Buse Lake Protected Area

First Nations use of the area is unknown, although it is likely that some hunting and food gathering activities occurred. There are no recorded archaeological sites or features in the park.

This park was established as part of the Kamloops LRMP in January 2001.

The unique water chemistry and high alkalinity of Buse Lake creates special habitat conditions for brine flies, and other aquatic insects and plants that are adapted to salt rich environments. The lake and marl edges attract a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds. 

The park lies totally within the Thompson Basin Ecosection and provides a small representative elevational gradient through the PPxh2 and IDFxh2 subzone variants biogeoclimatic zones. The lower portion is mostly grassland with some open ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests. The mid to upper regions are covered primarily by climax stands of Douglas fir and old Ponderosa Pines with sparse understory of common snowberry, saskatoon and birch-leafed spirea.. 

The north facing terrain above Buse Lake rises steeply through forested slopes to a high cliff face, topped by rocky summits. The 200 metre high cliff formations include an impressive detached rock tower. The steeply sloping terrain on the south side of the park drops down into upper grassland habits on adjacent grazing lease lands. 

The Park exhibits some of the diversity of rock types found in the Robbins Range, which originate from Cenozoic (Upper Triassic), Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras. The lower portions are comprised of volcanics and the upper slopes are a complex array of basalts, breccia, schists and conglomerates.