The proposed areas were 6,000,
8,500 and
8,500 hectares respectively.
One of the
people at the table, who had a
major say
in how big our park should be,
said later
that he had never been on the Caren
and
was unaware that Marbled Murrelets
were
breeding in the ancient forests.
Friends of Caren drew up a memorandum
to the Honourable Cathy McGregor,
the
Minister of Environment, Lands
and
Parks following three meetings
of the
FOC executive. We respectfully
urged
the Minister and the Cabinet to
reconsider
this as a special case and expand
the
Caren area to a minimum of 6,000
hectares with a minimum of six
kilometers shoreline along Sechelt
Inlet.
The memorandum included the following
points that Friends of Caren considers
important in setting the stage
for a
meaningful sustainable Class A
park on
the Caren. In summary these,
were as
follows:
1. Recreation and conservation
objectives
unreachable due to potential conflicts
in
too small an area.
2. The unique ancient forests and
the
habitat they provide to wildlife
as wen as
the opportunities the area offers
to a
growing population base for good
recreation are the main reasons
we
proposed this as a park.
3. A minimum of six kilometers
of
shoreline would preserve an intact
shore-to-summit ecosystem. At present,
only 1% of BC's marine shoreline
is
protected.
4. Sechelt Inlet is already an
important
destination for kayakers and scuba
divers.
5. The Cheekeye Dunsmuir Power
lines
are a logical, easily recognized
south
boundary for the park.
6. The above line and its extension
towards Powell River are a logical
east
boundary.
7. Oldgrowth forests around Mount
Hallowell should be included in
the park.
This forest forms a natural corridor
down
the ridge to Klein Lake and
Skookumchuck Provincial Park.
8. Because Tetrahedron use is limited
due
to watershed concerns and the general
lack of parks in the region (only
3% of the
District is protected), there is
a new
urgency to enlarge the Caren to
a
meaningful, sustainable size.
9. Three small government proposals,
all
directed at preserving Marbled
Murrelet
habitat, and three larger private
proposals
all aimed at creating a new park
as well as
preserving habitat values, including
that
of Friends of Caren, were put before
the
Protected Areas Strategy process.
No
other areas were the subject of
such
sustained public concern in the
region. |
VICTORIA RESPONDS
In a letter dated August 12th, the
Minister
of Environment suggested that Friends
of
Caren continue to work with this
Ministry
and the Ministry of Forests to
identify and
protect other important values
through the
Forest Practices Code." In closing,
The
Ron. Cathy McGregor, said
in her letter:
"I appreciate your continued interest
in
the Caren protected area."
MARBLED MURRELET RESEARCH
Paul Jones, FOC Chair, with Dr.
John
Field and others, continued the
murrelet
research on the Caren this past
spring and
summer. Paul found a new
active nest on
the Caren on Father's Day and watched
the nest for sixteen days, part
of the time
with John, and saw the chick leave
the
nest at 21:59 hr. on Canada Day
.
The three chicks we have observed
on the
Caren and the information we have
assembled on chick behaviour and
feedings represents about forty
percent of
all the nest data collected to
date for this
species throughout its range.
Spípiyus (Marbled Murrelet
in Sechelt)
Spípiyus Point on Sechelt
Inlet and
Spípiyus Peak on the Caren
Range are
new geographical place names that
were
successfully submitted to the
Geographical Names Office by Friends
of
Caren in consultation with band
elders.
Thanks to John Dafoe and Gilbert
Joe for
their effort and creativity in
this project.
LOG SALVAGING IN THE CAREN
CLEARCUTS
Friends of Caren participated in
an
arrangement with the Parks Branch
and
Walter Tripp, a Sechelt log salvager,
to
remove logs assembled during the
80's at
landings on Caren logging
roads. Tripp
agreed not to take blowdown material,
to
use the cross-over road only in
the
afternoons so as not to disturb
breeding
murrelets, and to limit his activities
to
week-days. Friends of Caren
apologizes
to any people who were inconvenienced
by the logging this past summer
and has
asked the contractor to post the
hours
when trucks are likely to be met
on the
access road.
|
