Land Conservancy of B.C. Helps Coordinate Government Acquisition of Slocan Lake Property
VALHALLA MILE PROPERTY TO BE ADDED TO PROVINCIAL PARK
VICTORIA – The B.C. government, with the help of a number of partners, has acquired the Valhalla
Mile property consisting of 63 hectares of land and 1.7 kilometres of shoreline along the western shore
of Slocan Lake, Environment Minister Barry Penner announced today.
“I’m pleased that the B.C. government has been able to acquire the Valhalla Mile property to
add to Valhalla Provincial Park, enhancing the park for visitors, and the local community,” said
Penner. “I commend the Valhalla Foundation and The Land Conservancy of BC for their leadership in
bringing together hundreds of citizens and a number of organizations to financially support the
acquisition, appraised at $1.625 million.”
The partnership, coordinated by The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC), consisted of $700,000
from the B.C. government, a $325,000 Ecogift from the vendor, Burkhard Franz, under the Ecological
Gifts Program of Environment Canada, and $600,000 raised by the land conservancy and the Valhalla
Foundation for Ecology and Social Justice.
“We have been working with the Valhalla Foundation for Ecology and Social Justice since the
summer of 2008, and the fact our goal to protect Valhalla Mile has been reached is a huge
accomplishment,” said TLC deputy director Kathleen Sheppard. “We would like to thank all the
concerned citizens, community groups, businesses, foundations and the provincial government for
helping to protect this land for its environmental and recreational values. This campaign is a good
example of how important partnerships are when it comes protecting B.C.’s special places.”
This property is a key addition to Valhalla Provincial Park, which encompasses almost 50,000
hectares and protects an entire mountain ecosystem from lakeshore to high alpine. Besides protecting
undeveloped shoreline and intact upland forest, this property provides habitat for a variety of wildlife
species including grizzly and black bears, cougars, wolverines, mule deer and great blue herons.
“To protect the Valhalla Mile and have it added to the park was one of the dreams of my sister
and environmental colleague Colleen McCrory, who passed away two years ago, so this acquisition
gives us great joy,” said Wayne McCrory, a director of the Valhalla Foundation for Ecology and Social
Justice. “We would particularly like to thank members of the public for the huge groundswell of
support. Special thanks goes to people in the Slocan Valley, Vancouver and Victoria who gave
generously, organized fund-raising events and contributed lots of hard work to making this acquisition
happen.”
Other partners were the Columbia Basin Trust, BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation
Fund, the BC Trust for Public Lands, the Regional District of Central Kootenay, the Toronto-
Dominion Friends of the Environment Foundation, support from environmental, naturalist and outdoor
recreation organizations, and personal donations from hundreds of members of the public.
Since 2001, the provincial government has established 57 new parks, 143 conservancies, one
ecological reserve and eight protected areas, and expanded more than 50 parks and six ecological
reserves, protecting more than 1.9 million hectares. Today, 14.26 per cent (or more than 13.5 million
hectares) of British Columbia is protected – more than any other province in Canada.
To make the BC Parks system even better, the B.C. government has invested approximately
$107 million over the past five years to improve park infrastructure and acquire additional parkland.
For more information about B.C.’s provincial parks, please visit: www.bcparks.ca.
View the Offical Press Release
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