Expansion eyed for Kal Park

By RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff Oct 19 2007

Efforts are underway to triple the size of Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park. The Ministry of Environment is currently looking at adding 2,223 hectares of protected area to the park, which is presently 1,000 hectares in size. “There are several rattlesnake den sites there and it also preserves several protected ecosystems such as bunchgrass,” said Keith Baric, with the ministry’s environmental stewardship division. The Kalamalka Lake protected area is south of the existing provincial park, between Coldstream and Oyama. The area includes Douglas fir and cedar hemlock, as well as protected lakeshore on Kalamalka Lake. “The primary goal is to keep it in a natural state,” said Baric. “It’s managed as class A (provincial) park now so we are just talking about a change in the designation.”

Baric doesn’t expect a lot of enhancements within the area if it becomes part of the provincial park, and the future of existing trails will be considered. Access would be through the Cosens Bay gate in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park or via the lake itself. “We are not entertaining any new access points at this time,” said Baric. Currently, the ministry is consulting with local governments and First Nations. The Central Okanagan Regional District board gave its approval Monday, and the matter could go before the North Okanagan Regional District in early November. It’s anticipated that expansion of the provincial park will go before the Legislature for consideration in the spring.

The earliest the protected area could be designated class A provincial park is March. The concept of expanding Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park has full support of the Friends of Kal Park. “It’s always been our stance that they should do this,” said president Linda Kennedy. “This prevents the development of this area and it’s really important to protect the shore of Kal Lake.” But Kennedy sees a downside to expanding the size of the park if it doesn’t come with financial resources. “The rangers will be stretched even more and it will take away from service time such as maintenance,” she said.