A South Okanagan Naturalist鈥� Club (SONC) invitation to help restore a wetland in the Similkameen Valley got my attention. On the scheduled day, I packed up my gear and headed out.
As we rolled into Cawston just south of Keremeos, I revelled in the brilliant fall yellows of native cottonwood trees. Reddish-gold shrubbery on the valley floor marked the edges of the Similkameen River and oxbow wetlands.
Within minutes, a crew representing SONC; Southern Interior Land Trust (SILT); Okanagan Similkameen Stewardship Society; local community folks, and; a field technician for the Lower Similkameen Indian Band Natural Resources Department, Darian Eustache-Pien鈥ll arrived with work gloves, shovels and enthusiasm aplenty.
In the fresh morning air, Al Peatt, restoration project manager and SILT鈥檚 executive director, introduced the cultural and natural history of Ginty鈥檚 Pond, a well-loved oxbow of the Similkameen River.
Nearby, Ginty Cawston鈥檚 original stone cabin still stands, a cultural icon of days when Cawston鈥檚 namesake ranched along the pond. Ginty recognized that future growth might impinge on the pond and, according to Al 鈥渨hen the pond was still a vibrant mix of open water, fringed with cattails and abundant wildlife鈥�
In 1990 SILT acquired 6.3 hectares (15.5 acres) to preserve a portion of Ginty鈥檚 Pond, also known as n蕯a蕰x虒史t (nah-wheet), the n鈥檚yilxcen word for oxbow.
Alas, over time vegetation overwhelmed the pond, thus reducing accessible open water, and restricting a myriad of wildlife, including human life.
Everyone is considered in this restoration process, exemplified by Indigenous cultural traditions like basket weaving. Stories abound of days when a canoe paddle, ice-skating, or a cooling summer dip were also possible, and may be again.
With that in mind, a 2022 collaboration of SILT, the BC Wildlife Federation, Lower Similkameen Indian Band, and the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship undertook Phase 1 to re-establish this critical water and wildlife resource.
Today鈥檚 crew are now focused on Phase 2, eyeing recently delivered potted trees and shrubs resting along the roughly dredged oxbow margin.
Within minutes the crew spreads out and sinks shovels into the slippery, mucky shoreline. Then they knock the saplings from their pots, followed by firm use of booted foot to pack the soil tight.
Sometimes it鈥檚 difficult to appreciate what鈥檚 needed to restore a wetland. In this case, it began with the removal of existing vegetation and involved major restructuring of the landscape to re-install original boundaries, to provide improved water flow and access.
On this day, on the rough ox-bow margins...approximately 850 individual native plants were tamped into the welcoming soil, including Black cottonwoods, Oregon grape, wild rose, dogwood, snowberry and willow.
These native trees and vegetation will provide an ideal habitat for more Red-wing and Yellow-headed blackbirds, and especially seriously endangered Lewis woodpeckers who favour native cottonwoods. Recovering Yellow-breasted chats will find good nesting in the wild rose understory.
Just before I head out, a Lincoln鈥檚 Sparrow perches on a fence post. Close by a flock of House Finches also make their presence known. It鈥檚 been a productive outdoor day.
To contact Dianne please go to writer@diannebersea.com
