Mapping the Historical Trails of Rose Swanson Mountain

Rose Swanson Mountain is a large evergreen forested mountain with an elevation of 2.25 miles, located in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a unique and special place with a long history of hiking, biking, and horse riding trails, native plants, and various animals such as deer and turkeys. However, the mountain's situation is complex as it is unceded territory claimed by the Okanagan and the Shuswap indigenous nations with conflicting interests among stakeholders, including the BC Ministry of Forests, BC Timber Sales, recreational users, and logging companies. In 1952, it was designated as a recreation area and was supposed to become a park, but the interests of logging companies make it difficult to achieve(Forses, 2021).

Indigenous people have used Rose Swanson Mountain as a sacred site for many years, and they have taken it upon themselves to research and map the trails their ancestors used. The main proposal of this research is to find the most effective way to digitize the historical trails in Rose Swanson on the map, preserving the local aboriginal culture. The results of this research could also help policymakers assess the environmental crises that the interests of stakeholders surrounding Rose Swanson Mountain may have on the mountain. This research could help push for more sustainable logging methods and regulations to limit the unreasonable logging behavior of logging companies.

In conclusion, Rose Swanson Mountain is a special place with rich history and natural resources, but its complex situation requires careful consideration of all stakeholders' interests. The research on digitizing historical trails could contribute to the protection of local aboriginal culture and push for more sustainable logging methods to preserve the mountain's environment.

The project will focus on mapping the historical trails in Rose Swanson Mountain, which is situated in the Spalenchin Center Range in North Okanagan. This study area's boundaries lie between latitude 50.4400 to 50.4770 and longitude -119.2450 to -119.3270, as shown on the map provided by the topical mentor. However, the situation on Rose Swanson Mountain is complex due to conflicting interests of various stakeholders. The entire mountain is unceded territory, claimed by both the Okanagan and Shuswap indigenous nations. Stakeholders in the area include the BC Ministry of Forests, BC Timber Sales, loggers, firewood harvesters, The Friends of Rose Swanson Ecosystem Society, Armstrong Spallumcheen Trails Society, Backcountry Horsemen, and recreational users. To address these issues, the Government of British Columbia created a 712-hectare sensitive area in Rose Swanson Mountain in October 1996(Rose Swanson Mountain, n.d.).

The project employs Mapping and Analyzing processing, which necessitates the use of Aerial photos as inputs. Aerial photos for Rose Swanson Mountain were sourced from the BC air photos portal. Aerial photography is a technique that interprets the earth's surface using images taken from space, and it is widely used in environmental monitoring and management (Morgan et al., 2010). Aerial photography's high spatial resolution makes it ideal for mapping local objects or ecosystems with exceptional detail.

The utilization of Landsat data has the advantage of enabling temporal analysis. Archival aerial photography, when used for mapping and tracking change over time, may also provide useful information on previous or baseline terrain conditions (Gergel & Turner, 2017). To create a historical trail map and analyze their length changes, aerial photos of Rose Swanson Mountain from 1969 were obtained from the BC government website and fitted to the base map of ArcGIS pro using control points. After processing, historical trails were digitized by drawing lines, and their length was measured using a measurement tool in ArcGIS pro.

Additional data, including road and waterway networks and the Rose Swanson Sensitive Area, was collected from the BC Data Catalogue and OpenStreetMap. All of the data sets available on the BC data portal are frequently updated and made available to the general public for free. These data sets were imported into ArcGIS Pro and were put into a geodatabase in the software for preprocessing. A new geodata was created to store the polygon identifying the geographic boundaries of Rose Swanson Mountain.

By using these methods, the Rose Swanson Mountain historical trails were digitized, and the change results of Rose Swanson's landscape features and trails were obtained.

The length and location of historical trails in Rose Swanson Mountain have changed significantly due to the combination of logging activities and regulations set by the BC Ministry of Forestry. Reduced biodiversity resulting from logging activities may have impacted the trail's length and location changes. As the forest's natural features change, the trail's landscape may have become less attractive to hikers and nature lovers, leading to a decline in popularity. The Ministry of Forestry may have also relocated the trail to a safer area, resulting in a shorter trail to protect the surrounding landscape.

The historical trail map of 1969 shows that the total length of the trails in Rose Swanson Mountain was 20.3 km, with 4.56 km of trails located inside the sensitive area and 15.74 km outside the sensitive area. However, due to logging activities and Ministry of Forestry regulations, the existing trails are now mainly located inside the sensitive area, resulting in a shorter trail length of 9.86 km. Figure 7 compares the existing and 1969 trails in Rose Swanson Mountain, and the table shows that the proportion of trails inside the sensitive area has significantly increased from 22.50% in 1969 to 88.50% in the existing trails map. This change in trail location is due to the regulations set by the BC Ministry of Forestry, which limit access to certain forest areas, including sensitive areas. Logging activities have also caused soil disturbance and erosion, leading to the closure of some trails.

The study's findings suggest that logging activities and regulations set by the BC Ministry of Forestry have significantly impacted the trail length in Rose Swanson Mountain. The need to protect sensitive forest areas from soil disturbance and erosion has resulted in the relocation and closure of some trails. A more comprehensive approach to forest management is needed, considering both the economic benefits of logging and the ecological benefits of protecting sensitive forest areas. Sustainable logging methods that minimize soil disturbance and erosion should be adopted, and regulations enforced to preserve and promote forest coverage. Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the regulations and management practices is also essential to ensure their continued effectiveness in preserving the forest coverage and the trail length (Malik, 2022).

The study indicates that human activities, especially logging, have significantly impacted the historical trails and landscape features of Rose Swanson Mountain. The research findings show that the location and length of the trails have changed over time due to various factors, including logging activities and regulations set by the BC Ministry of Forestry. The reduced old-growth forest coverage and increased second-growth forest coverage also suggest the need for immediate remedial actions to preserve the forest's biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

Furthermore, the closure of some trails due to the BC Ministry of Forestry's regulations can significantly impact the local economy, especially for recreational activities. However, the study has limitations, such as the use of aerial images to digitize historical trails, the difficulty in identifying trails, and the accuracy of the digitization process.

Future studies can explore stakeholders' interests in the area and gather additional data to improve the accuracy of the digitization process. Investigating and evaluating sustainable management practices and logging regulations can also mitigate the adverse effects of logging on the forest's biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Furthermore, exploring the economic and ecological benefits of preserving the forest and historic trails can guide future research and policy decisions in preserving Rose Swanson Mountain's forest and historical trail system.

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