|
 |
EarthCare announces the Okanagan Wild Recovery
Program.
 The
Canadian EarthCare Society is spearheading a plan to establish an
Okanagan Wildlife Recovery Centre in the central Okanagan area.
EarthCare hopes the recovery centre site will also eventually include
a public awareness and learning facility.
“We’d ideally like to see it located somewhere central
in the valley and hopefully in the Kelowna vicinity. We have a lot
of hurdles to clear and questions to answer – but the interest
by others to assist is clearly there.” Canadian EarthCare
Society executive Director Charlie Hodge says.
“We’ve had some preliminary discussions with various
government bodies and organizations and the general consensus is
that such a facility is long overdue. It is a long road from concept
to reality but EarthCare believes it is a long-term project that
will eventually gain a life of its own. The need is clear,”
Hodge said Tuesday morning.
The Wildlife Recovery Centre plan is part of a bigger “green
campaign” by the local organization, titled the Okanagan Wild
Recovery Program, which includes assisting with interpretive signage
at Myra-Bellevue Park and possibly Okanagan Mountain Park and the
Vaseux Lake area in the spring.
Other projects in EarthCare’s plans for this winter and 1994
include assisting with assessment and restoration work of endangered
species and their habitat in the Okanagan, and to continue their
involvement with the Enhanced Watershed Advisory Committee on Mission
Creek, and a pesticide registry program and bylaw for the City of
Kelowna.
“It’s a ambitious program but one we have been greatly
encouraged to pursue and believe is important,” says EarthCare
Senior Policy Advisor Lloyd Manchester. “We anticipate that
our concept for a Wildlife Recovery Centre in the Okanagan will
be greatly embraced by the general public. If it is going to succeed
we will need a lot of support in volunteers, expert input, and funding.
In the big picture, though, it is a valuable and needed facility.”
Hodge says the concept of a recovery centre had been discussed by
EarthCare for a number of years and the group was seriously considering
trying to establish one early this summer.
“Prior to the fire we received calls on a weekly basis wanting
to know what could be done for various kinds of injured animals.
The options are few and bleak. There is a good raptor recovery centre
in the southern valley but little else for other animals. The mayhem
and suffering of wildlife from the fires was horrendous. The few
game wardens available were terribly overworked and worn thin,”
Hodge says.
EarthCare says a model wildlife recovery facility has been successfully
running on Vancouver Island for more than a decade, which Hodge
helped establish.
“We have the support of a number of key people already including
the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre and the South Okanagan
Rehab Center for Owls, some SPCA members and other such organizations.
We are very excited about the response so far,” Hodge said.
EarthCare is hoping organizations or individuals concerned with
wildlife or the outdoors will contact them at 250-861-4788 with
their thoughts and support.
<< back
|
|
Canadian EarthCare Society
Street Address:
702 Bernard St., Kelowna, B.C. V1Y6P5
E-mail: info@earthcares.org
|
