CATHEDRAL GROVE’S FUTURE STILL IN QUESTION
by
Richard Boyce
For the second time BC Minister of Environment, Barry Penner, announced in the Legislature that Cathedral Grove Provincial Park has been expanded. However, the numbers do not add up! Penner stated that the original park was 136 hectares. The addition, with the inclusion of land purchased by Nature Trust, is 144 hectares. Penner concluded that a total of 301 hectares is now protected as a class “A” provincial park.
Doing the math you will realize that the old and new add up to 280 hectares, which leaves 21 hectares unaccounted for out of 301 hectares. It just so happens that 21 hectares is the size of the piece of land that was purchased by BC Parks to build a parking lot. This piece of land was excluded from the protection provide by the BC Parks act and has been the center of public contention for its protection. In the fall of 2005 Minister Penner announced that he had postponed plans to build a parking lot at that location.
I have been in touch with the Minister’s office several times
since this recent announcement but the public relations people cannot
seem to come up with an answer for my simple questions about the
numbers of hectares. They do not have an answer to the question; “Will
a parking lot be built in Cathedral Grove Park?” Scott Fraser, MLA for
Alberni-Qualicum, will raise these questions in the legislative
assembly while the government meets in Victoria.
Flanking
Cathedral Grove to the south and east, the Cameron valley has been
entirely logged leaving behind a large farm of small trees which has
been, protected by the recent park expansion. However, a large stand
of giant old growth Douglas fir trees that grows between the highway
and railway and cliffs to the west is scheduled for logging by Island
Timberlands. A wide logging road has already been pushed into this
pristine forest and helicopter logging dump sites have been prepared
and are ready to extract the old growth trees on the slopes above. In
the past few years heavy logging has decimated the forest on the tops
of these slopes above Cathedral Grove.
Due south of the park
I walked high above the Cameron River, along the top of the cliff that
drops off into Cathedral Canyon. Looking down upon the tops of ancient
Fir and Cedar trees reaching for the light I could see their branches
adorned with a multitude of lichens, their trunks covered with moss,
and the tiny gardens of ferns crown this lush canopy. This is an old
growth forest in every respect with trees of multi-ages, multi species,
and multi-heights. These trees flourish on the rich soil deposits that
have settled between the massive stone boulders that have been carved
off the cliffs by the constant flow of the river that has flowed here
since the last ice age.
Ribbons have been run through the
tree farm that grows along the hill that rises above the steep cliffs
of the Cathedral Canyon. It is apparent that Island Timberlands plans
to build roads to access key points along the top of the cliffs to
allow for log dumps. These sites will allow helicopters to fly the old
growth trees out of the Canyon to be loaded onto logging trucks.
Alberni-Qualicum
MLA Scott Fraser E-mail: scott.fraser.mla@leg.bc.ca Office: Room 201
Parliament Buildings Victoria, BC V8V 1X4 Phone: 250 387-3655 Fax: 250
387-4680 Honourable Barry Penner Minister of Environment and Minister
responsible for Water Stewardship and Sustainable Communities Phone:
(250) 387-1187 Fax: (250) 387-1356 PO Box 9047 STN PROV GOVT Victoria
BC V8W 9E2 E-mail: env.minister@gov.bc.ca
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PROTECTION
Actually,
a provincial park isn’t about protecting the environment its about
recreation for people and providing access to public space.
SUMMARY OF PARK AND PROTECTED AREA DESIGNATIONS
“A
Class A park is Crown land designated under the Park Act or by the
Protected Areas of British Columbia Act whose management and
development is constrained by the Park Act. Sections 8 and 9 of the
Park Act are the most pertinent in this regard, and direct that a park
use permit must not be issued respecting an interest in land or natural
resources “unless, in the opinion of the minister, to do so is
necessary to preserve or maintain the recreational values of the park
involved.”
In terms of protecting the environment, a step up
from the status of a provincial park is protection under The Ecological
Reserve Act
“The purpose of this Act is to reserve Crown
land for ecological purposes, including the following areas: (a) areas
suitable for scientific research and educational purposes associated
with studies in productivity and other aspects of the natural
environment; (b) areas that are representative examples of natural
ecosystems in British Columbia; (c) areas that serve as examples of
ecosystems that have been modified by human beings and offer an
opportunity to study the recovery of the natural ecosystem from
modification; (d) areas where rare or endangered native plants and
animals in their natural habitat may be preserved; (e) areas that
contain unique and rare examples of botanical, zoological or geological
phenomena.”
I really don't want to see a parking lot bulldozed into Cathedral Grove's sensitive ecosystem! Especially after so much work was done for some many years by so many people inorder to protect this incredible forest.
So, I just e-mailed, faxed, and snail mailed the following since I'm not getting any answers on the phone!
Perhaps you could do the same?
thanks,
Richard
_____________________________________________________________________
May 6, 2007
To: Honourable Barry Penner
Minister of Environment and
Minister responsible for Water Stewardship and Sustainable Communities
P.O. Box 9047 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria, British Columbia V8W 9E2
E-mail: env.minister@gov.bc.ca
Phone: (250) 387-1187
Fax: (250) 387-1356
Re: The future of Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park
Dear Minister,
For the second time now you have announced that Cathedral Grove Provincial Park has been expanded. However, the numbers do not add up! The original park was 136 hectares. The addition, with the inclusion of land purchased by Nature Trust, is 144 hectares. Together this adds up to make 280 hectares, yet you have announced that the total size of the park is now 301 hectares.
This leaves 21 hectares unaccounted for out of the 301 hectares. It just so happens the piece of land that was purchased by BC Parks to build a parking lot is also 21 hectares. This piece of land was excluded from the protection provide by the BC Parks act and has been the center of public demands for its protection.
In the fall of 2005 you announced that your Ministry had postponed plans to build a parking lot at that location.
I have two questions.
1. Is the entire 301 hectares you announced protected as a class “A” provincial park?
2. Have plans for building a parking lot inside this new expanded park been canceled indefinitely or will you be commencing work in the future to build a parking lot inside the new park boundary?
All of the paper work sent to me from your office does not answer these very basic questions. I encourage you to clarify your Ministry’s position for the public so that people can clearly understand how you plan to protect the future of this sensitive ecosystem that has become an international treasure.
Sincerely,
Richard Boyce, BFA, MFA
cc. Alberni-Qualicum MLA Scott Fraser
E-mail: scott.fraser.mla@leg.bc.ca
Room 201 Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4
Phone: (250) 387-3655
Fax: (250) 387-4680
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