1960's, a Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) study looking at trying to reintroduce peregrines to the area found DDT levels in the soil to be too high to make the program feasible. In 1990, Allen Preston of the CWS has found levels of DEE, a breakdown product of DTT, to be 10 times higher in wild birds' eggs from orchard areas (Penticton-Naramata) than from the White Lake control area.

Runoff and leaching of chemicals in the soils of this area that are poor in organic matter can pollute waterways and groundwater (Dr. Eugene Hogue, pers. comm.), and the use of netting to protect grapes in particular kills many birds including migratory species. Overall, horticultural agriculture has not been and is not generally kind to either wildlife habitat or wildlife. Aside from outright destruction of wildlife habitat, in clearing and replacement with crop species, and the damage done by pesticides, conventional agriculture reduces and simplifies the biodiversity of an area, both on and off the farm.

FIRE SUPPRESSION

Fire suppression since the turn of the century, however, chiefly in the interests of forestry and property protection, has had serious negative effects on wildlife habitat. Fire is an important part of the natural ecosystem in the semi-arid Interior and shaped the ecosystems of this area. For example, the seeds of a number of species, notably the Ponderosa pine and ceonothus, do not germinate well, or at all, without the presence of fire, and the decrease in the latter, which is an important browse for deer, has affected deer populations. Fire also releases nutrients and makes them more readily available; in an area with nutrient-poor soils, this is an important factor in a healthy ecosystem.

Suppression of fire has changed the species composition of both upper and under-story trees and created denser, more uniform stands. It has allowed forest duff, downed wood, and snags to increase to the point that fires now are hotter and more destructive than would naturally be the case. Periodic fires clear out dead brush and undergrowth letting in more light and allowing new growth while providing food for species such as woodpeckers that feast on the insects colonizing burned trees. Serious insect infestations are controlled by fire and lack of it has changed the incidence and severity of such outbreaks particlarly of tussock moth, mountain pine beetle and western spruce budworm. Fire suppression has left some timber available, but at the cost of a healthy forest, and grasslands as well ("Management of Interior Dry-belt Douglas-fir Ecosystems: the use of prescribed fire and alternative harvesting systems... (1994), p. 4-5).

TOURISM & RECREATION

Increased numbers of tourists, like increases in human resident population, put more pressure on government to develop more and larger highways and roads, and increase demand for marinas, beaches, and other water-based recreational facilities that destroy or disrupt more water and shoreline habitat. Charting a Course notes that a number of recreational facilities, originally built for temporary or seasonal use, but now used year round, such as ski resorts, are creating problems for wildlife as they impinge on feeding, reproduction, and resting habitat. Others, such as the Skaha Bluffs climbing area, used until recently only by local climbers and hikers, have been promoted and become known world-wide with a resulting serious impact on fragile wildlife and plant habitat including threatened and endangered species. Events such as the widely promoted Jeep Jamboree are putting stress on backcountry areas and with the potential for increased spread of weed species and further damage to the soils from the heavy vehicles and large numbers involved. The increased demand for golfing facilities is also alienating land and adding further possibilities for groundwater pollution from fertilizers and pesticides used on the courses.

In some respects, tourism has the potential to help improve the situation for wildlife. Although it is natural-resource-based, much of it is non-consumptive, and even some consumptive activities such as fishing could, and often do, promote improved habitat conditions such as better water quality.