Established in 1968, the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is the first and largest wildlife management area in the Province of British Columbia, Canada.
The marshes form a valuable link in a chain of wetlands stretching from the Arctic Ocean to California, USA.
The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area covers 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of provincial land, or an area that averages 20 km (12.4 miles) long by 3.4 km (2.1 miles) wide.
It consists of one lake (1,500 hectares or 3,700 acres) and seventeen marshes, plus a major river and adjoining mountain slopes.
The mandate is derived from British Columbia’s Creston Valley Wildlife Act. Through it, legal authority has been delegated to manage the Area, which is on provincial Crown land located along the Kootenay River system in proximity to the Town of Creston.
Those in charge have the responsibility to maintain and develop the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area for the purpose of wildlife conservation, management and development, and, in particular, as a waterfowl management area.
The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is home to over 265 bird species; 50 mammal species; and 30 fish, reptile, and amphibian species; and thousands of invertebrate and plant species.
The Valley is a migration corridor for tundra swans, greater white-fronted geese, and other waterfowl, and is the largest regional locale for wintering birds of prey in the interior of the province.
It is considered that, in British Columbia, the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is second only to the coast as a flyway route for numbers of migrating waterfowl that follow it twice yearly.
Hiking, cycling, canoeing, camping, picnicking, wildlife viewing, hunting, and fishing are all available on the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area.
Visitors are drawn by the scenic beauty of a lush green valley, its lakes framed between two beautiful mountain ranges. The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is, in itself, the most significant tourist attraction in the Creston Valley and a source of economic benefits to the local community.
See maps of the Area.
We would like to thank the staff of Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area for providing us with the information found here. For anyone interested in wildlife conservation, this is an informative place to visit.
