Okanagan Similkameen Parks Society

BRIEF FOR THE CREATIONOF A

WILDERNESS CONSERVANCY

Submitted: February 1976Resubmitted: September 1979

All vainglory to the contrary, man cannot conquer nature. We are part of

nature, larger ana more destructive than a mouse, but subject to trie same inexor-

able laws. \Vhen the good water is gone, the good soil covered or wasted, thegood air tainted, we shall surely perish.

This has happened in many times and many places.

It is happening here and now.

by M. Graham Netting

(Director, Carnegie Museum of Natural History)

Few would argue that our culture is well adapted to the environment; as wedestroy it, we destroy ourselves.

by Dr. Bristol Foster

(Chairman of Ecological ReservesCommittee of B.C.)

Introduction

THE SOWAQUA-PODUNK-TULAMEEN WILDERNESS

The Sowaqua-Podunk-Tulameen is not a remote region famous for greatmountain or a world-renowned waterfall. It is just a piece of our own countrythrough which our early people had to make their way; over and past snow-capped mountains, silver cascades, clear streams, lakes, alpine meadows,canyons, bush, primeval forest, swamps, and rockfalls. Somehow, providen-tially it is with us yet, just as it was when the Indian Blackeyes' people wentthere to dig roots and to hunt the hoary marmots a century and a hcdf ago,and no doubt for hundreds of years before that.

Link upon link in this pure and natural world, our story goes back into thedays and generations gone by. In 1846, Anderson of the Hudson's Bay Com-pany making the first crossing from the Coast, was rescued from starvingand made welcome by Blackeyes. When Henry Peers made the firsi trail in1848-49, his chief helper was Edouard Montigny, son of the Ovide de Montig-ny who had come to Astoria on the Tonquin in 1811.

Supplies for all the posts from Fort St. James to Fort Colvile were carried bythe Inward Brigard in 1849 and for the next 12 years. Westward that sameyear went Eden Colvile, Co-Governor with Sir George Simpson of the Honour-able Company, in North America. In a part of the trail through primeval for-est, he measured a tree which was forty-two feet in circumference. ChiefTrader Paul Fraser still sleeps on at Campement du Chevreuil where he waskilled in 1855. Angus McDonald, in 1859, had as fellow travellers Lieut. Palm-er of the Royal Engineers, Judge Begbie on his first trip to Kamloops, and theJudge's staff of Peter O'Reilly and Arthur Bushby.

Over other trails we step with a host of famous pioneers—Dewney, Mober-ly, Governor Douglas, Allison and Cambie; with Podunk Davis famous forhis rescue of Nurse Warburton; and with the legendary Granny Rabbit whotravelled the trail to Tulameen at 14, and died last year after a residence ofover 85 years in that village.

History, legend, and folklore are the very stuff of the land. The great treesgrow in the strip of ancient forest left along the Sowaqua; the bears pickhuckleberries at Campement du Chevreuil; the deer graze on the greenslopes ot myriad hiUs; the golden eagles patrol overhead, all as in Black-eyes' day.

SHUSWAPLAKEKAMLOOPS

GARIBALDI& GOLDEN

EARSPROV.

ARKS

OKANAGANLAKE

PROPOSEDCASCADE

WILDERNESS

CREATEVANCOUVER

SUAAMERLAND

PRINCETON

U.S. NATIONALPARKS, RECREATION AREAS

& WILDERNESSES

LAKECHELAN

It might be called the land of fives:five main streams—Podunk, Upper Tulameen, Skaist, Snass, and UpperSowoqua

five historic trails—Blackeyes, H.B.C. Brigade, Dewdney, Hope and Whatcomfive noble mountains—Outram, Dewdney, Snass, Ford and Davis

five points of access from the main roads—-Hope, Dewdney Trail, Hope Trail,Princeton and Tulameen, and all well within live hours of Vancouver, theFraser Valley, the Okanagan, and the CaribooAnd the five senses are constantly aroused by the sights and sounds, thesmells, by the very feel of the land which brings peace and relaxation tomind and spirit.

All around the world are places where man is suffering because he used allthe material resources on site, particularly timber and grass. Can anyonepoint out a place where he is really suffering because of setting aside landto remain as Nature made it?

The resource of wilderness can be taken away but never returned in likecondition. This special piece of land, the property of the people of all BritishColumbia should be kept as it is.

TULAMEEN l̂ \ *

HWY.1

wilderness boundary %

:==-^ main highways\ road v

PACK TRAILSIN THE

CASCADE,

WILDERNESS O.S.RS.LODGE

Okanagan Similkameen Parks Society

BRIEF FOR THECREATION OF A WILDERNESS CONSERVANCY

First Submitted (1976)

TO: I he Honourable Grace McCarthyM i n i s t e r of Recreation and Tourism

Now addressed (1979)TO:The E n v i r o n m e n t and Land Use Committee

The Province of British Columbia

TIE FIRST PROPOSAL WAS SUBMITTED IN 1972 by the OkanaganSimuKamei'ii Parks Society in an attempt to preserve the Hudson's BayBrigade Trail restoration work then being clone by private citizens and theOkanagan I listonYai Society. Since there \vas not then, nor is mere at pres-e n t , specif ic legislat ion for the preservation of historic trails in B.C.. the onlysuitable legislation appeared to be under the Park Act with an extension ofI^> lunning P<irk.

IN Tl IF PAST THREE YEARS, the Brigade Trail in particular, and the otherh i s to r i c t ra i ls in the proposed park expansion, have received a considerableamount of use by recreationisls.T he work of those who continue to rehabil-i t a t e the t ra i l s has been reported in the press many times, and on the C.B.C.

K l a h i u i n i show, \ \ i l h I l i t1 e s l a b l i s h m e n l ol ( he rederal ion ol LJ.C- Mountain

( t u b s 01 l i C . in l''7'1, Vancouver interest has quickened and m u l t i p l i e d .

I l i e r edera l ion is made t i p ol appointed representat ives from all Lower

Mainland and Island outdoors groups — hikers, canoeists, climbers, kayak-ers. and cross-country skiers.

THOSE WHO KNOW THE MOUNTAINS OF THE LOWER MAIN-

LAND are very much aware that the accessible valleys have all been logged

off , that there are lew, if any, mountain areas that do not have the familiar

logging road washouts, stream erosion, slash debris, and burnt-off slopes.

Fhe unders tanding, therefore , t ha t the proposed Wilderness Reserve could

inc lude live or six day hikes where only pack trains had been before —

and w i t h access only a few hiking hoars off the Hope-Princeton Highway

on ex i s t i ng trails—has made the or iginal Okanagan Similkameen Parks So-

c iely proposal very valuable to Lower Mainland recreation groups.

THE ORIGINAL RECOMMENDATION OF THE O.S.P.S. has been some-what reduced to keep i n t e r f e r e n c e with logging and grazing to a minimum.I he suggested area as outl ined on (he map could be subject to boundary

changes where resource conflicts can be avoided. There do not appear to beany active min ing c la ims within the proposed borders.

BASICALLY THE AREA TAKES IN THE MOUNTAIN HEADWATERSof al leasl lour stream systems, which run west to the Eraser, south to the

Skagil, north in to the Tidameen, and east into the Similkameen; the land is

more vertical than horizontal. At least five major peaks of the Cascadesdominate I he area—Dewdney. Skaisl, Snass, Ou I ram, and 1 ulameen. 1 In-

old Irade roules are hacked out of the rocks and bush in the narrow valleybol loms. and through the he igh ts of- land in the watersheds.

IN lUYs HISTORY THE EARLY TRADE ROUTES WERE VITAL, jus t

us \ ' i l a l then i»-s -'re ihe major highway sysiems today, t he es labl ishmonl of

the B.C. boundary ul the 49th parallel in the mid,-nineteenth century—^nol

at the Columbia River as geography would have suggested*—-completely sev-

ered trade l inks between the Coast and the Interior of the Province. The f u r

trade routes had u n i i f then been north lo south through the Okanagan to

the Columbia and f"*ort Vancouver.

TO HOLD Til l - : NFAV PROVINCE TOGETHER, particularly with the dis-

covery of gold in I lie Inferior, it was essential to f ind new land routes from

Hope lo t he Interior. Thus we have a succession of I r a l l s (the early Hope-

Pr in t elon "roads ), Brigade, Dewdney, Hope,—'Culminating in our t ime wi th

the Hope-Princeton Highway itself.

ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE TRAILS HAVE DISAPPEARED under civ-i l i / a t ion s heavy tread, it is still possible in the more remote places lo walk

today where Indians, traders and miners did many years ago. Tne Sowaqua-

Podunk-Tulameen wilderness is one such place. The \vesterly ends of the

trai ls have already been lost lo logging, but because of the extremely mount-

ainous core, a criss-cross of five of the original routes still exists. Nothing can

duplicate the spirit of wonder and appreciation that comes from knowing thai

ihc I r a i l you tread is exactly as it was in the days of the Fur Brigade, Lieu-

I en ant Palmer, and Judge Begbie more than a century ago.

IF Tl IERE WAS BUT ONE HISTORIC TRAIL AND IF THE LAND FIADALREADY SEEN MECHANIZED IMPROVEMENTS, one would Prob-ably look for a ret reation corridor concept for trail commemoration, This sys-

lem works, in a fashion, for many of the historic highway and canal sys-

I cms of our con l inen l . But when (here are five Iiisloric (rails in a concentratedarea, f l ic area is largely rockface, and completely free of roads or other signs

of modern man, men preservation of the existing wilderness area becomes themore logical course

Til l - : CONCEPT OF WILDERNESS RESERVE, as U is gradually being de-

fined in North American park systems, is relatively new to British Columbia.

More and more people today, particularly those who are tied to the City all

week, look to the outdoors for weekend escape— truly for recreation. For a

weekend or a week, the need is for easily accessible, good hiking trails and

freedom from the sight and sound and smell of crowded roads and the prob-

lems of ( l ie City. To be able, within a few hours, to go from the highway and

walk direct ly into the old historic trails of B.C., with no signs of modern man

in I lie natural surroundings, will be an experience of inestimable value to

present and future British Columbians.

SO WE COME TO THE QUESTION OF "WHY NOT?" As the land isalready owned by the Crown, and as it is of so much value for historic

and recrealional purposes, why not simply convert if to Reserve status? \Ve

need to look at recent B.C. history to understand the problem. B.C. is 05 per

cciil owned by the Crown—thai is, by the people of B.C.—'but a generationor so ago we t'ommillrr! almost all of the wilderness land of the south half

ol l i i e Province i<> porpclnal commercial t i m b e r harvest. Al me t ime we did

nol have I no sophisl i c a l rd moans ol easily scparaling prime forest land from

marginal loresl, roc kfuce or alpine country. So land allocated to forest use

included hundreds ol thousands of acres that nowadays have values outside

ibc foresl industry. Recreation value, for instance.

STRONG EVIDENCE OF THE NEEDS OF OUTDOOR RECREATION-ISTS for some use of the wilderness has surfaced only in the past decade.

Who would have thought when Manning Park was established that there

would ever be pressure so soon for the Park to expand? \Vho would have

envisioned t h e thousands of people now buying hiking equipment every

year; the chains of sporting goods stores; t he proliferation of hiking books,

f i lms , television shows? Now in the 1970 s in B.C.. we have master organiz-

a t ions representing outdoor recrealionisls and their needs-—the Federation of

Mountain Clubs of B.C. for instance, and their senior organization, the Out-

door Recreation Council of B.C.

BECAUSE IT IS OBVIOUS THAT OUTDOOR RECREATION NEEDSARE A STRONG FACTOR in todays land-use decision, no modern gov-

ernment could ever again cut up all the wilderness land for the dominant

use of one resource agency. For one thing, the recommendations of experienc-ed foresters today are to use only the most productive land for perpetual

yield forestry. The claim has also been heard at the Pearse Royal Commission

of Forest Resources that the B.C. Forest Service is overloaded with demands

for recreation and other non-forest claims on lands under their jurisdiction.

ALL OF 11IESE SYMPTOMS. WE COULD SUBMIT ARE INDICATIVEI hut recreation! sis and conservationists have legit imate demands for exclus-

ive use of some of the lands of B.C.—land such as that included in our pro-

posed Wilderness Reserve. If that land were being newly divided today, the

Lores try issue would be l imited to the one harvestable patch in the centre of

the Proposed Wilderness area, and some marginal material along the Fur

Brigade I ra i l farther down the Sowaqua Valley. The forest industry itself.

fac ing increasing management demands on their non-productive forest lands,

would look twice before asking for five historic trails, five mountain peaks.

and five streams.

SO, BECAUSE OF OUR RECENT HISTORY. WE FACE A SITUATIONwhere land is primarily roclaace and wilderness is under the jurisdiction

of the B.C. Forest Service. If the land is to become a permanent Wilderness

area, ihen it should be transferred by legislative authority from the Depart-

m e n t of Forests to the Department of Recreation and Tourism, (or the De-

partment ol the Environmenl) Parks Branch. This would mean the loss of a

very small percentage of 'allowable cut in the particular Sustained

Yield U n i t , but is nevertheless a loss that will not be taken lightly by the

t imber industry. Even the fact that a relatively expensive haul road must be

bu i l t to gel at t h e one sizeable patch of commercial timber, is probably nol

suP l i c i c i i l l y significant in the overall cost of roads and services in the Hope

district.

SINCE WE ARE RAPIDLY REACHING THE POINT THAT THEREARK NO SIZEABLE STANDS of first growth timber left in the Lower

Mainland, and since the limber industry is gradually re-equipping itself to

harvest smal ler and second-growth trees, perhaps it would be a fair argu-

ment just to leave this particular patch of forest as a special "environmental"

unit. (There is provision for such forests in today's management plans.) It

is I1 lie same healthy forest it was when the Fur Brigade went through; it

will likely be there hundreds of years from now. Why not postpone cutting

this one. and let a lu lure generation decide if the cellulose factor exceeds (he

value of tlie recrealion industry?

IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO RE-EVALUATE THE GOVERNMENT'SPOSITION on this proposal for a Wilderness Reserve. In the years that

have gone by since the first submission, the recreation ists need has beenmore than proven, the growing Lower Mainland population could have

nothing but praise for a government that recognized this special need for

wilderness land so close to the highway system. But if a change of govern-

ment policy is not made very soon^-within the next few months-—the B.C.

Forest Service committment to roads and logging in the Sowaqua will have

been made.

MECHANIZED TRAFFIC FOLLOWS WHEREVER ROADS AREBUILT. Therefore a road, though it is built for logging alone, wi l l shortly

be invaded by every type of vehicle. This has happened before: it wi l l happen

again. And once it does, the wilderness is lost forever.

RECOMMENDATION

Because this area lias been protected by its isolation and rugged terrain so that itis s t i l l in its natural condition;

Because the area contains a wonderful example of virgin forest scarcely to be found

anywhere else today;

Because of the unique situation of five historic trails within a single area still

able lo be followed in their original surroundings;

Because the area is of a size to justify being named a Wilderness Conservancy:

Because t h i s \Vilderness in the Hope-Tulameen is accessible to the majority or

people in the Province;

Tl I I - OKANAGAN SIMILKAMEEN PARKS SOCIETY AND THE OKAN-AGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY THEREFORE RECOMMEND THATTHE AREA SPECIFIED ON THE ACCOMPANYING MAPS BE DE-CLARED A WILDERNESS RESERVE IN PERPETUITY WITH THEAPPROPRIATE CARE TO BE TAKEN OF ITS NATURAL STATE SOTHAT:

I I will provide wilderness experience For present and future needs;

* It will preserve forever the five historic trails wKich are part of our common

heritage;

ll will preserve for all time the beauty of (he lakes and streams, the silence

of the mountain peaks, and the plants and animals whose home it is.

Attached lo this Brief is a map showing the tentative boundary for a Wilderness

Reserve and I he s ign i f ican t points of interest in the proposal. The Okanagan

Similkamcen Parks Society has an excellent slide and map show which they

would be pleased to present to you and your colleagues and staff.

Also attached for background material are copies of:

1. The original O.S.P.S. brief (not including appendices) on file with the

Parks Branch;

2. The Okanagan Similkameen Parks Society brochure prepared at that time:

3. "THE PROPOSED MANNING PARK EXTENSION" containing de-tailed information on the historic trails, flora and fauna, and nature of the

\ViIderness area.