|
This letter was published in the Times Colonist on Sunday, December
3, 2000 in response to the flurry of coverage we've received on our struggle
to keep the Harbour View area accessible to all
types of recreation.
Do you want to respond to this? E-mail your opinions to the Victoria
Times-Colonist at this address: letters@times-colonist.com
|
Off-road vehicles scar Sooke Hills
by Rick Searles
|
|
In the past
few months I have hiked twice in the Sooke Hills, and what I have
seen has both amazed and appalled me.
It is an area of incredible natural beauty. There are still patches
of ancient forest dominated by large Douglas fir, mostly found in
deep ravines squeezed between the steep slopes of high rocky outcrops.
From the top of these outcrops the eye is greeted by a breathtaking
vista of a gently undulating landscape carpeted in green and punctuated
here and there by the sparkle of small lakes.
So what did I find appalling? I had known the area was used by off-road
vehicles but I was stunned by the ecological damage.
Old skid roads that were in the process of natural restoration have
been terribly degraded.
A site on the west shore of Shield Lake suffers from massive soil
compaction and loss of understory vegetation. The ground is littered
with broken glass, spent shells, and bullet-riddled beer cans. A
small adjacent wetland has been reduced to a mud wallow, crisscrossed
by ruts and tracks.
Elsewhere, trees have been cut down to give the off-roaders access
to rock outcrops or to bypass insurmountable obstacles.
While the damage in some specific places is very intense, the vast
proportion of the Sooke Hills is remarkable for its natural beauty
and diversity. However, the damage is increasing with each passing
day.
The Land Conservancy of B.C. is currently attempting to raise $5.3
million to purchase a 3,400 acre, privately held chunk of the Sooke
Hills. If all goes as planned, the land will be turned over to CRD
Parks and will add another crucial piece to the Sea to Sea vision
- a 200-square-kilometre corridor of protected land and marine areas
from Saltspring to East Sooke.
Such a corridor will contribute significantly to maintaining the
region's biological diversity, while providing numerous opportunities
for low-impact recreational activities such as hiking and horseback
riding.
Off-road vehicles, however, are prohibited within CRD Parks.
Not surprisingly, the Island Rock Crawlers Four Wheel Drive Society
and other off-road vehicle recreationists are feeling threatened
and have begun to fight back. Recently they held a public demonstration
on the legislative lawns to build support for their continued access
to the Sooke Hills, and in particular, to an area known as Harbourview.
In building their case, the off-roaders have made several claims
that must be challenged.
First, they are no more "historical" users than anyone else who
has visited the area in the past few decades. If any group of people
could claim historical use of the area surely it must be the Alpine
Club of Canada that first proposed the protection of the area in
the 1920s. This resulted in the creation of Sooke Mountain Park.
Second, they claim they only endorse "responsible" use. While I
don't doubt that some of the Rock Crawler's members are responsible
users, it is a fact that too many are not. A large area on the lower
slope of Mount Manuel Quimper has been severely degraded by off-roaders
"crawling" their way up the steep grade, leaving it denuded of vegetation.
Third, they state they are using public lands. This is not true.
The lands beyond the Harbourview entrance are privately held.
Fourth, to claim that off-roaders don't know they are trespassing
because the area is not signed misses a crucial point. A responsible
user would make sure they knew who owned the land and would seek
permission before entering. As for the signs, I have seen them -
although they are usually to be found bullet-riddled and flung into
the bush.
Last, the off-roaders maintain that the Sooke Hills/Harbourview
lands are not an endangered ecosystem containing threatened species.
Let the facts speak for themselves.
The Sooke Hills lie within the driest portion of our coastal temperate
rainforests, which are the most developed and least protected ecosystem
in the province. Less than one per cent of this ecosystem remains
as mature forest, much of it in the Sooke Hills. These rainshadow
forests are known for their high occurrence of unique species. Therefore,
not only is the ecosystem endangered but also biological inventories
have revealed a number of threatened species within the area.
Perhaps at one time in the recent past, off-road use in the Sooke
Hills was acceptable to many, but times change.
We know so much more about the impact our activities are having
on the planet's ecosystems and species. As a result, we no longer
permit things like ripping gravel from stream beds to build logging
roads or dumping toxics into watercourses.
And so, the off-roaders must come to realize that the ecological
damage they have inflicted, and continue to inflict, on the Sooke
Hills is also no longer acceptable. Off-roading is not compatible
with the protection of ecological values found there; hence, this
type of use should be prohibited, and the areas damaged by vehicles
restored.
Having said this, perhaps another area on southern Vancouver Island
can be found for off-roading. In the meantime, let's make sure that
the donations to The Land Conservancy flow in so that the lands
can be purchased and protected.
Rick Searle teaches environmental ecology and planning at Royal
Roads University and is author of "Phantom Parks. The Struggle to
Save Canada's National Parks."
|
Our Reaction
Once again the Times Colonist shows how much easier it is to play to
the public’s heartstrings using sensational headlines, rather than to
present actual facts.
In the Sunday, Nov. 26, report about a rally at the legislature for “public
access to public land”, it was inexcusable to neglect to mention that
two local MLAs spoke in support of our proposal to create multi-use parks
in British Columbia. Then, to further dilute the point of the rally, the
same article was dominated by opinions of people that did not even attend
or speak at the rally.
This week, to add insult to injury, in a letter from Rick Searle published
Sunday Dec. 3, the portrayal of the Island Rock Crawlers as irresponsible,
testosterone-driven ecology-destroying louts is eminently false.
We are doctors, lawyers, and police officers. We are teachers, civil servants,
retirees, mechanics, and parents. We are not content to view our surroundings
and form opinions on them from the comfort of our living rooms. We are
out there cleaning them up, enjoying their recreational opportunities,
and we are providing economic benefits to those that should care most
about the area: the residents of Sooke. We have met with mayor and council
of Sooke. They support the concept of multi-use parks, and they welcome
the creation of one in their area.
But every time we turn around, the headlines are screaming “Vehicles scar
the Sooke Hills” or “Salmon-bearing streams in danger”. The rhetoric emanating
from the varying groups advocating the exclusion of the public from future
parks, is becoming hackneyed and tiresome, not to mention inaccurate.
“Endangered species” and “threatened habitats” make for compelling copy,
but there has yet to be shown even a shred of proof that this is happening
in the Sooke Hills, despite the fact that the area has been logged more
than once.
It appears that these groups would rather rely on gut-reactions to inflammatory
statements in their quest to preempt all access to future parklands, rather
than discuss reasonable management plans for them. By all means, areas
such as Harbourview need to be saved, but not at the expense of many legitimate
forms of recreation.
We stand for maintaining responsible access for now and the future, if
not in Harbourview, then somewhere else in our district. We stand for
education of users, and creation of effective management plans for multi-use
parks.
Most of all, we stand for compromise. Our aim is open dialog with all
stakeholders, which should result in a workable plan for park management
that the CRD and the province can endorse, while creating a win-win situation
for all residents of the CRD.
Links: Map of Harbourview (90Kb)
|
Island Rock Crawlers Home Page
