Dear editor,
The Comox Valley Conservation Strategy (CVCS) steering committee is writing to oppose the sale of Crown land on Piercy Road, adjacent to the Browns River, for the publicly declared purpose of 鈥渦rban density development.鈥�
Applying to purchase these lands is a partnership between the K鈥櫭砿oks First Nation and 3L Developments, a private land development company.
These lands, located in a relatively undisturbed rural area, have the following high environmental values:
1) They are listed in the Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory (SEI) as older second-growth forest with many environmentally sensitive features including riparian buffering, wetlands and undisturbed native soils. These features hold significant biodiversity and wildlife habitat values.
2) They are within the Browns River watershed, which is identified as a critical watershed in Nature Without Borders, and act as an important wildlife corridor linking the east and west side of Vancouver Island.
This area provides wildlife habitat for species that travel under the nearby Inland Island highway Browns River overpass. The elk fencing on the highway funnels wildlife into this area. Locating urban density development in this area will inevitably result in human/wildlife conflicts, leading to the death or displacement of these animals and destruction of the sensitive ecological values of the land.
Our community has just completed a provincially mandated Regional Growth Strategy that specifies new housing development should be focused in existing core municipal areas. This area of Crown land is designated in the RGS as rural and inappropriate for urban type development.
It is contradictory for the province to now review an application for purchase of Crown land for 鈥渦rban density development鈥� in this area.
The CVCS steering committee, representing 17 local environmental and residents鈥� organizations, has a mandate to promote the conservation and restoration of critical ecological areas to maintain ecosystem health in the Comox Valley. Our work is based on current environmental data and a broad understanding of land use planning policies.
We value the traditional environmental knowledge of the K鈥櫭砿oks First Nation (KFN) and fully support them in economic development projects working towards financial security within their ancestral territory.
We believe that as a community we can work together to achieve the goals of the K鈥櫭砿oks while conserving critical ecological areas. The proposed Piercy Road development site is not an appropriate location for urban density development.
We urge our MLA and all local governments to work with the K鈥櫭砿oks people to find suitable solutions that do not put important ecosystems and wildlife habitat at risk.
It is worth noting that 3L Developments has other property in the area that they want to develop in opposition to the Regional Growth Strategy. This company is unhappy with the RGS designation of their property as rural and has blocked the public鈥檚 access to roads and the popular Stotan Falls recreation area.
Forming a partnership with KFN appears to be a way to circumvent the established land-use planning and development processes of local governments.
The B.C. Ministry of Natural Resources Operations has an obligation to manage Crown lands for the best interests of the citizens of B.C. Approving this purchase would allow 3L Developments to bypass the provincially mandated, and locally endorsed, Regional Growth Strategy and lead to the destruction of a sensitive ecosystem with high wildlife habitat values.
David Stapley,
Courtenay
Editor鈥檚 note: David Stapley is the project manager for the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy Steering Committee.
