In spring 2023, following meetings with Elders and leadership, five women from the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) — Lauren, Carol, Janessa, Rheana, and Tiinesha — shared a bold vision for the nʔaysnúlaʔxʷsnxaʔcnitkw (Ashnola Watershed, located in the South Okanagan). Faced with clearcuts, mining scars, polluted water, sick fish and shrinking rivers in their territory, Lauren posed a vital question:
“What if we restored the land for the four-legged, the winged, biodiversity, and our traditional values — rather than the interests of industry?”
Today, when ecosystems and forests are logged, burned, or devastated by natural disasters, “restoration” often prioritizes industry profits. This means monoculture tree farms that are treated with toxic herbicides. LSIB saw another path forward: restoring the land with traditional food and medicine plants for the Syilx People of the Similkameen Valley and all other living beings. When these women speak, their words ripple outward — and take root.
Fire in the valley
In summer 2023, in the Ashnola Valley, raging fires burned away the last footprint evidence of Grizzly Bears living where the sagebrush steppe ecosystem transitions to the open-canopy Ponderosa pine forests. The Crater Complex Mountain fire was devastating and spanned 44,000 hectares in the valley and mountains of the Ashnola Watershed.
The LSIB bore witness to the devastation that roared through the South Okanagan and Ashnola Valleys.
Once the last of the embers burned out, community members got to work to heal the land.
Using the approach shared by Lauren, Carol, Janessa, Rheana, and Tiinesha along with the Elders and Knowledge Keepers’ vision for restoration, they put their plan to action.
News of the restoration project spread even faster than the fire. By the end of September of that year, a collaboration brought together environmental restoration companies (Corvidae), environmental groups (Wilderness Committee and Ecojustice), tree planters (Cariboo Carbon Solutions), visual media artists (Wakefield), music production companies (Little Symphonies) and tree planting non-profits (Tree Canada), all under the guidance of Lower Similkameen Indian Band Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
So far, the project has led to the planting of 846,000 trees, 27,500 Indigenous food and medicine plants, and the creation of bird nest boxes, bat houses, western rattlesnake hibernaculum and raptor platforms.
At the heart of this restoration project is the upholding of Smelqmix (the Syilx People of the Similkameen Valley) traditions and legal orders to care for the nʔaysnúlaʔxwsnxaʔcnitkw (Ashnola Watershed). Protecting the waters of the nʔaysnúlaʔxw is essential to ensuring the well-being of sməlqmíx, the tmixw (the life force within all four sacred ecosystems), and the land, as well as the Similkameen settlers. [1]
A critical element to the project is restoring the ability to access and harvest culturally significant plants. Traditionally important food and medicine plants were specifically chosen to boost community access to food and medicine. This access is essential to bolstering LSIB’s persistence, sovereignty and vitality on their traditional lands. It’s this access that was greatly reduced by the fire.
Reviving biodiversity and cultural access
After the wildfires, the LSIB community worried about the long-term impact on the diversity of species that share the territory with the community.
The area burnt is one of the most biodiverse landscapes in Canada and part of an ecosystem with the highest number of species at risk in British Columbia. [2] The restoration project focuses on re-establishing key habitats by planting native species that will restore biodiversity and provide wildlife with food and shelter.
The plant restoration effort is tailored to restore habitat for twelve different species including Grizzly Bears, Western Rattlesnake, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Mormon Metalmark, Whitebark Pine, American Badger, Prairie Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Pallid Bat, Spotted Bat, Townsend’s Big-eared Bat and Fringed Myotis.
Wildfires can be measured by intensity, severity, and size. Fire severity is measured by its ecological impact, such as the number of trees that die or the extent of soil and root damage. Fire intensity is the amount of energy released during a fire, and indicators can include flame length, rate of spread, and heat release. While fire size is simply the area burned by the fire.
The Crater Mountain wildfire measured high in all parameters. The fire was so large that some areas had a 100 per cent tree mortality rate. The soil was burnt so badly that massive root systems were turned to dust, leaving meters-deep craters in the charred earth — and making the area more vulnerable to landslides.
Landscapes that have experienced severe and intense wildfires can have accelerated surface runoff rates (less water absorption into the ground) as well as increased water warming trends due to the loss of canopy cover along stream beds. Warming waters and less water absorption into the ground is devastating to the Similkameen Watershed. [3] An important objective to the LSIB is to plant along drainages to restore their water holding and water-cooling capacity.
The ongoing restoration project led by LSIB along with other restoration projects in the area are helping to stabilize the riverbanks and mountain slopes while reducing sedimentation into the river. This includes live willow staking to hold back sediment and combat erosion, which harms fish and other aquatic life.
Healing land, water, and relationships
Fire on the land in South Okanagan is natural — it can stimulate new growth by opening the forest canopy to sunlight and enabling some tree species to reproduce. But climate change, tree plantations, industrial logging, and fire suppression are all contributing factors to why the Crater Mountain wildfire, and so many others across the planet, are increasingly devastating.
This project, led by the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, is a beacon of hope in healing the land and uplifting Indigenous law. It helps prevent further devastation while providing the maximum number of benefits to communities, wildlife, and life-giving ecosystems. Guided by ancestral knowledge of the Similkameen and with help from multiple partners, this project paints a picture of what can happen when relationships built on reciprocity and trust are formed around the common goal of healing — healing the land, ourselves and the relationships between people.
References
[1] nʔaysnúlaʔxw iʔ k̓̓łluxwnwixwmntət: The Declaration of the Ashnola Protected and Conserved Area – West Coast Environmental Law
[2] Habitat Atlas for Wildlife at Risk – Ministry of Environment
[3] A review of wildfire impacts on stream temperature and turbidity across scales – Sage Journals
