Protecting Muir Creek

The provincial government is facing a dilemma because privatization of the Western Forest Products (WFP) land has brought to light the lack of protection that has been afforded to the west side of Vancouver Island. 95% of the land on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island is private land.

 Throughout the province 14.26 percent of the land is preserved.  The lack of preservation of the west coast is astounding - between Sooke and Port Renfrew less than three percent of the land is parkland or available for public use!

 The only areas between Sooke and Port Renfrew that are under protection are French Beach Provincial Park and the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail. French beach is a beautiful park but too heavily used and too small to support a natural ecosystem. Further west Ender Ilkay has purchased 7 properties adjoining the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail.

 His plan is to bring campgrounds, resorts and development alongside the wilderness trail. Most of the larger areas of the trail already have campgrounds and amenities. Now, with the Western Forest Products property sale along the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail no area of the trail is large enough or remote enough to provide suitable habitat for wildlife and biodiversity. Increased human use of the trail will create more pressure on the wildlife and the trail itself is showing wear.   

 There is a deep need for diverse ecosystems and environments to be protected. Animal habitat needs protection, fresh water resources need protection, recreation areas need protection and trees need protection. In short there is a need  to protect the diversity found in one of the most productive forests on earth.

The government may be tempted to try to satisfy the public desire for parkland on the coast by protecting the beach at Jordan River and protecting small areas along the coast like Sand Cut beach. Although we applaud every effort to create parkland in an area which is so obviously lacking, creating a linear strip of beach along the western edge of the island will do little to protect biodiversity or animal habitat - that is why the Muir Creek Protection Society is concerned.

One proposal being placed before the government by Ministry of the Environment officials includes protecting Muir Creek. We prefer this option for many reasons. Protecting Muir Creek protects an area that stretches inland from the ocean to the mountains - much of the area is remote and little used but there is also a broad history of use in the lower areas stretching back in time to the First Peoples.

Preserving Muir Creek provides a diverse environment with a good mixture of ecosystems and it provides unimpeded fresh water access to wildlife. Protecting Muir Creek protects Old Growth forest, endangered steelhead, spawning salmon, old growth trees, and mature second growth forest. Protecting Muir Creek protects biodiversity and it respects the community's longstanding desire to protect an area which has been widely used for recreation.  Protecting Muir Creek provides areas that are remote enough to be viable habitat for sustaining species and areas that are accessible enough to support a wide range of public activities.

 Alanda Carver

muircreek@hotmail.com