B.C. conservation area aims to preserve grasslands, bird habitat

A new conservation area will protect important bird habitat and preserve grasslands in southeastern British Columbia, the Nature Conservancy of Canada says.

The conservancy says money from the federal government and private donors went to buying up 271 hectares (2.7 square kilometres) of land in the Skookumchuck Prairie north of Cranbrook, B.C.

Richard Klafki, aB.C. program director with the Nature Conservancy, saidthe land which also includes wetlands and forests is a "key biodiversity area" and came up for sale when the former owner, a local rancher, decided to downsize.

Klafki saidthe former owner offered up the lands knowing their "unique ecological characteristics" and sites like it are becoming rarer in the valleys of the Rocky Mountain Trench.

He saidthe grasslands include nesting grounds of the long-billed curlew, and are also relied upon by elk and deer in the winter.

Klafki saidthe curlew resembles "a large sandpiper on steroids," with a long, curved beak that can be seen probing for insects and grubs among the grass.

"They're a really interesting bird to see out there," he said of the curlew, which has been designated as a species of special concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault saidprotecting areas such as the Skookumchuck Prairie helps reverse the loss of biodiversity and helps recovery of at-risk species such as the American badger.

The prairie lies within the traditional territories of the Ktunaxa Nation and the Secwpemc (Shuswap Band), the conservancy says.

Klafki said about two-thirds of the $3.4 million in funding for the project came from private donations, along with a $1.3-million contribution from the federal government through its Natural Heritage Conservation Fund.

He said the sale closed in March, and the area is now protected from potential development.

"This, being private land, could have been subject to something like that in the future," he said. "It was pretty crucial for the opportunity for us to conserve it."