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TimberWest Forest Corp. basked in the praise of conservationists
Wednesday after agreeing to donate 121 hectares of ecologically
significant land that will be added to the Sooke Hills Wilderness
Regional park.
TimberWest gave the land, valued at $340,000, to the Nature Conservancy
of Canada, which is transferring the protected area to the Capital
Regional District. Virtually surrounded by publicly owned land, the
property includes the upper reaches of Veitch and Ayum creeks and
consists of mostly mature second-growth forest with pockets of old
growth trees.
The company also pledged $300,000 to the conservancy group over the next
10 years to scientifically assess the conservation value of other
property "surplus to its business operations."
And it is chipping in $50,000 over two years for "eco-regional planning"
on coastal forests. The company was able to take advantage of federal
changes that make 50 per cent of the land donation tax deductible.
"This is really a landmark agreement for us," Paul McElligott,
TimberWest's newly appointed president and CEO, told a press conference
at Laurel Point Inn.
"TimberWest recognizes that some portions of our lands are not suited
for timber production and that they have higher-value uses.
Karen Watson, Metchosin mayor and the chairwoman of the CRD parks
committee, called the company's donation "a wonderful Christmas
present."
It will help complete the vision, she said, for a sea-to-sea regional
park stretching from Saltspring Island through the Saanich Peninsula and
the Sooke Hills to Sooke Basin.
Alison Spriggs, of The Land Conservancy of B.C., also welcomed the deal,
saying it should help propel her organization's campaign to acquire land
for the sea-to-sea park. TLC hopes to secure a federal grant to help
acquire 1,400 hectares of land north and south of Sooke Mountain.
Wednesday's announcement also gave a shot in the arm to TimberWest's
image, battered by accusations from environmentalists that it is logging
in old growth areas next to parks, and by criticism from the IWA-Canada
union over TimberWest plans to close the Youbou sawmill next month.
McElligott said there remains some cost for the company but the
investment is worth it. "I think principally it gives us the ability to
showcase an absolute commitment to sustainable forestry and the
environment." he said.
Jan Garnett, from the Nature Conservancy's Victoria office, said the
Sooke Hills donation is significant because the creeks that run through
it harbour the endangered Pacific water shrew, and stocks of salmon,
steelhead and searun cutthroat trout.
Garnett said the money provided by the company will finance scientific
assessments done by staff from the Environment Ministry's Conservation
Data Centre.
The conservancy will scrutinize all significant property owned by
TimberWest, the largest owner of private forest on Vancouver Island.
"They're willing to look at not just their surplus lands but small ones
that pop out as being the most ecologically significant, and have
scientific assessments done," said Garnett.
Once lands that have been identified for protection, the conservancy
group will work with TimberWest to determine how best to conserve it,
she said.
Methods could involve donations to public parks or through placement of
conservation convenants, legal agreements that protect land from
development.
The Nature Conservancy has already taken a preliminary look at other
TimberWest sites, Garnett said.
"They stretch all the way up Vancouver island, from potential Vancouver
Island marmot re-introduction sites, to areas closer to urban areas,"
she said.
"We're going to await the science reports before we publicly identify
those sites."
Nature Conservancy president John Lounds said the organization, founded
in 1962, has acquired more than 659,000 hectares of land for
conservation purposes across the country.
It has done so, he said, using a science-based, non-confrontational
approach. The group received a $10 million grant from the federal
government's Nature Legacy 2000 program, spread over three years, to
pursue the goal of preserving wilderness areas.
By Malcolm Curtis, Times Colonist Staff
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