Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor - Wycliffe Prairie

The Nature Trust of British Columbia has raised the funds needed to protect 182 hectares (450 acres) of an important wildlife corridor. The area is located between the communities of Kimberley and Cranbrook and within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa First Nation.  

Thank you to the funders that made this project possible: Environment and Climate Change Canada, US Fish and Wildlife, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative, and the Kootenay Wildlife Heritage Fund, along with the support of other generous donors.

The Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor – Wycliffe Prairie is located within the very hot and very dry Interior Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic ecosystem classification unit. Provincially, only 4.9 per cent of this ecological unit is conserved. The land consists predominantly of rare native grassland, which covers 89 per cent of this parcel. Grasslands comprise less than one per cent of B.C.’s landscape, yet these ecologically rich ecosystems provide habitat for over 30 per cent of B.C.’s at-risk species.  

The area’s wetlands, lakes, and creeks also support a diverse range of migratory birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The area is home to many species listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA), including the Species of Special Concern Long-billed Curlew, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Toad, and Western Painted Turtle, the Threatened Barn Swallow, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and Common Nighthawk, and the Endangered Williamson’s Sapsucker and American Badger. 

The parcel is adjacent to The Nature Trust of BC’s 364-hectare (900 acre) Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor Conservation Complex alongside additional lands conserved by the Province and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Once this land, known as Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor–Wycliffe Prairie, is protected, the combined total of conservation land in this multi-partner Wycliffe Conservation Complex will be more than 1450 hectares (3500+ acres). This ecologically diverse area contains native grassland, along with mixed forest, wetlands, riparian habitat along Luke Creek, and two small lakes. The parcel is part of a critical wildlife movement corridor that connects Grizzly Bear habitats and includes a Class 1 Ungulate Winter Range for Mule Deer, White-tailed Deer, and Elk. Purchasing this property will protect the land and the many species that depend on it forever.  

The purchase of Wycliffe Wildlife Corridor – Wycliffe Prairie demonstrates The Nature Trust of BC’s steadfast commitment to conserving British Columbia’s most important and vulnerable ecosystems to benefit biodiversity and help mitigate the impact of climate change in our province.