South Chilcotin Mountains Park | Chilcotin Ark Institute

Management Suggestions

Conflicting Users on Park Trails

Due to the amount of visitor traffic around the Spruce Lake area, there have been multiple occasions of close collisions between different trail users, especially horseback riders and mountain bikers traveling at high speed. BC Parks responded to the increased concerns about trail safety by creating a second trail that runs parallel to the original.

Another similar problem is along Gun Creek Trail, where bike riders travelling south from Spruce Lake have a lot of speed and momentum due to the downhill gradient. Similarly to Tyaughton Creek Trail, fast or sudden approaches can frighten horses which can cause them to throw their riders and especially next to rushing rivers this has caused serious consequences.

BC Parks needs to proactively find a solution for these pressure-point trails, where the risk of collision between different types of users and resulting injury is high and has happened. Although this may not match the values of a Wilderness Recreation Park, a similar strategy of creating separate parallel trails could be used to help diffuse conflicts on Tyaughton Creek Trail and Gun Creek Trail. The other options are implementing speed limits or prohibition of float plane drop-offs at high elevation lakes for mountain bikers to speed downhill.

Improvements Needed at Potato Patch Bridge, Eldorado Creek Bridge & the last Gun Creek Bridge

According to ‘Chapter 10: Recreation Trail Management’ in the BC Ministry of Forests Recreation Manual, ‘trail maintenance should reflect the level of use and classification of the trail’, however Potato Patch Bridge and Eldorado Creek Bridge on two of the most heavily used trails have become dangerous and need repairing.

Potato Patch Bridge is located to the south of Spruce Lake on the ‘Spruce Lake Main Trail’ which is a primary trail (see figure 1). Eldorado Creek Bridge is situated on Gun Creek Trail where it crosses Eldorado Creek near the campsite (see figure 2). Bridges at both locations have become unsafe and inappropriately built for the level of use they receive. A slippery deck and no installation of side rails causes horses and people to slip easily and fall off the bridge.

At the last Gun Creek Bridge, the handrails have begun to rot and need replacing before they fall apart. However, the main concern is the 24 inch height difference between the trail and the bridge walkway. On one side, a make-shift ramp has been created by placing large stones leading up to the bridge, however this is extremely narrow and slippery during rain. On the other side, it is difficult for horses to step down safely from the bridge, and they could easily be injured by stepping on rocks or slipping. The best solution would be for BC Parks to instal ramps at both ends of the bridge.

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Sources:

Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. (1998). Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act

Lottery Access to South Chilcotin Mountains Park

The South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park is a designated Wilderness Recreation Zone and one of the most biodiverse areas in the province. According to the BC Parks Zoning Framework (2012), the management objective for this type of park is to ‘protect a remote and undisturbed natural landscape’, with the management guidelines ‘orientated to protect a pristine environment’.

For example, the visitors in Joffre Lakes increased with 168% between 2010 and 2018 and now has over 180,000 hikers and campers a year. Visitor numbers over park capacity lead to serious environmental and safety issues. Trails are so congested that people forge new paths, damaging sensitive vegetation. Human-wildlife conflict rises as visitors leave trash, meaning more bears have to be destroyed by Conservation Officers. Another example is at Tweedsmuir Provincial Park – North, where the waterways have become so busy that ‘Marine Access Camping’ and ‘Winching Service’ fees have been imposed.

Roughly half of the campsites in BC Parks work on a first-come-first-serve basis. However, due to the vast number of visitors to the most popular parks, many now use ‘Discover Canada’ as an online management system for booking camping spots. This means there are a limited number of campsites available. Visitors must book ahead of time and pay a fee to reserve their camping spot. This revenue is then recycled back into BC Parks and put into maintenance and conservation efforts.

Looking at other Provincial Parks around BC, it is clear that the South Chilcotin Mountains Park must be proactive in managing visitor numbers before any damage is done to the sensitive ecosystems and wildlife that are native to the area. A ‘lottery system’ should be implemented for allocating a pre-set number of access passes to the park. The lottery system is also being used for trails on Vancouver Island, and in other parks across the world, for example in Yosemite National Park in the USA. Other countries, such as New Zealand, also use a lottery system to control visitor numbers in a fair and unbiased way.

Further research must be carried out in order to understand the feasibility of the lottery system, as well as determining where the balance lies between limiting access to the park for wilderness preservation whilst encouraging people to get out in the mountains and share the joy of the South Chilcotins.

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Sources:

https://bcparks.ca/tweedsmuir-park/
BC Parks Zoning Framework: A Management Planning Tool (2012)
British Columbia’s Wildlife at Risk: The Great Blue Heron
BC Parks Joffre Lakes Park
Lillooet News article: “ Camping by reservation only at Joffre Lakes ” (April 2019)
CBC article: “’ Aggressive’ camping reservation system sparks calls for change ” (May 2016)
National Park Service: Yosemite

Float Planes are displacing wildlife

Float Planes are a popular option for getting into the backcountry with little effort. Taking off from Tyaughton Lake the planes fly to various lakes inside the South Chilcotin Mountain and Big Creek Park – like Spruce , Lorna and Warner Lake. The use of aircrafts impacts wildlife in different ways. B. Churchill and B. Holland prepared the paper “Wildlife and aircraft operation: assessment of impacts, mitigation and recommendation for best management practices in the Peace Region” on behalf of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Peace Region in 2003. They analyzed features with high risk of impact the risk of impacts like noise, movement and close approaches are a few features with high risk of impact, causing flight by animals, stress, direct or indirect mortality, range avoidance or abandonment and reduced reproductive success. As a result they suggest general mitigation actions and best management practices like:

Identify wildlife concerns for the area
Preparation of a written plan to avoid/mitigate impacts on wildlife including:
- Designated wildlife species of concern (timing windows)
- Designated avoidance distances (400m vertical x 2000 m horizontal rule)
- Seasonally avoiding sheep and goat winter range and birthing/rearing areas
- Avoiding cliff habitat potentially used by sheep, goats, and cliff nesting raptors

Float Planes currently displace the wildlife in the area surrounding the lakes that they land on and along the way they are flying. The Canadian Aviation Regulations (1.11.3) state that “to preserve the natural environment of parks, reserves and refuges and to minimize the disturbance to the natural habitat, overflights should not be conducted below 2000 feet above ground level.” These rules have to be enforced by BC Parks and followed by the tourism companies.

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Sources:

Churchill, B., Holland, B. (Chillborne Environmental). 2003: Wildlife and aircraft operation: assessment of impacts, mitigation and recommendation for best management practices in the Peace Region. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/wildlife-wildlife-habitat/regional-wildlife/northeast-region/best-mgmt-practices/aircraft_operations_wildlife_mitigation_report.pdf

Transport Canada. 2020: RAC – RULES OF THE AIR AND AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES. https://tc.canada.ca/sites/default/files/migrated/aim_2020_1_e_rac.pdf

Wildlife Guidelines for Backcountry Tourism/Commercial Recreation in British Columbia 2006. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/wildlife-wildlife-habitat/outdoor-recreation/wildlife_guidelines_recreation.pdf

BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development, 2019. Mountain Goat Guidelines for Adventure Tourism Tenures in the South Coast Region of British Columbia https://chilcotinarkinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Mt-goat-1500m-no-fly-zone-guidelines.pdf

Helicopter use is displacing wildlife

Helicopter use, including heliskiing, heli-biking, heli-hiking and helicopter sightseeing are very popular activities in the South Chilcotin Mountains and Bridge River Valley. With heliskiing, guides and guests are dropped off on the otherwise hardly accessible mountain by the helicopter, they ski downhill and get picked up in the valley.

The use of aircrafts impacts wildlife in different ways. B. Churchill and B. Holland prepared the paper “Wildlife and aircraft operation: assessment of impacts, mitigation and recommendation for best management practices in the Peace Region” on behalf of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Peace Region in 2003. They analyzed features with high risk of impact the risk of impacts like noise, movement and close approaches are a few features with high risk of impact, causing flight by animals, stress, direct or indirect mortality, range avoidance or abandonment and reduced reproductive success. As a result they suggest general mitigation actions and best management practices like:

Identify wildlife concerns for the area
Preparation of a written plan to avoid/mitigate impacts on wildlife including
Designated wildlife species of concern (timing windows)
Designated avoidance distances (400m vertical x 2000 m horizontal rule)
Seasonally avoiding sheep and goat winter range and birthing/rearing areas
Avoiding cliff habitat potentially used by sheep, goats, and cliff nesting raptors

Heli skiing is currently conducted in the winter ranges of wildlife, especially mountain goats in the Slim and Eldorado area. Heli-biking and heli-hiking are conducted between the Iron Pass and Spruce Lake area. The Canadian Aviation Regulations (1.11.2) state that “in the interest of conserving wildlife, pilots must not fly at an altitude of less than 2 000 ft AGL when in the vicinity of herds of wildlife animals or above wildlife refuges/bird sanctuaries, depicted on affected aeronautical charts.” Currently the designated heli ski runs are in close proximity to the winter ranges of mountain goats. The designated heli skiing areas have to be reviewed by BC Parks.

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Sources:

Transport Canada. 2020: RAC – RULES OF THE AIR AND AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES. https://tc.canada.ca/sites/default/files/migrated/aim_2020_1_e_rac.pdf

Flight Regulations Related to the Protection of Mountain Goat and their Habitat

This is a summary of the flight regulations for commercial tourism operators in BC for the protection of the mountain goat population and their habitat under the Land Act when conducting activities on Crown land.

The guidelines that follow are primarily intended for adventure tourism tenures, but can also be implemented in regards to any land tenure who has the potential to impact mountain goats or their habitats (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019).

Mountain goats are a relic from the ice age. They are adapted to live in rugged mountain terrain, on south and west facing slopes and ridges in the wintertime (Michelfelder and Ranson, 2019). Mountain goats are ranked S3 (Special Concern) on the BC Conservation Data Centre’s blue list (BC CDC, 2018). BC holds over 50% of the world’s mountain goat population. Therefore BC is responsible and plays a major role in the preservation and protection of this highly valued species (Mountain Goat Management Team, 2010).

Mountain goats react more strongly to human disturbance than most ungulates. Backcountry tourism activities “have the potential to adversely impact mountain goats and their habitats” (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019). Aerial-based recreation activities including helicopters provide the greatest risk to wildlife and their habitats but fixed-wing aircraft also have an impact. Without crucial restrictions aerial activity has great potential to “result in either the alteration or destruction of habitat, or the temporary or permanent abandonment of habitat” (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006).

The periods in which this species is most vulnerable are the wintertime, due to limited availability of food, higher vulnerability to predators and restricted movement, “likely because of the energetic cost of moving through deep snow” (Mountain Goat Management Team, 2010), and during kidding time. Therefore the conservation of a high value winter and kidding range is of special importance (Mountain Goat Management Team, 2010).

The goal is to minimize the disturbance to mountain goats and their habitats, so they continue to utilize their winter ranges (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006). Conserving mountain goats into perpetuity ensures they can continue to make their contribution to the ecosystem they live in long into the future. Conserving goats in this way will allow countless future generations to observe these unique animals in their natural habitat.

The following guidelines have been developed to ensure that environmental values and tourism recreational activities can co-exist. They “must be included in all heli-supported adventure tourism Management Plans” (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019).

Aircraft must not land in identified mountain goat winter ranges (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
No intentional “flight-seeing” of mountain goats (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
Minimum flight separation distances from high-value mountain goat habitat must be implemented: 1500m horizontal separation where no geographic barriers exist, 500m vertical separation (year-round) (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019)
Aircraft operators must avoid habitats where “mountain goats have been seen in the current season and/or animals consistently occupy the area and the area is mapped as occupied” (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
Aircraft operators should minimize use in areas where mountain goat use is highly likely or where mountain goat use has been documented in the past (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006). This can be done by:
- Distributing aerial activities across their operating area so that these high-use goat habitat areas receive less use (particularly for landings and take-offs) relative to other areas where goat use is lower (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
- Using regular and predictable patterns and frequency of their flights so mountain goats learn where air traffic will be and when (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
- Flying on the opposite side of the valley from where mountain goat use areas are located (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
- Flying in a way that reduces noise and ensures mountain goats aren’t surprised by encounters with aircraft (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
- Ensuring that monitoring and feed-back systems are in place (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
Aircraft restrictions do not apply in areas not considered mountain goat habitat, or if there is no sign of mountain goat use, even if the areas are mapped (Joint Government, CT/CR, 2006)
Monitoring and logging of activities is vital to good management and includes:
- Records of any deviation from the Management Plan or Wildlife Mitigation Strategy (Blewett et al, 2019)
- Rationale for any such deviations (Blewett et al, 2019)
- If deviations occurred, recommendations for better compliance with the Management Plan or Wildlife Mitigation Strategy (Blewett et al, 2019)
- Records and location of any and all mountain goats observed during a deviation (Blewett et al, 2019)
- Flight paths for each aircraft (Blewett et al, 2019)
FLNRORD (Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development) must approve flight paths to, from and within the operator’s tenure area (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019)
FLNRORD must approve the location of helicopter landing sites within a tenure area and minimum separation distances of 1500m from high value habitats (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019)
Aircraft operators should not use helicopters with a high blade vortex interaction including Bell 204, 205, 212 and 214 for adventure tourism activities. If they are used, there must be a 2000m horizontal distance to goat range (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019)
Pre-season training for guides and pilots must include operational awareness of the Wildlife Guidelines, Management Plan, Wildlife Mitigation Strategy and government permit conditions (Guertin and Bickerton, 2019)
All route markers such as heli-skiing poles must be removed from the land immediately post-season (Blewett et al, 2019)

It is crucial to mention that not only mountain goats, but also other species are impacted by aerial activity, such as California Bighorn sheep, mule deer and grizzly bears.

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Sources:

Mountain Goat Management Team (2010): Management Plan for the Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus) in British Columbia, online available at: https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/recovery/management_plans/MtGoat_MP_Final_28May2010.pdf (accessed: September 20^th 2021)

British Columbia Conservation Data Centre (BC CDC). 2018. BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer. BC Ministry of Environment, Victoria BC. Available: http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/. (Accessed September 20^th 2021)

Approved by Michelfelder, Volker and Ranson, David (2019): South Chilcotin Mountains Park and Big Creek Park Managment Plan. Available: https://bcparks.ca/about/management-plans/ (Accessed: September 20^th 2021)

Joint Government and Commercial Tourism (CT)/Commercial Recreation (CR) (2006): Wildlife Guidelines for Backcountry Tourism/Commercial Recreation in British Columbia, Available: https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/twg/documents/wildlife_guidelines_recreation_may06_v2.pdf (Accessed: September 20^th 2021)

Blewett, William, Blewett, Mandi and Vermillion, Jeff (2019): Lower Dean River Lodge Heli-Sport Management Plan, Available: https://www.rdbn.bc.ca/application/files/7415/8802/2741/Referral_6409187_Management_Plan.pdf (Accessed: September 20^th 2021)

The original papers are:

“Management Plan for the Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus) in British Columbia”

“Mountain Goat Guidelines for Adventure Tourism Tenures in the South Coast Region of British Columbia”

“Wildlife Guidelines for Backcountry Tourism/Commercial Recreation in British Columbia”

“South Chilcotin Mountains Park and Big Creek Park Management Plan”

“Lower Dean River Lodge Heli-Sports Management Plan December 2019”.

Trail Development

South Chilcotin Mountain and Big Creek Provincial Parks are class A Wilderness Parks. Because of historical recreational use, an extensive trail system has been established and is maintained by BC Parks. It is prohibited to create new trails. Yet new mountain bike trails are being created every year. The mountain bike community needs to do better self regulations.

You can find the official BC Parks- South Chilcotin Mountains Park trail map here.

Trail Maintenance – Waterbars

Trails are getting washed out up to 1 m deep, due to erosion. Especially in the spring, when the snow melts and water is running down the trails. Waterbars can prevent the trails from being washed out, by dispersing the water in different directions. Park work crews need direction to reduce the erosion on the trails. Here are a few locations where water bars are necessary according to regular visitors of the park:

Lick Trail in the alpine
Deer Pass (south slope/Trigger Lake site)
Elbow Pass Trail
Eldorado

Stay on Main Trails

All park users are advised to use the main trails as designated on the SCMP map on BC Parks website only! Any off-trail use in the South Chilcotin Mountain and Big Creek Provincial Park is prohibited. Yet BC Parks website is contradictory, they also promote a map with many off trail routes. This needs to be adjusted.

You can find the official BC Parks – South Chilcotin Mountains Park trail map here.

No Electric Mountain Bikes in the South Chilcotin Mountain and Big Creek Park

South Chilcotin Mountain and Big Creek Provincial Parks are class A Wilderness Parks. Bicycles with any kind of electric assist motors (e-bikes) are not allowed on the trails within South Chilcotin Mountains and Big Creek Park. The mountain bike community needs to be encouraged to better self regulate according to this rule and BC Parks needs more signage and education.

California Bighorn Sheep pneumonia due to bacteria (Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae)

Impact on California Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn sheep(Ovis canadensis) evolved in North America thousands of years before domestic sheep were introduced by European settlers. The domestic sheep brought novel diseases to which native sheep had never evolved a resistance. Bighorns also venture widely in search of resources and other herds. These journeys increase the chance of contact with domestic sheep. As a result domestic sheep can carry certain bacteria with no negative impacts to themselves, but the transfer of these bacteria can result in fatal pneumonia for the wild sheep(90% mortality rate within two months after exposure to domestic sheep, almost 100% lamb mortality).

California Bighorn sheep pneumonia complex has caused serious mortality events in bighorn sheep over many decades and in some areas has significantly limited population size and resilience( Feb 2016, Clinton, BC:Population decrease from 110 to 28 sheep in3 years). California Bighorn Sheep are on the Blue List of BC with the provincial status S3?(2015) which makes them a “Special concern “ and “vulnerable to extirpation or extinction“

Domestic species do not show clinical signs of disease; however, commingling and transmission of bacteria to susceptible bighorn sheep herds can result in significant illness and death in the wild sheep. Following outbreaks, bighorn sheep survivors often carry the bacteria and transmit disease to lambs in subsequent years causing lamb death and poor lamb survival for years. The bacteria transfers from infected to healthy sheep by:

direct physical contact
airborne particles up to 30-100m from the source

Prevention

Currently, no effective vaccine or treatment for bacterial pneumonia exists for bighorn sheep. So physical separation of wild sheep from domestic sheep is critical to minimize risk of disease transmission.

In areas near bighorn sheep ranges, a “no contact” fence is required.

Since this situation exists in the Chilcotin Ark, in the Bridge River Valley at Carol Lake the domestic sheep need to be removed to protect wild bighorn sheep populations and reverse declining population.

https://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/TWS_FactSheet_BighornSheep_FINAL_2014.11.13.pdf

https://wildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FactSheet-Bighorn_FINAL.pdf

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bighorn-sheep-in-b-c-dying-from-domestic-sheep-pneumonia-1.3436291

https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/esr.do?id=16396

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/plants-animals-ecosystems/conservation-data-centre/explore-cdc-data/status-ranks

https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/search.do;jsessionid=2407121B5C4EEBC3216784DC9640770E

Contribute to Wildlife Conservation

The Chilcotin Ark is an area of international ecological importance and so it is everyone’s responsibility to contribute to its conservation and stewardship.

Are you ready to contribute to something larger than yourself and get involved in research in the Chilcotin Ark as you visit the area? If you want to complete a research or conservation project in the Chilcotin Ark, we have an extensive database and the resources to help you. Contact us here to enquire about your options.

Through a research practice known as participatory action research, we utilize the collected data to monitor species populations and gain information about current trends to have a real world impact on conservation and wildlife management practices.

Our goal is to maintain wildlife numbers at the maximum population number for the habitat’s maximum potential carrying capacity. Research is one of the ways we make this happen and you can help.

You can record your observations and share them with us to strengthen the database and knowledge about wildlife in the Chilcotin Ark. Fill in the online wildlife survey to share your observations while you are out in the Chilcotin Ark. You can also download a wildlife sighting form PDF to take notes on the way and fill in the online form when you are back home.

FIll in online wildlife survey

Download wildlife sigting form