A vital wildlife corridor lies at the heart of the Goat Range, Kokanee Glacier, Valhalla, and Purcell Wilderness Conservancy parks. It’s one of the last remaining intact networks in BC. These connected areas are critical for grizzly bears, wolverines, mountain goats and southern mountain caribou, species that depend on large, intact habitats to survive. The Central Selkirks and Central Purcell mountains form one of the most important large core areas for grizzly bears in the region.
Zincton, a 5,500-hectare ski resort near New Denver, is controversially proposed to nestle at the heart of this critical wildlife corridor. Already impacted by logging and mining, the Zincton resort could have significant impacts on the fragile Slocan Valley ecosystems. Founder of Valhalla Pure Outfitters, David Harley, originally put forward the proposal in December 2019 and has faced criticism for the project from multiple groups, including the Sn̓ʕaýckstx (Sinixt) Confederacy, on whose traditional territory Zincton would be built.
Given the proposed location and potential impact of the resort, Indigenous Nations, the public and conservation group Wildsight have made strong calls for formal review. After deliberation, the B.C. government has chosen to bypass a full Environmental Assessment for the resort. Instead, the project now sits with the Ministry of Tourism’s Mountain Resorts Branch, a move that limits both Indigenous and public oversight.
A 2023 Ktunaxa Nation cumulative effects assessment warned that the resort would intensify habitat fragmentation, erode connectivity for wide-ranging carnivores, and threaten resources like clean water. While the development is strategically marketed as “low-impact,” the reality is that roads, infrastructure, and year-round recreation would bring lasting and likely irreversible damage to this fragile alpine ecosystem. The area also faces risks from historical mining contamination, which could be stirred up by resort construction, affecting water sources.
Not only could removing key habitats and wildlife corridors force predators toward rural communities and drastically reduce a localized healthy population of grizzlies to a threatened one, but it would also contradict provincial commitments to conservation and reconciliation.
Back in 2023, in line with the federal government, B.C. committed to conserving 30 per cent of land and waters across the province by 2030, restoring 140,000 hectares of degraded habitat, and supporting Indigenous-led conservation initiatives. Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault told The Narwhal in an interview, “This is a major, major agreement on protecting nature.”
B.C. has since made moves to protect critical areas. In 2024, the province asked the federal government to transfer control of 200 square kilometres to help achieve conservation goals. The land situated in the Elk and Flathead Valleys of unceded Ktunaxa Nation territory is home to ‘globally significant’ biodiversity. It is also coal-rich. Although the conversations appear to have stalled, the project has set a precedent for the prioritization of ecosystem protection over privatized expansion into critical habitats. As Canada faces increasing challenges from climate change and ecosystem collapse, it gives us hope that B.C.’s ministers are taking steps to protect what remains.
For the first time in a decade, 2025 sees zone designations rise across the country due to increasing temperatures, with Vancouver jumping from an 8A to a 9A. These higher temperatures are not only hazardous for wildlife and ecosystems, but also for our economies and communities. B.C is not short on mountain resorts, backcountry recreation or tourism businesses that are already being impacted by the effects of climate change. In a time of drastic change and uncertainty, where ecosystems are unravelling due to increased human activity, is a new year-round resort really what any of us need?
Let’s urge the province to continue to prioritize ecosystem protection and climate resilience by supporting existing tourism operators to reduce their footprint instead of greenlighting additional high-impact projects.
View the Letter to Ministers from Sinixt Confederacy
View the Letter to Ministers from Wildsight
View the Ktunaxa Cumulative Effects Initiative and Evaluation
Cascade Environmental. 2021. Environmental Overview: Zincton, New Denver. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-reso urce-use/all-seasons-resorts/zincton/zincton-formal-proposal-2021/enivronmental_overv iew.pdf
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