Campaign underway to raise $2M to conserve 200 hectares of Kamloops grassland

An initiative to purchase and conserve a large natural area east of Kamloops is underway.

The 209 hectares of grassland situated on Scott Road above the Juniper neighbourhood in Kamloops has been on the real estate market for over a year at a price tag of $5,800,000.

When it first came up for sale, some members of the community contacted the BC Parks Foundation to conserve it before it was purchased for development.

“It really is a treasure. There’s so much nature here,” Kamloops Naturalist Club president Nancy Flood said in a media release issued today, Feb. 19.

The foundation responded by securing a purchase agreement and since then almost all of the required funding has been raised through the charity.

The public is being asked to help provide the remaining $2 million needed, and an anonymous donor is matching donations up to $1 million.

“If everyone puts in whatever they can, it will add up and we’ll get there,” BC Parks Foundation CEO Andy Day said in the release. “It is always a lot of fun and a great legacy for everyone who gets involved.”

Grasslands cover less than 1% of the province and are considered to be at risk. Grasslands are home to more than 30% of threatened species and are important for making clean air and water.

“Over thirty species of birds have been sighted in this area as well as some trees that go back 250 years,” Grasslands Conservation Council of B.C. chair Dr. Tom Dickinson in the release.

Grasslands are sensitive to human disturbance because it’s microbiotic crust of lichens, mosses and algae hold soil together to retain water, prevent erosion and release nitrogen to plants.

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The BC Parks Foundation is the official charitable partner and conservation financing mechanism for parks and Indigenous protected areas in the province.

According to the real estate listing, the privately owned land is made up of five separate parcels to be sold as one, with properties accessible through Rosehill Road and Scott Road.

All parcels are located within the Agricultural Land Reserve which allows for 20-acre parcels and could be used for recreational get aways or building estates on.

Go here for more information or to donate to the project with the BC Parks Foundation.

— This article was corrected at 4:31 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025 to reflect the accurate size of the grassland area.