What
is a Red-Listed Species?
According to the British Columbia
Ministry of Sustainable Resource
Management, the Kootenay River
white sturgeon has been “Red-listed”
as a critically imperiled species,
requiring urgent attention to
prevent its extinction. The
British Columbia government
maintains a species listing
that sorts species into groups
with similar conservation risks.
--The Red List includes
species that have been legally
designated as “endangered”
or “threatened”
under the Wildlife Act, are
extirpated, or are candidates
for such designation.
--The Blue List includes
species not immediately threatened,
but of concern because of characteristics
that make them particularly
sensitive to human activities
or natural events. (The bull
trout is Blue-listed in the
Kootenay region.)
--The Yellow List
includes all other species, with
a special “Watch List S4”
designation for those that are
perceived to be under long-term
threat.
|
|
Wetland Wonder: The Creston
Valley Wildlife Management Area
The natural world of the Kootenay watershed
reaches heights of biodiversity and productivity
in the Creston Valley Wildlife Management
Area, located near the community of Creston,
just south of Kootenay Lake. The protected
area includes Duck Lake and the marshy delta
of the Kootenay River as it enters the South
Arm of Kootenay Lake. It features:
• More than 17,000 hectares
of wetland stretching from the south end
of Kootenay Lake to the United States border.
• One of the most important
waterbird habitats in British Columbia.
• The only breeding location of the
Forster’s Tern.
• British Columbia’s largest
interior Great Blue Heron
colony.
• One of Canada’s densest Osprey
populations.
• The last remaining refuge of the
Northern Leopard Frog in
B.C.
• Designations as a Ramsar*
site and an Important
Bird Area (IBA)**.
With its combination of natural wetlands
and dyked marshes, the Creston Valley Wildlife
Management Area provides optimal habitat
for 250 species of birds, 50 species of
mammals, 30 reptile and amphibian species,
thousands of invertebrate species and several
hundred species of plants.
As part of the Pacific Flyway, the area
is one of British Columbia’s most
significant waterbird habitats, supporting
over 100,000 birds during migration. Up
to 6,000 Tundra Swans –
representing 3% of the North American population
– pass through the wetland each spring,
as do more than 20,000 American
Coots (about 1.5% of the global
population).
The site also supports 1 of only 3 breeding
colonies of Western Grebes
in British Columbia, a non-breeding population
of American White Pelicans,
a winter concentration of more than 100
Rough-legged Hawks, and
a large number of Black Terns.
The protected area is also noted for its
provincially significant populations of
the Red-listed White Sturgeon
(see “Saving the Kootenay River Sturgeon” and
“Kootenay River White Sturgeon: Key Facts,”)
, the Blue-listed Red-tailed Chipmunk and the Red-listed Coeur d’Alene Salamander.
(For a description of British Columbia’s colour-coded wildlife listing system,
see “What is a Red-listed Species?”).
Visit
the Creston Valley Wildlife Center
Follow the boardwalk trail to
a 3-storey birding tower to look
for some of the Creston Valley
Wildlife Management Area’s
265 species of birds. The Area’s
Wildlife Interpretation Centre,
located approximately 11 kilometres
east of the town of Creston on
Highway 3, features a hand-on
display hall, naturalist-led nature
programs, a nature film theatre,
and a picnic area surrounded by
swooping swallows. Short, guided
canoe tours are also available.
The Center is open year-round. |
|
* The Convention on
Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971,
is an intergovernmental treaty which provides
the framework for national action and international
cooperation for the conservation and wise
use of wetlands and their resources. There
are currently 1,284 wetland sites, totaling
108.9 million hectares, designated for inclusion
in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International
Importance.
**An Important Bird
Area (IBA) is a site providing essential
habitat for 1 or more species of breeding
and non-breeding birds. These sites may
contain threatened species, endemic species,
species representative of a biome, or highly
exceptional concentrations of birds. The
Canadian IBA program is administered by
BirdLife International partners, the Canadian
Nature Federation and Bird Studies Canada. |
