World Famous Cathedral Grove Trees Threatened
by Proposed Location of Parking Lot
Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada - One
of British Columbiaís most visited and beloved provincial
parks, tiny 157-hectare MacMillan Park, best known as Cathedral
Grove is about to become even tinier. Plans to clear some of
the worldís most famous trees are being fast-tracked
by Alberni-Qualicum MLA Gillian Trumper, who wants to see a
20-bus/RV and 150-car, metered, pay parking lot completed by
this spring.
"The proposal to locate the parking lot in critical elk
habitat on the Cameron River floodplain, was turned down by
Minister of Water Land and Air Protection, Joyce Murray, two
years ago,î explains Annette Tanner, Western Canada Wilderness
Committeeís Mid-Island spokesperson. ìThe large
clearing being proposed, would also be downwind of the park
where the removal of vegetation has been documented to cause
blowdown within the park,"Tanner adds.
The Wilderness Committeeís solution to
locate the parking lot on an existing clearcut adjacent to the
park away from the elk habitat and floodplain gained support
when BC residents and local communities such as the Alberni-Clayoquot
Regional District, the City of Port Alberni, the Town of Qualicum
Beach, the City of Parksville, the Regional District of Nanaimo,
the Parksville Chamber of Commerce and theTourism Association
of Vancouver Island requested the government expand the park
to include all of remaining 400 hectares of the Grove.
"These motions of council were made over
a year ago with the purpose of limiting further blowdowns in
the park and reducing the impact of so many visitors on this
small park," Tanner adds. Signatures from around the world
were gathered last winter in support of protecting Cathedral
Grove by enlarging the Park. "Itís time to ask the
government for an environmentally responsible location for the
parking lot, so that the trees in the Grove will remain standing
for other generations to enjoy," she concludes.
- for more information contact Annette Tanner,
250 752-6585 -
This article first appeared on the Wild Isle Online
Magazine at: http://www.wildisle.ca/news/cathedral_grove_121203/
