Winter 2023

eNews

President's Message

Dear Readers,

As winter settles in, I am often asked, “Does it get cold here?” “How much snow falls?” How much snow accumulates?” My stock answer has become, “Well, it depends on the year.” Sometimes I will refer to 1972 or 2017 and 2018 or 2020. It can be challenging to accept that natural climate phenomena in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator, known as El Nino and La Nina, can help predict Canadian weather.

Farmers understand weather; they record daily highs and lows, watch cloud build and dissolve, feel the slightest breeze, the bite in late spring and fall night air, wondering, will opening blossoms freeze? Will frost hold off until the harvest is in? They keep records and chat about weather the way realtors discuss rising and falling markets. When I was a kid I vowed I would NEVER again talk WEATHER. So what changed?

Adulthood, and working with plants! The weather was no longer that dull, nothing else to talk about subject. I learned that weather and life are inextricably linked. Will there be adequate snow and rain to refill water tables? Will farmers have adequate water to grow crops? Will the soil be moist enough to sustain forests and grasslands? Can we mitigate climate change? Weather answers these questions.

Osoyoos Desert Centre’s signature plant is the rapidly disappearing antelope brush. During 2020, after the wet 2017/18 cycle, we observed plant responses; numerous small antelope brush were growing. While the site has an abundance of mature plants, seedlings were hard to find. The leathery seeds can stay dormant for long periods or begin germination and die unless the right conditions occur. Cold temperatures break dormancy but the seed must be wet to germinate. The weather met these needs. 

Last summer’s drought conditions continue in much of BC. The Weather Network predicts El Nino conditions will bring above average temperatures and lower than normal precipitation, particularly in Western and Central Canada.  We will watch the baby antelope brush and observe how they respond. Perhaps their roots have grown deep enough to find those little bits of hidden water needed to sustain their young lives.

We all value the Osoyoos Desert Centre as a vital ecological site. It could not exist without the Osoyoos Desert Society volunteer board, our dedicated staff, and the many hours of volunteer contributions.

At the 2023 AGM two valuable board members retired. We'll miss their dedication, their humour, and their always ready to roll up their sleeves and get dirty attitude. Since 2002 Roger Horton provided guidance as a Director and President while giving invaluable contributions to the building committee. Birgit Arnstein joined the Board in 2012 and gave her all to Romancing the Desert and fundraising. Fortunately, they live close by and have pledged their volunteer support whenever needed. 

Membership and donations are another way to show strong support for our goals, particularly for people who are unable to volunteer. I truly appreciate and give thanks that so many like minded people have come together to continue the work of our foresightful founding members. A very sincere thank you to all the people who responded to our fundraising appeal last month. Your response assured us our work is valuable and will help us through these challenging times. This appreciation extends to our valued ongoing donors.

May we all find innovative ways to love and share, and embrace the wonder of winter, appreciate our blessings, and extend kindness to those less fortunate.

On behalf of the Osoyoos Desert Society Board,

Lee

Lee McFadyen

President, Osoyoos Desert Society

Wildfires and more

Without a doubt one of the most harrowing highlights from our 2023 season was the Eagle Bluff wildfire. Due to the necessary evacuation alert issued by RDOS and the BC Wildfire Service, ODC was closed for 10 days from July 29th to August 8th. Poor air quality throughout July and August, as well as the Okanagan-wide travel restriction meant that our admissions numbers overall for our 2023 season were as low as they've been since the pandemic years. To say the least, it's been a tough year financially for so many in the tourism industry. So much love and appreciation goes out to the brave men and women who work tirelessly to protect our homes, our lands and our businesses. You truly are heroic! And to echo Lee's thank you in her President's message, many many thanks to everyone who contributed to our November fundraising appeal and to our ongoing annual donors. Your contributions have been a tremendous help, and we appreciate it!

New Pergolas

It was such a thrill this spring to be able to purchase and install five fantastic 10' x 10' Toja Grid pergola systems in our centre courtyard. These pergolas are invaluable when it comes to creating a great visitor experience here at the ODC and not only are they very mod and stylish, they really suit the place. It's been great seeing folks sit under them this summer, taking a bit of a rest after coming back from a walk along our boardwalk or enjoying a picnic lunch with their families. They've also made a tremendous difference in keeping us cool during our Nature Talks and other presentations. A big shout out to our pergola funders: Osoyoos Credit Union, Ernie and Kathie Westphal and our 2022 raffle supporters!!

Strategic Planning

This year the board of directors and staff engaged in a much-needed and long overdue strategic planning session. Facilitated by Vantage Point who specialize in non-profit leadership training and organizational assessment, the process was incredibly rewarding. It was great to come together to take a look at where we are, identify our future goals and priorities and set a path for the next few years ensuring that all that we do is aligned with our updated mandate, vision, and values. We are proud to share our 2024 to 2027 Strategic Plan with you here. A big thank you to Burrowing Owl Winery for donating their beautiful and inspiring meeting room for this event.

ODC Nature Talks

Due to the dire situation from wildfires this summer, we were forced to cancel several of our planned Nature Talks. Happily, five went ahead. We started with a talk from Dr. Scott Gilmore, a self-professed "beetle guy" who demonstrated in his fascinating talk that the tiniest creatures among us can be the mightiest. Up next was Lia McKinnon from Okanagan-Similkameen

Stewardship Society who brought along her very popular friend Nora, the gopher snake. Nora was a big hit but also were the frog and toad sound samples that Lia played for us! Joining us from UBCO was masters student Jeff Vreys. Jeff shared why antelope-brush ecosystems are so special and the diversity of critters that live within. Our very own Conservation Guide, Kaylee Lesmeister delivered an excellent talk about habitat connectivity, with a focus on the American badger and we finished off our Nature Talk series with Paula Rodriguez de la Vega from the BC Community Bat Program. Paula tested our bat knowledge with a mythbusters game and taught us so many new things about these incredible valuable and fascinating creatures of the night. Thank you to all our presenters for sharing your passion, your inspiration and your expertise with us!

For the Birds, Early Birds and Night Walks

Once again, ODC was happy to take part in the Meadowlark Nature Festival in May. Our sold out "For the Birds!" workshop included step-by-step instructions for participants to build their own take-home nest box while learning about bluebird ecology and lifecycle. In July and August we offered several early bird tours throughout July and August. Many folks joined us bright and early at 7 am to have a walk

around the boardwalk and see which critters are up and about at the start of the day. In September we also hosted two very popular sold out Night Tours. Participants love getting out on our boardwalk under the cover of darkness to see what's out there. We aren't always able to spot our nocturnal creatures but it never fails to be a magical experience for all.

Happy Birthday Canada!

Every year ODC board members have a blast taking part in the annual Osoyoos Cherry Fiesta and Canada Day celebrations. This July 1st directors Deb Sherwood and Roger Horton cruised around on board Ivor and Heather Langley's gorgeous 1965 Buick Skylark convertible in honour of Canada's birthday. What a fantastic day hosted by the Town of Osoyoos. Always a good time is had by all!

Exploring our Habitat

In addition to our own ongoing research projects including monitoring our two Great Basin spadefoot breeding ponds and our 14 bluebird nest boxes, we are pleased to welcome many visiting researchers as well as outside research projects. While travelling to the Okanagan this summer not only did Dr. Scott Gilmore from Vancouver Island give a great bug talk, he and his son Zeke also spent a couple of days collecting data on some of the insects found at ODC. Scott let us know about the many interesting insects he and Zeke observed: "From picture winged flies (Physiphora alceae) dancing on fresh bear dung to the endangered Kiowa Grasshopper (Trachyrhachys kiowa) and a very active Western Red-tailed Spider Wasp (Tachypompilus unicolor) there was plenty to see despite the very hot weather. I was primarily looking for beetles of which there were not many to be found. Highlights included the longhorned beetle Stenostrophia tribalteata which is rarely collected in BC and the first specimen of the introduced dung beetle Colobopterus erraticus found in BC."

Another project conducted at ODC this summer involved Jennifer Heron, Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship Invertebrate Conservation Specialist. Her and her team were working on Valley Grasshopper (Oedaleonotus enigma) surveys. This specific grasshopper is highly localized and Osoyoos is the northern tip of its range. Using swoop nets and pitfall traps, which is simply a cup of water nestled into the ground, a national status report is being prepared for the species.

The global population of Lewis’s Woodpecker is showing significant declines due to loss of breeding and wintering habitat. Because migration routes and wintering areas are unknown, its very challenging to assess the importance of habitat loss on population declines. Using the Motus wildlife tracking system, local biologist Tanya Luszcz is able to examine post-fledging habitat use, migration timing and routes, and overwintering sites for Lewis’s Woodpecker that breed in British Columbia. She and her Canadian colleagues are collaborating with their US counterparts to study migratory connectivity of this species. To date nine Motus stations have been installed across BC’s southern interior from the Similkameen to the East Kootenay. One of them is at the Osoyoos Desert Centre. Tanya and her colleague David Bell report that unfortunately there were no Lewis's Woodpeckers detected at our station this year. It did, however, detect quite a few tags from the Flyway conservation project which was tagging birds in the south Okanagan riparian areas this summer. Between late June and mid-September the ODC station detected 12 Veery and eight Willow Flycatchers. Nice!

More Boots on the Ground

Over the past several years we've been working towards enhancing our educational programming. It’s so important for kids to get out in nature. Not only is it tremendously therapeutic – for both physical and mental health – its also very connecting.

Education is one of the most important cornerstones at ODC and we’ve been very fortunate that FortisBC has been supporting school fieldtrips to the ODC for many, many years now. This year we received a substantial grant from FortisBC to continue to support those field trips but also to help support the educational component of the Antelope-brush Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration project spearheaded by Orville Dyer and Allison Dietrich. After a hugely successful pilot project initiated last year, this spring students in the South Okanagan Similkameen again headed outdoors to take part in a boots-on-the-ground stewardship program to help in the restoration of our endangered Antelope-brush habitat. Over 200 students and 10 teachers took part in the program which included dozens of activities like learning about big horn sheep, skull identification, animal tracking, working with the iNaturalist app, indigenous teachings, birding, habitat restoration, and of course a field trip to ODC to explore a recovering Antelope-brush habitat. The kids also planted over 250 Antelope-brush seedlings on a private landowner's property near the old Fairview townsite and several Nature Trust properties. Allison Dietrich put together an amazing video montage of the project.

ODC hosted an additional 260 students at the elementary, middle, secondary levels from both School District 67 (Okanagan Skaha) and School District 53 (Okanagan Similkameen) as well as UBC students and home schoolers at the Osoyoos Desert Centre! Our school programs are more than just a fun walk around our boardwalk. These immersive educational programs tie directly to BC curriculum outcomes, concepts and big ideas like ecosystems, adaptation, energy pyramid, biodiversity, connectivity, and more. So many studies point to the endless benefits these types of programs do for our kids and the feedback we get from both the teachers and students is incredible. Our dream at ODC is to one day have a purpose built outdoor classroom right here on our site. Thank you Orv, Allison, all our conservation partners and last but not least, the team at FortisBC for your tremendous support!

Community Fundraisers

HBC Community Fundraiser

Once again we are so grateful that Osoyoos Home Building Centre made us a part of their community fundraisers this summer. HBC has supported local non-profit organizations for many years now, donating proceeds from their summer BBQ fundraisers. Thank you HBC for your donations to ODC and support of our community charities over the years!

United Church Dorcas Unit Thrift Shop

We were delighted to received a surprise donation from the United Church Dorcas Unit Thrift Shop once again this year. Thank you to the wonderful volunteers at the thrift shop for your support and generosity!

In the News!

We are so grateful to the many media outlets that support us throughout the year and help promote ODC and our activities and events.

Local/Regional Media – Times Chronicle, Penticton Herald, Keremeos Review, Castanet (various articles by Castanet writers as well as mentions in JP Squires article Making Tracks), Similkameen Spotlight and Bounce Radio (Brock Jackson).

Here are some more highlights from 2023:

Summer getaway: Your guide to food and family-friendly fun in Osoyoos

by Lindsay William-Ross

Your Passport to Sustainable Travel Bliss

by Natalie Bruckner

Deserts in Canada? A look at some of the country’s most desert-like landscapes

by Olivia Wiens

Special thanks to the Destination Osoyoos team who work throughout the year promoting Osoyoos Desert Centre to international travel writers and bloggers.

Our Volunteers are the Best!

We are so fortunate to have a team of dedicated individuals helping out in so many important aspects of what we do at ODC from weeding, invasive plant remediation and making our demonstration garden shine to maintaining our buildings, decks and machinery and acting as our ambassadors to the world at our admissions desk. Our volunteers are the heart and soul of the Osoyoos Desert Centre. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Admissions Volunteers

JoAnne Birch, Shirley Boyle, Deirdrie Holmes, Saran Kanda, Julie King, Alicia Osland, Isla Petreny-Mackenzie, Judith Steffler, Rob Summers, Hailey Tingley and Kathie Westphal.

Garden Party Volunteers

Shirley Boyle, Paul and Mary Doyle, Fred Hamilton, Julie King, Lee McFadyen, Cheryl Place, Trevor Reeves and Rob Summers.

Building and Maintenance Volunteers

Peter Beckett, Annika Friedt, Gradon Friedt, James Friedt, Mat Hassen, Roger Horton, Trevor Reeves, Larry Stone, Rob Summers and Ernie Westphal.

To the best Board of Directors ever, enormous thanks!

Birgit Arnstein, Peter Beckett, Roger Horton, Angela Huxham, Lee McFadyen, Joanne Muirhead, Jodi Norrison, Trevor Reeves, and Deb Sherwood. Your dedication to the Osoyoos Desert Centre is unwavering and so appreciated! Special shout out to Birgit Arnstein and Roger Horton who stepped down from the board this year. Your commitment and contributions have been invaluable! So sad to see you go, but remember, you can run but you can't hide!!

HATS OFF TO OUR CHAMPIONS!

Grants, donations and sponsorship from individuals, foundations, government and corporate funders are our lifeblood. We simply would not exist without them. As fellow supporters of conservation, we ask that you, in turn, please support them when you can.

Government, Foundation and Major Corporate Funders

Individual and Corporate Donors

Osoyoos Desert Society Members

OSOYOOS DESERT CENTRE

BOX 123 OSOYOOS BC VOH 1V0

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