Regional district board support sought for Nickel Plate park expansion

PENTICTON – A delegation coming before the regional board this week is seeking support to expand Nickel Plate Provincial Park.

Nickel Plate Nordic Ski Club President Rick Leslie will approach the Okanagan Similkameen Regional District board Thursday, Feb. 7, seeking support from the board and a letter to provincial ministries stating the same.

Leslie says in a report to the board the area around Nickel Plate, while having a high potential for year round recreation, is also threatened by a stepped up logging industry that is responding to the pine beetle threat. He says that increase in logging is leading to conflict between the area’s recreational values and the timber industry.

He says activities like nordic skiing depend on timbered areas to survive, as logged areas result in drifting snow that renders nordic trails unusable because it fills in ski tracks left by grooming machines. The area’s trails are also in use year round.

The proposed expansion would encompass a connecting corridor to the Brent Mountain protected area, the Nickel Plate Nordic Centre, and the land between the nordic centre and the controlled recreation area of Apex Mountain.

The proposal would link nearby Apex Mountain in addition to having “significant First Nations values” for hunting and recreational activities.

Leslie’s report to the board also contains a letter of support from the Penticton and Area Cycling Association.

Leslie will ask the board to support the Nickel Plate Nordic Centre’s proposal to expand the park as well as request the board to send letters to Minister of Environment George Herman and Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Doug Donaldson, also stating the board’s support for the Nordic Ski Club’s effort to protect the area from logging.

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