Press Release: Proposed Hike/Bike Trail Through Vaseux Lake Bird and Wildlife Refuge

News Release
Nov. 10, 2021

Proposed Hike/Bike Trail Through Vaseux Lake Bird and Wildlife Refuge

A proposed hike/bike trail on an old KVR rail bed along the west side of Vaseux Lake poses a significant risk to endangered birds and wildlife and ignores a government report that recommends an alternate route on the east side of the lake, according to the Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association and several key stakeholders.

A 203-page environmental feasibility study was prepared for the BC Government in 2018 outlining the impacts of a Vaseux Lake bike trail on endangered species, other wildlife, fish and plants and their sensitive habitats.

The report’s authors consulted with land managers, biologists and other key stakeholders before recommending a bike route along the highway on the east side of the lake, away from sensitive habitat and precious nesting sites that form the federally protected Vaseux-Bighorn National Wildlife Area managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Under a proposal put forward by the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS), the bike path would run from Okanagan Falls south to the McAlpine Bridge on Highway 97 via the west side of the Okanagan River Channel and Vaseux Lake. The route is on the provincial government-owned KVR railway bed and would connect with bike networks to the north and south of Okanagan Falls.

This new proposal is based on a 10-page, 2019 general field assessment from the same consultants who prepared the report a year earlier with a different recommendation. The report also details the RDOS’ priority to locate the bike route down the west side of the lake. The 10-page report failed to consult with key stakeholders even though a decision was made to move the bike path through a sensitive bird and wildlife refuge, and stakeholders are asking why environmental groups/experts were not consulted on such an important decision. They are also questioning whether there was a viability study showing that an eastern bike path route along the highway was not possible and why the 2018 proposed bike path recommendation was seemingly ignored by the RDOS.

When completed, the trail will attract large numbers of people in all seasons but especially during the spring and summer months with the resulting increase in stress on wildlife and birds when raising their young. While the proposal says hikers and cyclists must remain on the railway bed and not venture into federally protected areas adjacent to the bike trail, it will be impossible to totally stop people from going off trails. This has the potential to further destroy sensitive vegetation and stress wildlife and, in the worst case scenario, cause wildfires. We have yet to see successful strategies in other jurisdictions that control such behaviour and advocates of the bike path have yet to outline how this will be accomplished.

Both the 2018 and 2019 report clearly state “a comprehensive field survey and assessment of potential habitat for federally listed species at-risk is to be conducted to determine the presence of a quality of habitat within and adjacent to the KVR”. The 2019 report included a three-day visit in April 2019 along the KVR and stated there were no sightings of endangered species. What the report fails to note is that these endangered species are often limited in number and rarely sighted. The observation period also did not take into account species migration and lifecycle emergence at that time of year as well as weather factors. Spending 3 days along the KVR in early April does not constitute a detailed study on species at risk and their associated habitats; these observations need to be completed over a much longer period of time.

The Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association is calling on the RDOS and BC Government to conduct a meaningful and thorough consultation process with all key stake holders. This should include the Osoyoos and Penticton Indian Bands, Canada Wildlife Service, Nature Trust of British Columbia, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association, South Okanagan Naturalist Club and other South Okanagan environmental groups and home owners who will be affected by the hike/bike trail route.

Media contact:

Norm Gaumont (Chair, Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association) (until Nov. 13)
Email: vaseuxsa@gmail.com

Grant Temple (Vice Chair, Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association (after Nov. 13)
Email: Vaseuxsa@gmail.com

Signed by:

Vaseux Lake Stewardship Association
South Okanagan Naturalist Club
Eva Durance, (volunteer) Caretaker, Vaseux Lake Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA)