File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Grasslands Conservation

BC Parks Foundation reaches fundraising goal to protect Juniper Ridge grasslands

Apr 2, 2025 | 2:32 PM

KAMLOOPS — A fundraising campaign to help protect a large parcel of grasslands near Juniper Ridge has reached its goal.

Launched in February by the BC Parks Foundation, the effort aimed to save 517 acres of private property within City of Kamloops limits from being sold for more than $5 million.

The organization raised a large portion of the funds itself, then received an anonymous pledge of $1 million if it could raise another $1 million.

In a news release, the foundation says it has now reached that goal, working with the Grasslands Conservation Council, the Kamloops Naturalist Club, the Juniper Ridge Community Association and the Brock Central Lions Club.

“Grasslands cover less than one per cent of British Columbia but are home to more than 30 per cent of BC’s threatened species, like bighorn sheep, badgers, and butterflies,” says BC Parks Foundation CEO Andy Day. “We knew it would be a real challenge, but we also knew it needed to get done, so we set out to raise funds to purchase and preserve the area.”

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The organization says it was still short of its goal with just a few weeks remaining in its campaign when an anonymous donor from Kelowna came through with a large gift.

Crowdfunding donations were matched by Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and his wife Summer’s Wilson 5 Foundation.