Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area

Today is July 11, 2017.  We arrived in Creston, British Columbia yesterday after a dramatic trip over two mountain ranges, across from the Slocan Valley here to the Kootenay River Valley.  We finally have pretty good internet, so we have been frantically drafting blog entries to update our travels since Kekuli Bay Provincial Park, near Vernon, B.C. with Tony and Dee Dee.  We took time from our blogging flogging this morning to hop over and visit the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area.

The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is a Canadian river delta wetland and Wildlife Management Area near Creston in south-central British Columbia, on the floodplain of the Kootenay River at the south end of Kootenay Lake. Predominantly marshland, it was classified as a wetland of international importance on February 21, 1994, and is also a globally significant Important Bird Area. It stretches north along Kootenay Lake for approximately 20 km, and south to the United States border. It is both the only breeding site of the Forster's tern and the only site with leopard frogs in the province, as well as one of the few Canadian habitats for the Coeur D'Alene salamander. Creston Valley provides staging and nesting areas for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway.

This area south of Kootenay Lake has been subject to man-made changes for over a hundred years - primarily to facilitate farming and agriculture-related activities on the marshy land.  However, A system of dykes, control structures and pumps was designed and installed in the early 70’s to create a series of managed wetland compartments to manage flood and drought cycles.  The system was designed to enhance wildlife production and prevent the loss of wildlife use that would otherwise occur because of the changed management of the Kootenay River system for hydroelectric power generation and flood control.

Historically, before the water control structures were installed, the area flooded with the spring freshet, scouring away most of the rooted vegetation.  The water then receded in the summer to expose large mudflats with seasonal vegetation cover.  Migrating waterfowl used the extensive mudflats, but waterfowl attempting to nest were faced with floodwaters, poor nesting and brood cover and limited permanent water.

Early habitat management focused on controlling water levels and encouraging emergent and upland vegetation cover for nesting waterfowl.  Over time, the focus shifted to maintaining the productivity of the marshes in face of ecological succession.

The current richness and diversity of life forms would not be present on the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area without habitat management. Because of careful management of water levels, vegetation, and other habitat features since 1968, there are now more species and larger breeding populations of birds and other wildlife at Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area than in previous years.

The preserve has miles of hiking trails, and its estuaries and lakes are available to canoeing and kayaking.  Canoe tours are also available.  Because we plan to kayak on nearby Duck Lake tomorrow, we decided to keep our feet on dry land today, and we hiked some of the trails.

Here is a view of the preserve's visitor center, back along one of the trails:

A Hobbiton-like bridge spans one of the streams to accommodate a trail around the estuary:

As we walked to the visitor center, we noticed a beaver dam, and we asked the host whether the area has beaver.  She said it does, and that, in fact, the beavers present some management issues, because the beavers' view of the right size and type of pond doesn't match the wildlife management center's view.  As a result, the center is having to manage the beaver as well.  We could see the influence the beaver have had in this preserve when we noticed a stump alongside one of the trails:

Looking out over the estuaries and canals, it is possible to see an explosive variety of plant and animal life.  Muskrats apparently abound (according to one 9-year old summer camper we ran into on the trail), and we saw mud swallows, terns and other wildlife (to be discussed below):

A prominent feature of the preserve is its "Bird Tower," from which it's possible to survey a large area around the center:

The setting is unique, and, because only this Kootenay Lake area and parts of the Okanagan Valley have this unique blend of mountainous terrain, farmland, lake and estuarial lands, the two areas share the unique title of "Montane Cordillera":

We didn't find too many berries on this hike, but the lily pads and flowers, and the seeding cattails, made up for that:

We also got to watch at least four different Great Blue Herons as they fished, or tried to ignore us while fishing, or didn't ignore us and flew away in fits of pique.  Here is one fellow who spied us as we walked near while he was fishing --

-- and then flew off in disgust when we wouldn't stop staring at him:

We had hoped to kayak the center's estuaries, but we don't have enough time here in Creston to do that, and Duck Lake calls to our paddles for tomorrow.  So this brief introduction will have to do for now.  Perhaps on our next trip through, we can put our paddles in the water in this interesting wetland of Kootenay Lake.