By ROY WOOD

Cattle ranchers remain unconvinced about future access to crown land for grazing in a proposed national park in the South Okanagan despite assurances that the practice would continue to be allowed in any such park.

At the same time, there is growing evidence that grazing can help foster biodiversity in grassland areas and Parks Canada has been testing the idea in a national park in southern Saskatchewan.

At a recent appearance before Oliver town council and again last week on CBC radio, cattle industry spokesman Dave Casorso made the case that a national park will threaten the very existence of a cattle industry in the South Okanagan.

Casorso, who speaks for the Southern Interior Stockman’s Association, told Oliver council: “(Crown land grazing) is definitely going to be terminated at some point. We need access to affordable crown grazing. … If they make it unaffordable, we’re out of business.”

In an interview this weekend, Casorso reiterated: “There is no way Parks Canada is going to allow grazing the way it’s done right now. … At some point, it doesn’t matter if you’re a native or a resident; your rights in a national park … are going to be extinguished.

“Whether you’re grazing (cattle) or hunting or a native doing their berry picking, you’re not going to be allowed to do it,” he said.

Casorso conceded that the National Parks Act allows for some agricultural grazing for management purposes, essentially mimicking the habits of migrating buffalo.

“(But) it wouldn’t be the same kind of grazing that we are used to getting. We could not afford to use our livestock to mimic that sort of grazing. Our costs would be prohibitive,” he said.

Casorso insists there have been no assurances from Parks Canada directly to the ranching industry that crown-land grazing would be permitted within the boundaries of a South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve.

However, there have been assurances made elsewhere.

An article in the Osoyoos Times last year quoted a Parks Canada official saying that livestock grazing would be permitted in a future park.

Kevin McNamee, a director in the protected areas establishment branch, was quoted: “In the case of the South Okanagan, recognizing that a significant proportion of the area under consideration for a national park reserve is under grazing tenure, Parks Canada is committed to working with ranching families to support continued livestock grazing within existing tenures.

“Parks Canada would work with the ranching families to establish a management framework to allow them to continue their operation within the park,” he said.

In story earlier this year, the Times quoted a Parks Canada document saying the department had “explored” the possibility of adopting provincial grazing regulations in a national park.

“The regulations are familiar to ranchers, they provide certainty and they are effective tools for Parks Canada Agency to administer the tenures and manage grazing,” the document said.

Chloe O’Loughlin, former director of terrestrial conservation with the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), described the document as “hugely significant.”

“I think it’s the last missing piece of the puzzle,” she said. “It shows that there should be absolutely no negative impact on the ranchers. The ranchers will get to continue to ranch under the provincial legislation, which they like.”

The 2011 feasibility study by Parks Canada suggested that while there would be grazing restrictions in some areas of a national park, it could continue in others to the benefit of the local ecology.

“In other area, where grazing would continue, it would be managed in a manner consistent with ecological objectives and values,” said the study.

The value of grazing as an ecological tool is the subject of an ongoing study in Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan.

The park opened in 1981 and through the first 20 years of its existence no grazing was allowed. It was discovered, however, that the natural balance was upset without large herbivores being part of the ecology.

In the mid-2000s bison, which were native to the area, were introduced and it has been shown that the grasslands are healthier than before the re-introduction of grazing.

Environment Canada ecologist Darcy Henderson told the Western Producer in 2011 that native prairie grasses are healthiest when grazing occurs.

He said some birds and animals find it difficult to thrive in dense grass and some species at risk need some short-cropped grass that grazers create. Wildflowers also do better under grazing, he said.

“For many reasons, the consequences of not grazing large areas of native prairie grasslands for long periods of time are generally negative consequences where the goal is to maintain a diversity of native plants and animals,” said Henderson.

Meanwhile, a study released last year by the University of Guelph in Ontario showed that grazing on grasslands seems to have a positive impact on biodiversity.

“Grasslands need grazers the way plants need light,” said a release about the study, which looked at the effects of grazing on grasslands around the world.
“In all study locations around the world – from the pristine Serengeti to the degraded grasslands of eastern North America – plant diversity was higher where herbivores we able to graze normally,” it said.