The Objective

The objective is to have the Gilpin Grasslands proclaimed a Wildlife Management Area. This land designation in theory allows all stakeholders to operate but mandates a higher level of management which is wildlife/land friendly with Fish & Wildlife staff within the Ministry of Water, Land & Air Protection acting as lead managers.

The Area and The Issue

This unique grassland consists of 3890 ha. Of south facing open grassland and dry forest between Grand Forks andChristina Lake situated on Highway #3.

During the 1800’s the east-west Dewdney Trail passed through the Ranulph Gilpin Ranch which served as the only Customs House between the Columbia and the Okanagan.

Historically this native bunchgrass (needlegrass-wheatgrass) and open dry forest (fir, pine, spruce plus deciduous shrubs and trees) has been critical winter habitat for a large population of wild ungulates (whitetailed and mule deer, elk and bighorn sheep). Being relatively snow-free with a diversity of habitats that provide nutritious forage, hiding cover and escape terrain, the Gilpin is vitally important to wintering wild ungulates, especially in winters of heavy snowfall.

The 1470 acre Boothman Ranch located at the eastern end of the Gilpin grassland was purchased by the provincial Social Credit government in 1972 with the use of their Greenbelt Fund so cattle could be removed to allow the heavily grazed land to recover. An additional approximately 470 acres was purchased with the federal 2^nd Century Fund money (now Nature Trust). Then a Coordinated Resource Management Plan was established in Nov. 1976, initiated by Ministry of Environment, Fish & Wildlife Branch staff to re-introduce cows with a solemn promise that critical winter habitat for ungulates would be protected and the grasslands would be rehabilitated.

Beginning in 1990, the Gilpin became a candidate for a protected area. B.C. Parks recognized that low-elevation sub zones are highly under-represented, less than .025% of the PPdhl sub-zone has Park or Protected Area status. The Boundary/Kootenay Commission on Resources and Environment in the mid 90’s recommended that Gilpin grasslands become a Special Management Area which would allow all stakeholders to operate but with a higher level of management. This idea was discarded by government and as a consequence today, over 20 years of work on behalf of wildlife and the land has been lost.

Despite various multi-sectoral processes designed to manage the grasslands wisely the Gilpin has seen numerous disputes between livestock and wildlife interests. Many meetings and briefing notes have occurred, but the dream created in 1972-73 with $250,000.00 of public money spent to purchase 1940 acres and retire an aggressive grazing regime has been lost.

Current Management  (2000-2004)

A study in 2002-2003 examined the management of the Gilpin grasslands since 1972 and the impacts of current livestock management. It classified the plant communities, identified further studies required and provided management recommendations and strategies. The report concluded that:

• The Gilpin has had a long history of poor management and two previous attempts at improving the management have been partial, if not complete failures.
• The Gilpin must be recognized as an actual, fragile and unique landscape to care for and manage properly, rather than being seen as merely a symbolic landscape in which larger ideological and jurisdictional conflicts are worked out.
• User groups and government agencies must agree to a suspension of disputes and rivalries and begin collecting reliable and quantitative resource data and incorporate the results into resource management on the Gilpin, using an adaptive management framework.
• The sustainability of the Gilpin should be viewed as a noble challenge using the best of our capabilities as humans, citizens, community members, managers, resource users and scientists.
• Managers and resource users should incorporate biodiversity and endangered species concerns into planning, management and resource use. They should also recognize that the Gilpin is highly valued by local birders and naturalists. They should take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained in similar livestock-wild ungulate conflicts, such as the East Kootenay Agriculture-Wildlife Project (1990-1998) and the Lac du Bois Provincial Grassland Park outside of Kamloops.
• The interested public must be made aware of the uniqueness of the Gilpin, its biological diversity and its management issues.