OUR PROGRAMS
Invasive Plant Control Program
The Kimberley Nature Park Society has been working since 2003 to control or eradicate infestations of non-native invasive plants that are threatening the park's ecosystems. Plants such as spotted knapweed, blueweed, dalmation toadflax, and houndstongue have been inadvertently introduced to our region from other parts of the globe. In their home areas, the population of these plants would be kept in check by a variety of insects, fungi and diseases, but here in the nature park those control agents don't exist and the plants can multiply exponentially, overwhelming other vegetation.
The KNPS has been working with the City of Kimberley and the East Kootenay Invasive Plant Council to identify areas in the park that have infestations and to apply appropriate treatments. When patches are dense and growing in hard-packed soil, herbicide treatments are applied. When plants are scattered or on loose, gravelly soils, hand pulling is the preferred option. Sunflower Hill is a major focus of our efforts, and every summer in July or August we host a number of volunteer work parties to pull and bag spotted knapweed and other invasive species.
For more information or to report an invasive plant species, visit East Kootenay Invasive Species Council.
Firewood Salvage Program
Trees killed by mountain pine beetle or other causes stand for a number of years until their roots decay, and then they fall to the forest floor. In addition, windstorms and heavy snowfalls often break or uproot trees and throw them to the ground. When these trees fall across trails in the park, volunteers from the KNPS use chainsaws to remove the portions blocking the trails, and every fall the KNPS coordinates the salvage of this wood by members of the public who require firewood. Removing the wood from the park reduces the fire hazard and prevents the buildup of large quantities of debris.
Community members with pickup trucks (and chainsaws if possible) can contact the KNPS to be put on the firewood salvage list. In late summer and throughout the fall, a KNPS volunteer will contact the people on the list and arrange to have five or six trucks meet at a park entrance and be escorted to an area with material to be salvaged. The number of work parties varies each year with the amount of blowdown, but in a peak year almost 100 truckloads of wood will be removed from areas where access by pickup truck is possible (along the park's main roads). While the KNPS facilitates access to the park and ensures that no inappropriate cutting occurs, we do not take responsibility for the safety of participants. A waiver form must be signed by the woodcutters, along with a free provincial permit for firewood.
To register for the firewood salvage list, please contact us.
School Programs
The Kimberley Nature Park is a great outdoor classroom. Every year in June volunteers from the Kimberley Nature Park Society take Grade 6 classes from McKim School on tours to explain the park's values and features. The Selkirk Secondary School outdoor education class mounts a winter camping expedition to Dipper Lake each year to learn winter survival skills. As well, individual teachers and classes from a variety of schools take field trips to more accessible spots in the park, such as Eimer's Lake and Sunflower Hill, to study flora and fauna. The KNPS encourages use of the park for outdoor education, and invites teachers and students to submit proposals for other learning opportunities.
To propose a school outing in the Kimberley Nature Park, please contact us.
Interface Fire Management and Ecosystem Restoration Program
Forest fires have been a significant factor in the Kimberley Nature Park for many centuries. Visit our Interface Fire page to learn more about this program.