LUMBY, B.C. – Joe and Shona Huwer dream of building a house on a hill with a panoramic view of the restoration work they have done on their British Columbia ranch.
They have worked with government agencies and environmental mentors to repair their grazing land, plant trees, restore water channels and provide habitat to fish and fowl as well as large and small mammals.
“This channel was a real benefit because fisheries get the fish, environment gets the greenery they want and I get the control of the cattle and the grazing,” Huwer said.
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His family moved to the area from Ohio in 1970 and started a mixed farm that included outdoor hog production. Two of his brothers stayed with pigs and he switched to cattle ranching.
In 2001 the family initiated three large projects involving waterways and riparian areas because of water quality concerns and soil erosion problems in which land was lost every time the river spilled its banks.
An early project moved the farm’s big corrals away from the water’s edge. Next came riparian work, fence building and riprap installation to stabilize river banks.
Next, channels were fenced and passageways built for the cattle to drink and cross. They also installed off site waterers, which their 400 cows preferred to wading into creeks.
They laid groundwater pipeline to create salmon habitat and are now working on major bank stabilization of the Middle Shuswap River.
The result is a major route for salmon that spawn in the river. Other fish species are present and the water is so clear the Huwers and their four children can see them jumping and swimming.
Wildlife has returned in droves and the family sees birds, predators, beaver, deer and bears on a regular basis.
The landscape evolved into an environment with clear, cool streams banked with willows and grasses. Cottonwoods have also returned.
Willow saplings were planted and have taken root to stabilize the banks. This is a good growing area and within a season canarygrass was drooping over the banks to help prevent further erosion and loss of property.
“I like to see lots of grass and if the water gets too high, that grass will mat down and it will hold the erosion for that year,” Huwer said.
“The new grass grows up and we’ve got the banks stabilized.”
Log structures are built in strategic places along the banks to hold the water in one direction and create small pools so fish can spawn.
The sites are also audited to see how plantings survived and to conduct fish counts.
