Tk'emlups Land
Tk’emlúps Land
The Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc occupies six separate reserves in the Interior Plateau, near Kamloops.
- Kamloops 1 – 13,227.2 hectare (32,685.7 acres) reserve located at the confluence of the South and North Thompson Rivers, in the northern Kamloops area.
- Kamloops 2 – 6 hectare (14.8 acres) reserve located at the north end of Trapp Lake, south of Kamloops.
- Kamloops 3 – 3 hectare (7.4 acres) reserve located along the west shore of Trapp Lake, south of Kamloops Reserve no.2.
- Kamloops 4– 72.8 hectare (179.9 acres) reserve located on the right bank of the North Thompson River, about 24 miles north of Kamloops.
- Kamloops 5 – 18.6 hectare (46.0 acres) reserve located on the north shore of Heffley Lake, northeast of Kamloops.
- Kamloops 6—The Tk'emlups Band also holds one reserve in common with the Bonaparte, Skeetchestn and Upper Nicola Indian Bands. This reserve is also known as Hihium Lake 6 – a 31.8 hectare (78.6 acres) reserve located at the west end of Hihium Lake.
Spiyu7ullucw, TteS trap lines, TteS Woodlot and the Guide Outfitter Territory should also be noted.
The Kamloops Indian Reserve No. 1 is an area of approximately 32,600 acres located in the central dry belt of British Columbia. 27,540 acres are identified as being areas with substantial forest cover and range grazing areas.
The topography of these areas are identified as being gently rolling to very steep, with the native vegetation varying with elevation, aspect and history of prior use.
The forest, timber and forage resources have been utilized by band members, and others under lease, for generations. Concern over management of these resources has been an ongoing concern for the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Chief and Council for many years.
The primary concerns regarding resources for the Political and Administrative arm of the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc are:
- Water quantity and quality of the Paul Creek Watershed System;
- Harvesting of the forest and timber resources without a management system;
- Grazing outside of a properly implemented range plan; and
- Aggregates.
The water resources are directly related to the health and condition of the watershed. The watershed health and condition are in direct correlation to the soil and climatic conditions on the reserve and in the way the lands are used. Therefore the characteristics of tree stands and range conditions are directly related to the health of the watershed system. These three resources are so closely related that their management must be coordinated and integrated.
Geographic Overview
Natural Landbase The traditional territory of the Tk‘emlúpsemc lies within the Southern Interior Eco-province, the southernmost part of the Interior Plateau system as classified by the Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat Inventory branch of the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management. This Eco-province lies in the rain shadow of the Coast and Cascade mountains, and therefore contains areas that are very warm and dry in summer, with hot dry air entering the region from the Great Basin. Winter and early spring may be characterized by outbreaks of cold Arctic air.
While climatic conditions vary according to a number of environmental factors, the area immediately around Kamloops is characterized by semi-arid conditions characteristic of the Bunchgrass Biogeoclimatic Zone where blue bunch wheatgrass formerly was dominant and big sagebrush is now common due largely to overgrazing in the area.
At higher middle elevations in the area, warm dry forests and shrub-grasslands characteristic of the Ponderosa Pine Biogeoclimatic Zone prevail. Still higher in elevation are Douglas-fir stands and other shrubs and grasses characteristic of the Douglas-fir Biogeoclimatic Zone.
Savannah-like grasses in the understory at the lower limits of this zone provide mule deer and elk habitat. Critical deer and moose winter range are distributed throughout the Kamloops region (TUS p 85,86). Seven Biogeoclimatic zones in total occur within the Kamloops‘ traditional territory.
In addition to Bunchgrass, Ponderosa Pine, and Interior Douglas-fir, there are the Interior Cedar-Hemlock, Montane Spruce, Engelmann Spruce-Sub-alpine Fir, and Alpine Tundra zones (TUS p. 18,19).
In faunal terms, this Eco-province is unique. It has the greatest diversity of bird species in the interior of British Columbia and the most breeding species of all of the 12 Eco-provinces of the province. Mule deer is the most abundant large ungulate in the area although the white-tailed deer has extended its range in the area.
A number of notable small mammals are characteristic of this province, but most of the distributions lie outside of the Kamloops area with the exception of the spotted bat.
Characteristic reptiles include the western yellow-bellied racer and western rattlesnake. In addition, tiger salamanders and Great basin spade foot toads are found only in this Eco-province. Within the Interior Plateau, the TIB lands sit at elevations ranging from 1,200 to 4,000 feet above mean sea level, and experience climate ranging from an average daily temperature of –5 to –10 degrees centigrade in January and 16 to 20 degrees centigrade in July.
The average annual rainfall for this area is 30 – 50 centimeters (FN Water Rights). Significant watercourses in the region include: Charles Lee Creek, Cold Creek, Jules Spring, Lloyd Creek, Maurice Creek, North Thompson River, Page Spring, Paul Creek, Paul Lake, Robert Spring, South Thompson River, and Welch Brook (FN Water Rights p2).
Current Land Uses Residential – Paul Lake, Sun Rivers, G & M Trailer Court, Silver Sage Trailer Court, George Campbell Way Subdivision, Sage Meadows.
Industrial – Leased land on Reserve #1 – Mt. Paul Industrial Subdivision, Seven Mile, Chief Louis Way, Sewage Treatment Plant.
Commercial – Leased land on Reserve #1 – Mt. Paul Industrial Subdivision, Halston, Chief Louis Way, Seven Mile, Chief Louis Centre
Natural Resource Areas – Fishing, Forestry and Range activities are found throughout the Kamloops Indian Reserves.
