10 April 2013
Today was a great day for conservation which those who love nature and our future Residents will look back upon with pride and gratitude to the Johns Family for their extremely generous donation of a wonderful ranch adjacent Okanagan Mountain Park and Including Kelowna Crags Climbing Cliffs west portion.
It is an area which will protect wildlife, water conservation, recreation values and all the free capital nature provides for eternity. The value of their donation was around 8 million dollars but its value for us all is really priceless.
We started the day with a hike to Knox Mountain Park, a gift hugely used and appreciated by vast numbers of people at the north end of the Valley, then headed over to the Ham Radio Club's Hall in Mission for the announcement.
Hugh of Okanagan Land Trust (COLT) and I for the Central Okanagan Naturalists Club (CONC) thank and congratulate the Johns Family for their gift to Kelowna, Nature and our children's future.
Parks Supervisor giving the happy announcement of a new park, the Johns Family Nature Conservancy Regional Park.
Kelowna Residents celebrate the announcement with applause and a lunch and then a visit to the site. It was a truly feel good event and day for us all.
The Johns Family and Thomson neighbours help celebrate the gift.
The Forest Minister, MP Steve Thomson who grew up next to the Johns and spent many hours working the site putting up hay and other chores, added buffer parcels for recreation to make the new Park a unit contiguous with Cedar Mountain Regional Park and Okanagan Mountain Park, for a total new area set aside of about 1600 acres.
I had a chance to chat with the him about the recent massive province wide beetle kill logging that was used to justify taking adjacent healthy timber and how it depleted moose 70%, has put a lot of sediment into fish streams and about how it trashed the management principle of long run sustained yield. He admitted they were getting flak about it. He told me the Indians caused the moose decline. For me it was an example of precisely why we need things like this park. The beetle thing and our to inability to adapt and properly manage the resources goes back to the fact we have let global warming get away on us and Canada is doing very little about that. Taxing carbon won't fix it. Regulations requiring compliance globally could in one fell swoop make the problem go away on the other hand but governments have been to much in the pockets of big polluting corporations to take that step. The beetles used to be killed by cold winters but not anymore. Now they are in the boreal forest spreading eastwards. We also chatted about the South Okanagan Similkameen Park proposal and how the native communities were now on side about it.
Barry Jones, President of COLT, speaking on behalf of his organization, which played a large role in fostering this special day. They had worked together for 20 years to see this day arrive.
The Johns family, whom we all applaud and express our deepest gratitude on behalf of nature and our children's future and with whom we celebrate this special day. It is not a small thing for a family to donate such a lovely and valuable place.
The property starts at Kelowna Crags and extends westward and covers a large portion of the mountain slopes.
Johns Family Memorial plaques and the two who so loved the land they willed it be preserved in perpetuity. Alfred and Nancy were brother and sister and this is their wish come true.
Alfred's tank was hit crossing a river in Italy and he survived after a stint in a burn unit. He also survived a roll over and crushing by his ATV and narrowly missed being crushed by huge pine tree that fell on the house during a wind storm. The Okanagan fire destroyed a goodly portion of their buildings and equipment but they quickly rebuilt a new home.
His nic-name could have been lucky. He frequented and was a member and benefactor of the Royal Canadian Legion, Chapter 26 and was well known there. Our deepest respects to them and this old soldier salutes their military service. Canada can be very proud of this son and of the family that he shared.
✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝ We Will Remember Them ✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝
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In this place a love of the land and of life was transformed by the family into a gift for all people for all time. Our deepest thanks. We honour you. Your gift will foster nature experiences that will pass on the love of the land to those not yet born and breed stewards of the future. True love is best passed on for it grows and spreads its goodness by doing so. Thanks again. To see how well it will be appreciated look no further than Knox Mountain across the valley.
For a summary in the Kelowna News see: http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/90226/Land-donation-means-more-green-space
Copyright 2013 Jorma Jyrkkanen. All rights reserved.
- Current Location:Canada, Kelowna
- Current Mood:
grateful
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