Vaseux Protected Area was established to provide increased representation of the Southern Okanagan Basin ecosection. The area also protects a number of blue and red listed species and their habitat, as well as protecting important sheep habitat.
This area is contiguous with several lands already protected for conservation purposes thereby forming a significant conservation area.
The protected area is open to hunting. For more details, see the BC Hunting and Trapping Regulations synopsis. Horses are permitted, but off-road vehicles are not permitted in the park.
History
Vaseux Protected Area was established on April 18, 2001 as a result of the Okanagan-Shuswap LRMP process.
Cultural Heritage
The Vaseux Area has some of the most diverse and abundant intact archaeological sites in the Okanagan. Among them are: rock shelters, shell middens, cache pits, drying rocks, quarry sites and burial sites. These sites are of immense value and any disturbance of them is strictly prohibited.
Conservation
The primary role of the protected area is to protect low to mid elevation grasslands that provide critically important winter range for California bighorn sheep. Old-growth larch stands provide important habitat for white-headed woodpecker and Williamson’s sapsucker. Red and blue-listed plants in the area include mousetail and bearded sedge. Douglas fir, ponderosa pine and Idaho fescue is a blue-listed plant community.
Wildlife
California Bighorn Sheep are a focal species in the area. However, there are many other rare and endangered species being protected. There are two red and seven blue-listed mammals (including the pallid bat and the western red bat), 11 red and nine blue-listed bird species (including the white-headed woodpecker) and one red and five blue-listed reptile species (including the night snake).
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.