Talk:Okanagan Desert

Name is fictional/commercial
This article evidently was written at the instigation of somebody from the Osoyoos Band's Nk'mip Winery/Resort. If the desert didn't exist (such as it is) I'd put a speedy-delete on this. It's no doubt what someone would like this desert to be called, or is trying to get people to call it, but that isn't its "most well-known as". What that would be is debatable; South Okanagan Desert perhaps.....but "Nk'mip Desert" is clearly a corporate branding effort, and the descrition provided also is not correct, as it claims that the whole desert is on OIB lands.Skookum1 (talk) 20:19, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Move/rename
A search for "Osoyoos + Desert" turned up http://www.desert.org for the Osoyoos Desert Society; the name Nk'mip appears nowhere in that site, nor does the description match the Nk'mip claim that it's only on the east side of Osoyoos Lake and only on OIB land, although no name for the desert is given. Osoyoos is the usual association for this "desert", so Osoyoos Desert seems more recognizable; South Okanagan Desert is another possibility; but the point on Talk:Okanagan Lake about the Skaha Bluffs also being desert is well taken, so Okanagan Desert would hve to be about more than the Osoyoos area. The "Nk'mip Desert" coinage is a "spin" off "Nk'mip Desert Cultural Centre", as in "the desert cultural centre at Nk'mip". it is not a suitable name for the desert, though it has been so heavily web-branded that it turns up lots of webhits; all which derive from the Nk'mip claims, but not from geographic designations as such.....Skookum1 (talk) 21:07, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Support as per reasons above (to whichever name).Skookum1 (talk) 21:07, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Support move to any more recognized name for this. Bearcat (talk) 21:23, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment I've written the Osoyoos Desert Society website to ask their opinion on a proper name for the desert. I suspect it's South Okanagan Desert, but we'll see.Skookum1 (talk) 21:51, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Support any of the proposed names. Skeezix1000 (talk) 18:44, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment I made a further request this morning on Talk:Okanogan County, Washington to see what name they might have/use there, if they even define it as a desert, which maybe they don't; if they do "South Okanagan" is probably not adequate, more likely just Okanogan Desert (Am. spelling - which one to use will depend on the majority-area being on whichever side of the border; probably theirs....). Also pls note on that talkpage the issue of "Okanogan Country".....Skookum1 (talk) 19:25, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment "South Okanagan", with that spelling, is still a region-name in BC and widely used in the area described; though those from OK Falls south probably consider Penticton not to be in it (though Penticton considers itself to be). So "South Okanagan" isn't a descriptive name, it's a proper name extant for the region....but as explained below it's not "desert" either, though it gets called that (as does the area around Lillooet-Lytton-Spences Bridge-Ashcroft, and Keremeos, and there's the Red Desert Country which the TNRD has branded the northwest shore of Kamloops Lake etc etc.  Osoyoos has been promoting itself for years as "Canada's only desert" but it's a fallacy....Skookum1 (talk) 01:30, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Also please see Talk:List of North American deserts...could we maybe have List of desert-like areas in Canada? Just kidding, but the "what is a desert?" issue is important to consider.....Skookum1 (talk) 19:43, 10 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Comment:The desert in Osoyoos is the northern tip of the Sonoran desert, which stretches to Mexico in the South. I will support a rename from Nk-mip once a more precise proposal is put forward (hopefully using the expertise from the Desert Society). - DigitalC (talk) 23:26, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Response. No, it's NOT the northern end of the Sonoran Desert, nowhere near that; it's p.r. hype from the Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce.  It's not even desert - not in formal terms; in formal terms it's shrub steppe, and the Columbia Plateau is the next "desert" down.  The nearest desert southwards is the Owyhee Desert, bridging the Oregon-Nevada border....re the Sonora, the Mojave Desert is to the north of the Sonora.Skookum1 (talk) 01:30, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Conclusion (mine anyway, unless an admin would care to "bind" this discussion with a template). I think, given the flexiblity of the area described (e.g. Skaha Bluffs) that Okanagan Desert is maybe the best solution even though it's not a desert - but it IS called one, and has been for a long time.  I'm going to re-read your posts above to give further consideration to South Okanagan Desert but I think the "South" is unnecessary, partly because the non-Nk'mip local desert organization uses only "Okanagan Desert".  If I didn't say it already, Nk'mip is a brand name for a winery and resort, which is all the more reason to change this name (the old anglicization, still used for the campground below the winery/resort, is Inkameep...).Skookum1 (talk) 01:30, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Location of Desert Centre?
See here. Good to have the better description, wondering if the centre should have its own article; some coords for it would be nice; I'd remembered it as being right by the 3-97 junction; as far as I know that's within municipal limits; maybe 3km from the beach, but still in town. Or not??Skookum1 (talk) 05:17, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

This article is redundant with the "Columbia Plateau ecoregion" article
I was working on a related article and came to find this article confusing and ultimately unhelpful. The "Okanagan Desert" as defined by this article's sources is nothing more than the northernmost arm of the Columbia Plateau ecoregion, a xeric shrubland ecoregion that extends across across much the interior of neighbouring Washington state (as defined by both the WWF and EPA).

As was mentioned in prior discussions, the term "Okanagan Desert" is a misnomer, originates from a single source (the Osoyoos Desert Society), and comes off as nothing more than a marketing strategy to bring attention to this small bit of Columbia Plateau ecoregion in Canada. Therefore, I strongly believe this article be merged with the existing Columbia Plateau ecoregion article and explicitly mention its extent within the Osoyoos region of southern British Columbia.

Ponderosapine210 (talk) 08:50, 21 August 2020 (UTC)