Fort Shepherd Conservancy Area

 

Animals, Birds and Fish
Fort Shepherd is critical winter range for elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer. Development has been putting pressures on deer overwintering habitat. The varied habitat makes it ideal for other species such as black bear, moose, mountain goat, river otter, cougar, and bobcat.

Small Mammals
Several species of small mammals can be found on the site including bats, squirrels, and chipmunks. Fort Shepherd contains nine species of bats, more than anywhere else in BC outside of the Okanagan. Most notable of these is the Townsend’s big-eared bat who is blue-listed (special concern) in B.C.

Birds
Sixty-five species of birds have been identified on the site, including songbirds such as common nighthawks (threatened species in Canada), lazuli buntings and bank swallows. Birds of prey on the site include red-tailed hawks, merlins and northern saw-whet owls. Great blue herons and canyon wrens, both considered rare species in BC, have been observed.

Reptiles and Amphibians
The warm, dry climate and the numerous rocky outcrops make Fort Shepherd ideal habitat for a variety of reptile species including alligator lizards and rubber boas. Rare species include racers and western skinks who are both blue-listed (special concern) in B.C. Amphibians, including Columbia spotted frogs and the Pacific tree frogs can also be found.

Fish
The Columbia River contains a diverse population of fish and as many as sixteen species may be found in the Fort Shepherd area including the endangered white sturgeon and Umatilla dace.

A Brief History of the Site

The Lower Columbia River, including Fort Shepherd, was part of the traditional territory of the Sinixt people. Although the Sinixt were declared extinct by the Canadian government in 1956, members of the Sinixt people still live on in the territory.

Fort Shepherd, a Hudson’s Bay Company fort, was built in 1857 in response to the surveying of the 49th parallel in 1846. At the time, HBC wished to maintain a trading post in British territory as its existing outpost at Fort Colville was in the United States. However, Fort Shepherd never became a successful trading post due to the lack of suitable land for farming and settlement.

Fort Shepherd was closed briefly in the early 1860’s, however, with the discovery of gold in the neighbouring Pend d’Oreille River and with the subsequent Kootenay gold rush the Fort was reopened in 1863. The construction of the Dewdney Trail from Hope to Wildhorse led through Fort Shepherd and for a time Fort Shepherd became an important trading and stopping post. The gold rush was short-lived and the Fort was closed for the last time in 1870. Fort Shepherd burned down in 1872 and all that remains on the site today is a cairn erected in 1951 to mark the location

Management Plan

In March of 2020, while the world slowed down to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, TLC was awarded funds from Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation’s Land Stewardship Grant to review and refresh the Fort Shepherd’s Management Plan and associated activities.

The standing management plan testifies that a collaborative partnership with participating groups guided by the principles of maintenance of ecosystem integrity, health, biological diversity, and self-sustaining native wildlife populations, the significant values of the FSCA will be protected, enhanced and restored, with opportunities for human activities compatible with this conservation vision encouraged. Though these values have not changed, restoration activities, project updates and new challenges have arisen over the last 11 years.

Climate change has been identified as a significant stressor that may affect these values in many ways. Management goals will also be updated to reflect the advances in restoration practices that have occurred since the standing management plan was created 11 years ago. The management plan update will reflect recent activities in the FSCA and will require revised maps to identify where restoration, road rehabilitation and trail-building work has occurred. The lands surrounding the FSCA are owned by Teck Resources Limited. and are undergoing restorative treatments to address legacy impacts; investigating these treatments and their success may have implications for the FSCA and could also be included in the updated management plan. Species at Risk (SAR) and rare plant communities listed by the CDC will also be inventoried with best management actions for these updated in the plan. In preparation for the updated management plan, TLC and Trail Wildlife Association (TWA) hosted a public open house event on July 15, 2019, for community input regarding management. Currently a stewardship committee, comprised of TWA, Teck Resources Limited. And TLC, meets once a month to collaboratively address management issues.

Strategic management goals for the FSCA management plan update:

1. To maintain and restore the ecosystem integrity, health, biological diversity and habitat quality considering climate change impacts to the FSCA for the benefit of its native wildlife populations;
2. To protect and enhance the ecological and archeological values of the FSCA;
3. To manage the FSCA for human land use opportunities that do not compromise the conservation and management of its ecological values; and
4. To encourage initiatives that promote public awareness, stewardship and educational opportunities with respect to the FSCA and its unique values.

Public Access & Rules

To access Fort Shepherd visitors must first cross the adjacent land owned by Teck Metals Ltd. This is the only access point to the Fort Shepherd Conservancy Area. Fort Shepherd once allowed public access for recreational and traditional uses by foot, bike, horse or motorized vehicles. Following Off road vehicle damage to the conservancy the property was closed to motorized use in 2016 and continued unauthorized use caused a complete closure to the Conservancy Area.

In 2019 a new Access Agreement was made between TLC and Teck Metals Ltd. New access regulations permit public access from May 1-October 31. The main road access through Teck property and the FSCA is closed from November 1-April 30. Access is permitted during daylight hours only from 7 am to 7 pm. Visitors must comply with rules indicated at the entrance.

TLC anticipates public access to open in 2020 with revised rules to reflect compatible recreational use.
Anticipated opening date: May 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020. 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Mining at Fort Shepherd
The ‘Mines Act’ will govern access for mineral exploration, development and extraction by registered claims. Prior and regular notice of planned activities is required by the Mining Act and to be provided to TLC who will provide advice and direction to minimize any potential impacts. Mining activities cannot start sooner than eight days after notice has been served. Notice must include a description or map of where the work will be conducted and a description of what type of work will be done, when it will take place and approximately how many people will be on the site. It must include the name and address of the person serving the notice and the name and address of the onsite person responsible for operations. Claim holders are expected to respect the purpose of the FSCA and govern their activities accordingly. No other use of the surface, such as residential or recreational use, is authorized by a mineral title. Teck has current agreements in place to grant access through Teck lands as required to registered claims.

Restoration Work
The 964 hectare property stretches 8 km along the west bank of the free-flowing Columbia River to the international border. As many as 29 rare species of wildlife have been found or are expected to live on the property. Through the 20th century, the lands at Fort Shepherd were impacted by logging, cattle grazing, and the downstream impacts of the giant lead – zinc smelter located at Trail. In time, hydro electric transmission corridors came to transect the site, a situation which prompted widespread and destructive off-road vehicle use. The persistent value of the site, in the face of these circumstances, resulted in a concerted effort to create a conservancy.

While the collaborative management of Fort Shepherd has always been guided by a management plan, priorities have changed over time. There has also been an attempt to increase the set of participants who work together to conserve and restore the site’s values.

2019
Fort Shepherd partners Al Mallette of Trail Wildlife Association (TWA) and Dave Derosa of Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) and the Indigenous Guardians Program with funding provided by the Columbia Basin Trust and Environmental Damages Fund conducted several restoration projects on the lower benches of Fort Shepherd.

Decommissioning old access roads:
Several secondary roads at Fort Shepherd have been decommissioned to decrease habitat fragmentation, reduce soil erosion and increase native vegetation. Some of these secondary access roads damaged sensitive habitat. With funding provided by the Columbia Basin Trust, TLC partners Trail Wildlife Association were able to plant native trees and shrubs as well as seed with flowering plants to the first several hundred meters of several secondary roads. More work on this to continue through 2020. Contact TLC if you would like to get involved!

Bird nesting boxes:
Fort Shepherd is critical habitat for many different endangered bird species. Nesting boxes which were installed at Fort Shepherd in the early 2000’s were repaired and reinstalled. Thanks to the hard work by Dave Derosa, Al Mallette and the Indigenous Guardians Program, twelve nesting boxes were installed on the lower benches. These nesting boxes are aimed to attract wood ducks, mergansers and Lewis’s woodpeckers (endangered species).

Wildlife tree creation:
Fort Shepherd has experienced many anthropogenic damaging act ivies over the century. Fire, logging, firewood harvesting and acid rain from the nearby smelter have had great impacts on the forest habitats. As a result of this, the area has limited wildlife trees. Wildlife trees are an important component of natural systems. They provide food and shelter for birds, mammals, amphibians and insects. Fungal infections break down the tree over time which contributes to nutrient content and soil creation. Through mechanical means an additional 40 wildlife trees were created. These trees were selected based on size, age and position and inoculated with a native fungal species which will help restore ecological function.

Invasive species removal:
There are several invasive plant species impacting Fort Shepherd. Inavasive species often thrive on disturbed habitats such as road sides or hydro right of ways. However, through a shoreline survey several stands of Black locust trees were found. These trees were cut down and left on site to be burned to reduce the likeliness of seed dispersal.

Pollinator Opportunities:
One of the most impacted but least understood is the decreasing population trends of important pollinating animals; these include bees, butterflies, beetles and flies! As mentioned above Fort Shepherd experienced many disturbances that reduced native flowering plant populations. Sections of the lower benches at Fort Shepherd were planted with native flowering shrubs such as Saskatoonberry and Spirea as well as dozens of flowering herbs. Seeds collected by hand by Valerie Huff at Kootenay Native Plant Society were sewn to help create opportunities for pollinators including milkweed for the endangered western monarch butterfly. Efforts will continue in 2020, contact TLC to get involved!

Studies:

Common Nighthawk
The Common Nighthawk is a medium sized slender bird with pointed wings, small bill and large eyes. They live near woods or wetlands and nest on the ground in open areas such as gravel bars, forest clearings or sparsely vegetated grasslands. Canadian populations are experiencing a decline and resent data suggest their numbers have dropped more than half since the 1960s earning them a spot on the COSEIWC endangered list. Threats to this species are understood to be from a reduction in mosquitoes and other aerial insects and habitat loss. Common nighthawk inventory study was conducted in 2008 by Seepanee Ecological Consulting and Jakob Dulisse Consulting. The study showed Fort Shepherd is home to a large population of Common Nighthawk on the lower benches.

Common Camas
The beautiful blue flower of Camas is more known on the south western coast of British Columbia but has a not so well-known population in the Kootenays. Camas not only has significant importance ecologically but culturally as well. Camas has a deep relationship with indigenous peoples in the Kootenays as well as the coast. A study conducted in 2012 by documented for the first time in Fort Shepherd and is expected that more plants are located in isolated locations within the conservancy. It is thought that the steep decline in camas populations in the area is due to historical flood and fire disturbances, habitat loss through development and loss of Fist Nations traditional land use management practices.

Bats
A new fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome is a disease affecting hibernating bats and is decimating eastern US populations. It has been documented to have arrived on the west coast in 2016. Little is understood about the hibernating behaviors and locations for many species in the Columbia Basin. A study conducted in 2010-2011 investigated species type and populations of hibernating bats in the Columbia Basin are by Wildlife Conservation Society Canada and Thomas Hill bat biologist. Knowing where bats are hibernating will help us protect bats from WNS by implementing preventative measures or treatments to affected bats. The bluff terraces at Fort Shepherd were determined to have a lot of winter bat activity. However further studies need to be conducted because of the difficulty to access in the winter.