Columbia Wetlands: Backgrounder

  • The Columbia River and Wetlands, 180 kilometers in length, one of the longest intact wetlands in North America, comprise a floodplain of outstanding regional, national, and international significance.
  • These wetlands, after meeting all the criteria for designation under the Ramsar Convention, was chosen as a Ramsar wetland of international significance in 2005.
  •   While countless wetlands across the planet are destroyed daily through draining, pollution or development, one of the longest contiguous wetlands in North America survives in the Southeast corner of British Columbia, Canada: a true wilderness in the heart of the Columbia Valley.
  • The Columbia Wetlands are the headwaters of the Columbia River system, the fourth largest body of water in North America by volume; a critical water supply for the Pacific Northwest.
  • The Columbia River system has sustained centuries of human impacts. The river has been dammed, confined, channeled, and put to work to serve a human master. Many other wetlands that once provided habitat for migrating birds are now lost behind the dams.
  • The area was designated as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in 1996 after decades of study and public consultation processes. This designation falls under the BC Wildlife Act, and affords, under this legislation, a far greater opportunity to protect wildlife than would be found on other crown lands in the province. In terms of appropriate and wildlife compatible recreation and tourism opportunities, people can enjoy quiet, unobtrusive, contemplative pastimes in close proximity to a wide variety of migrating and resident birds and animals.
  • The guiding principle of the WMA management plan: Principle 1: All activity that occurs in the CWWMA must have a neutral or positive effect on wildlife, fish and plant communities.
  • Enactment of a Boating regulation that is: Easy to communicate to the public, 2. Enforceable, 3. And most important, must do the job of protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat within the protected area of the CWWMA.
  • Recent scientific research in the Columbia Wetlands WMA dictates:
    • No motorized vessels in wetlands ever
    • No PWC (skidoos) anywhere
    • No towing or wake boarding activity allowed.
    • The main channel to be open to limited motorized vessel use from July 15 until August 31 inclusively.
  • Development has escalated exponentially throughout the Columbia Valley, increasing pressures for all kinds of recreational activities.  Without a boating regulation, increasing human recreation pressure will negatively impact the unique values that are intended for protection.
  • Wildsight works for long-term layers of protection for the ecological integrity of the Columbia Wetlands system and supporting watersheds. Prioritization of environmental protection measures in the different land use planning initiatives that arise throughout the region, including forestry development plans, agricultural development, tourism, recreation, sewage disposal and others. This includes resolution of the lot 48 issue on east Columbia Lake.