Black bears vary a lot in weight. Adult males can weigh anywhere from 130 to 660 pounds. Photo Jason Hollinger.
Wells Gray Provincial Park is located 30 km north of Clearwater. Over the years the park’s boundaries have been extended southward. The result has been a considerable enlargement of both the western and eastern sections of the park, such that southern Wells Gray Park today occupies two extensive tracts of land separated by a sliver of private land referred to locally as Upper Clearwater. Currently, many of the park’s large mammals – moose, wolf, deer, cougar, black bear, and grizzly bear – migrate semi-annually across these private lands in the Upper Clearwater. Many of these lands are currently slated for development.
TLC’s campaign will see to the formation of a permanent wildlife corridor across the southern portion of Wells Gray Provincial Park. In addition to the intended corridor, this acquisition and associated donations will protect over 70 acres of wetlands, and also assists in the protection of an 8 acre meadow that is home to Canada’s most diverse population of Moonwort Ferns (Botrychium spp.).
Wild strawberries are one of the delicious snacks for many bears in the Clearwater River Valley. Photo Jason Hollinger
Not only does this project protect the ecological values of the site, it will also provide public access to a portion of the wetlands. Plans are being made to construct trails and a viewing platform that will allow the public to experience the soon to be created Kurta Wetlands Conservation Area, a 66-acre wetland donated to TLC by John and Edwina Kurta.
A third aspect of this project is the incorporation of these newly protected private lands into a larger reserve area that was created by the B.C. Ministry of Forests (MOF) and the residents of Upper Clearwater Valley. In 2000, a land use agreement was signed between MOF and the residents of the Upper Clearwater that resulted in approximately 1,200 acres of crown land being allocated for research and teaching purposes to Thompson Rivers University (TRU) in connection with its field station – the Wells Gray Education and Research Centre. This project will help solidify TRU’s research program by adding additional teaching areas and providing access to land on the western edge of the reserve.
