Projects

Expectations for 2010

Current Projects

Past Projects

Current Projects

The Land Trust achieves its goals and mission by continuing to be involved with public groups, events, and other initiatives. Scroll down the gold column on the right to find more information on Special Events 2008.

The Projects, events, displays and presentations, require funding from numerous sources including businesses, funding agencies and individuals like you. Please consider helping out. Contact us for more information.

Baikie Island

Introduction
The Campbell River is provincially designated as a Heritage River because of its importance to the people and to the salmon that return to it. In the early days of development of the town of Campbell River, much of the estuary was used for industrial purposes. Baikie Island and the surrounding foreshore were used for log booming and sorting, and a sawmill was later established on the Island. In 1998, the sawmill went bankrupt and was torn down.

Despite Baikie Island Reserve's industrial history, it protects rare stands of riparian forest and sensitive intertidal marshes and mudflats, as well as red-listed plant communities. The area is utilized by all five species of wild juvenile salmon as well as steelhead and the blue-listed cutthroat trout. Fisheries experts believe that 50% of Campbell River's juvenile salmon depend on the nursery habitat within the Baikie Island Reserve.

Return to the River
The 'Return to the River' campaign was initiated by the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to purchase 47 acres of Baikie Island and slough from Raven Industries. The total cost of the property was $1.8 million. To this purchase price, Fisheries and Oceans Canada contributed $500,000, the District of Campbell River was able to provide $300,000, and BC Hydro's Bridge Coastal Fish and Wildlife Restoration Fund supplied $280,000. The community was able to raise the remainder of the funds with interim support from NCC.

In January of 2001, the lands were transferred to the District of Campbell River with a conservation covenant held by NCC, and are now known as the Baikie Island Reserve.

Accomplishments

• The Estuary Management Plan (2002) and the Nature Conservancy of Canada's covenant map out the possible choices for the estuary.
• Extensive inventory and baseline data was collected.
• Mitigation work has begun to remove excess wood, sawdust and bark from the land and waterways.
• Planting of native aquatic and land vegetation is underway.
• Removal of weed species like blackberry and broom is ongoing.
• Fish channels have been enhanced and created for refuge and spawning.
• excavation of a new marsh and backchannel provide important estuarine habitats

Beaver Lodge Forests Lands

The Beaver Lodge Trust Lands Renewal Act empowers the BC Ministry of Forests to manage the Beaver Lodge Trust Lands (BLTL) according to a 1994 Resource Use Plan. To implement the plan, the Forest Service established the BLTL Committee of which the Simms Creek Stewardship Society and the GLT are active members. Presently, the Forest Service and the GLT are negotiating a management agreement to enable Greenways to be responsible for the day to day maintenance of the lands.

As a starting point, the GLT will be responsible for maintenance of the many recreational trails in the BLTL. Funding applications, including one to the Softwood Industry Community Economic Adjustment Initiative (SICEAI), have been submitted to develop a stewardship/management plan that includes the fulfillment of a number of outstanding items from the 1994 Resource Plan. A Forestry License to Cut was obtained for a salvage harvest operation for blowdown timber in the summer of 2003. The $26,000 of revenue generated from this project will be used for maintenance projects within the Beaver Lodge Lands.

Numerous hours have been tallied to get to this point. Many thanks to the Beaver Lodge Trust Committee, the GLT directors and members: Ron Burrell, Brian Giles, and Irv Penner and to the Ministry of Forests staff: Rory Annett, Lynda Ostashek, Pam Silver, and Darcy Yule.

You can also help! If you are interested in making a charitable donation to assist with this program, please contact us.

Haig Brown Heritage Property

In early 2007, Greenways Land Trust assumed the stewardship role on the Haig-Brown Heritage Property in cooperation with the City of Campbell River and the Campbell River Museum.

The King Fisher Creek flows through the Haig Brown property and drains in to the mighty Campbell River. Currently, Greenways Land Trust is working on the King Fisher Creek Restoration Project to remove invasive plant species and restore the riparian area to its natural state. Volunteers are always needed.

In the future there will be many ways to become involved with the Haig Brown property as a volunteer or member. Projects will involve trail maintenance, education, species monitoring and inventory, and mapping. The Haig Brown Centennial Events will also take place throughout 2008 and they will focus on celebrating the lives of Roderick and Ann Haig Brown. Please contact us for more information.

Invasive Plant Removal

To revegetate areas and control invasive species like broom and blackberry, the Land Trust coordinates volunteer groups to work in the Campbell River area.

To see invasive work details, preview the last news release of the year. A portion of invasive work was done by the Vancouver Island Health Authority's (VIHA) work crew (4 to 8 workers) and their supervisors. Interpretive talks and a teacher's study sheet have been produced for classroom follow-up.

Costs of the program are covered by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Vancouver Island Health Association. The BC Schizophrenia society is a major contributor of in-kind services and equipment.

Local Spring and Fall Fish Fence Data

Spring Juvenile Fish Fences were installed from May - June 2007 by local streamkeepers and AFTECH services. These fences were placed on Casey, Woods and Simms Creek to count how many smolts were exiting local streams into the ocean environment. Casey Creek=21 coho smolts, Simms Creek=2789 coho smolts and Woods Creek=241 coho smolts.

Fall Fish Fences were installed from Oct - Nov 2007 by local streamkeepers and AFTECH services. These fences were placed on the same streams as the Spring Fences but these fences counted how many spawning salmon were returning to our streams. Casey Creek=1 coho salmon, Simms Creek=89 coho salmon and Woods Creek=18 coho salmon.

Thanks to AFTECH Services, volunteers and DFO Public Involvement Program for funding and making these projects possible.

Past Projects

The Land Trust has been involved in a number of projects and events. Annual Reports summarize all projects in the past years including funding sources, employment, budgets and dates.

In the past, members and staff attended numerous meetings, workshops and forums to stay abreast of any community planning, interest group initiatives and new technology. The GLT also actively seeks out land conservation options for private landowners.

The projects, events, displays and presentations, require funding from numerous sources including businesses, funding agencies and individuals like you. Please consider helping out.

Projects

• Estuary Broom Bash and ongoing projects related to invasive species
• Focus on streams - invasive removal, water augmentation and flow measurement projects were initiated and completed in the Simms, Nunns, Willow and Woods Creek watersheds
• Watershed model constructed for stewardship education
• Pacific Salmon Foundation dinner - helped with coordination
• Ocean's Day public display and event coordinated
• Watershed Walks in support of education and volunteerism for our local stewardship groups
• Adult Enumeration Project administered (fish stock assessments)
• Beaver Lodge trails maintenance
• Native plants presentation by volunteer Luisa Richardson

Garbage in a local creek