Land Use Alert!

The sport of four-wheeling on lower Vancouver Island is under siege! As of right now, the Butler/Boneyard area is closed, locked, no entry, and otherwise unavailable. The reasons given by the local forest company, Timberwest, are vandalism, illegal garbage dumping, stolen vehicle dumping/burning, too many rave parties, and other liability issues. While some of these reasons sound legitimate, the unfortunate by-product of across-the-board closures such as this one is it's really going to put a crimp on those of us who use the area responsibly. That includes four wheelers, hunters, fishers, people who just enjoy exploring, what have you. And as always, it's a relatively small number of reckless hooligans that are ruining it for everyone else.

Add that to the impending purchase of the HarbourView area by the BC Land Conservancy, and there is simply no place left to go off-highway unless we first drive 100–200 kms to Port Renfrew or elsewhere up-island.

What has the Island Rock Crawlers done about this?

First, we have started a letter writing campaign to lobby those in positions of power in the various local governments to keep areas open to recreation. A fine example of this is the Harbourview area, which has been used for decades by many different recreationalists. We certainly agree that the area should be saved, but we do not believe that saving it should be done by putting up gates and closing it to those who currently use it. We have already demonstrated that our group has and will continue to treat this area with great respect. It is evident in our code of conduct, and the annual clean-ups we have organized there for the past five years.

On Friday, November 3, we were interviewed by CBC radio regarding the TLC purchase of Harbourview. Andrea deLange presented some of our viewpoints, and later in the interview, Alison Spriggs of the Land Conservancy voiced her opinions. Listen to the complete interview here (1.8 MB, MP3 format), or read the transcript on the Interview Page.

What can you do to help?

Join our campaign. The more letters the powers-that-be receive, the more they will realize just how many people will be affected if the area gets closed down. If you are an equestrian, a motorcyclists, a hunter, fisher, weekend explorer, a gas station, a restaurant, a corner store; you WILL be affected by this. Read up on the issue. Educate your friends. Write letters. Don't stand idly by while our recreational opportunities disappear.

We are looking for ALL off-highway users to join in creating an alliance to gain access to lands within BC for multi-use. See our RALLY page.

Just Do it! Here is a sample letter, and here are the addresses to send them to.

Here are some points to mention:

• You applaud the saving of “green spaces”, however the closure of Harbourview to our sport will greatly affect you. Harbourview is the only suitable land within the CRD that is not subjected to closure from the forest companies who manage 55% of the CRD’s green space.
• You feel that the recreational needs of the hiking and biking community are already met in this area with the Galloping Goose Trail, East Sooke Park, Gowland/Tod and the Sooke Hills Wilderness/Mt. Wells Regional Park. The recreational needs of the OHV community must be met in Harbourview.
• You believe in responsible use of OHV trails and you believe that designating Harbourview as a OHV park can be a viable and environmentally sustainable management option.

Related Links: RALLY Info | Sample Letter | Addresses | CBC Interview | IRC in the news

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