Richard J. Cannings and Eva Durance. 1998. Human use of natural resources in the South Okanagan and Lower Similkameen valleys in Smith, I.M., and G.G.E. Scudder, eds. Assessment of species diversity in the Montane Cordillera Ecozone. Burlington: Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network, 1998.

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

Richard J. Cannings and Eva Durance

INTRODUCTION

Humans are an integral part of any large ecosystem on earth. In the south Okanagan, humans have been present for at least 6000 years and probably longer, generally concentrating their activities in the warmer habitats near the valley floor. Such low elevation lands throughout the world tend to be the most easily accessible and the most biologically diverse, and for these reasons, the most desirable for human uses. For indigenous peoples, the European settlers that followed, and present-day residents, the lower elevation lands were, and are, the most attractive for occupation: the most fertile for agriculture and with the most accessible water, the most easily travelled through (and on in the case of the lakes) and built upon, and with the most food sources in wildlife and fish.

The Okanagan indigenous people's occupation of the land, their cultural relationship to it, and their numbers, were such that they lived in a sustainable relationship with the land and its other occupants (reference?). Since the arrival of Europeans and increasingly with the recent rapid development , however, the overall biological sustainability has been jeopardized. Excessive livestock grazing on the low elevation grasslands in the mid 19th century and early 20th severely damaged wildlife habitat in this ecosystem. Later, conversion of land to agriculture, especially intensive orcharding, ground crops, and vineyards with the concomitant need for water meant the destruction of much of the native vegetation, filling in of wetlands and ponds, and the degradation or destruction of waterways through channelization.

The same sort of destruction has been the result of increased urban development. Wildlife habitat is also threatened or destroyed by factors such as pesticide use in agriculture, forestry, and domestic settings, the introduction of non-native species such as largemouth bass, European starling, house sparrow, Eurasian water-milfoil, purple loosestrife, sulphur cinquefoil, and many others that compete with native species, and with uncontrolled recreational use of all-terrain and other off-road vehicles. The result for the 'natural' Okanagan is severe degradation and wholesale destruction of much of its ecological integrity..

"The preservation of biological diversity in the South Okanagan presents a major challenge. Wildlife officials must not only attempt to preserve wildlife in the face of unrelenting development pressures..., but they must also endeavour to protect species that evoke little human sympathy and have little or no recreational or commercial value. Moreover, much of the habitat that is so critical to species at risk in the region is located on privately owned land¾land over which government has limited control." (Walter and Wilkerson 1997:12)

How humans have occupied and used the South Okanagan and Similkameen, and continue to do so, is critical to an understanding of the problems faced today in attempting to preserve and enhance the natural biodiversity of the area. The legacy of past activities and practices can not only give us an understanding of why the land is as it is today; it may also help us assess how to begin to mitigate the negative effects of our occupation of the land and to avoid perpetrating further mass destruction. This chapter outlines that legacy starting with an examination of the Okanagan people's use of the land and water and their resources and then exploring the main historical uses and economic activities carried out on the land as these have changed over the past 175 years.

 

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