The Nature Trust of British Columbia has protected 72 acres of ecologically important land in the South Okanagan. The property expands The Nature Trust’s Skaha Lake Eastside conservation complex, south of Penticton. It is adjacent to the McTaggart-Cowan/nsək’łniw’t Wildlife Management Area and provides valuable habitat for several species at risk.
The Skaha Lake Eastside conservation complex adds important habitat for Bighorn Sheep for foraging, lambing, and escaping predators. Bighorn Sheep are a species of provincial concern in British Columbia. Human pressures on their habitat have reduced their distribution in the Okanagan.
The mixture of diverse and sensitive ecosystems on the property will also protect habitat for a variety of species listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, including, Pallid Bat, American Badger, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Western Screech Owl, Desert Nightsnake, Western Rattlesnake, and Great Basin Gophersnake.
