Photo: Contributed

A South Okanagan property home to bighorn sheep will be one of the prime beneficiaries of this summer's Earth Wind Fire fundraising event for the Nature Trust of B.C.

The trust is working to conserve 35.4 hectares on the east side of Skaha Lake.

The property is adjacent to its existing Skaha Lake complex, included in the 6,491-hectare McTaggart-Cowan/NsÉ™k’Iniw’t Wildlife Management Area. 

The topography is ideal for bighorn, being generally steep with some flat benchlands and lower grasslands, with mixed forest at the mid-level and rocky terrain at higher elevations.

Bighorn are considered vulnerable and “at risk” in B.C.

A major concern is fragmentation of habitat and preserving corridors between them. 

The trust has acquired more than 1,795 hectares for bighorn sheep and other species, including the Peachcliff Conservation Area, Vaseux Lake and Okanagan Falls grassland. 

The Skaha Lake parcel is located in two of the most endangered biogeoclimatic zones: bunchgrass and ponderosa pine. It's also an important habitat for the white-throated swift and western rattlesnake. 

It would be an infill piece, surrounded by conservation lands to the north and east, with Eastside Road to the west, and a housing development to the south.

The trust is working to raise the final $175,000 to complete the project. 

The Earth Wind Fire event takes place June 24 at the Delta Grand in Kelowna.