Comstock Marsh

Highlights

Comstock Marsh Project consists of 129 hectares of marsh and farmland.

It is the first BC Prairie Care project in the Dawson Creek area, paving the way for more opportunities within the farming community. It features conservation tillage practices, the management of tame and native grass cover to optimize nesting wildlife needs, and the restoration of water levels in a regionally significant marsh which was drained in the 1960’s.

Restoration of the water levels in this marsh has re-establish nesting waterfowl populations in this high quality wetland and provides year-round habitats for many other wetland wildlife species.

Background

The Comstock project is located on land owned by two habitat conservation partners and is a continuation of efforts to restore this regionally significant marsh. Wetland restoration plans began in the late 1980’s with The Nature Trust of BC purchase of the farmland parcel adjacent to the marsh. The remainder of the project area has now been acquired through Prairie Care and the wetland restoration project carried out under an agreement with the BC Ministry of Water, Land & Air Protection.

This wetland has a high rating for waterfowl production, but was drained for agricultural use in the 1960’s. In 2001, after land holdings were consolidated, Ducks Unlimited Canada completed construction of a 320m dam and sheet pile weir to back flood and restore the marsh basin to its original water levels. In addition, the uplands of the Nature Trust property and a small portion of that area purchased through Prairie Care have been licensed to a local farmer under a management agreement which involves reduced tillage of the soil, the planting of tame and native grass cover, and optimizing use of this spring waterfowl nest cover through delayed hay harvest schedules or grass seed harvests. These regimes are expected to provide excellent grazing habitats for ungulates such as moose and deer and many other wildlife species.

Project Partners

The BC Ministry of Water, Land & Air Protection
The BC Habitat Conservation Trust Fund
Ducks Unlimited Canada
The Nature Trust of British Columbia
Gerald Berge
Star Oil & Gas Ltd