They do it for the thrill. They get on their dirt bikes and ATVs and bring a chainsaw for good measure. Then they're off, over rough terrain and through the mud, revving up the engines and proud of producing a fountain of muddy water. When they take their vehicles into the Fairy Fen Sanctuary Nature Reserve, they damage the creek bed of Huszar Creek and impact the fen, say Owen Plowman and Everhard Van Lidth de Jeude of the Bowen Island Conservancy.
Last Friday, Plowman and Van Lidth de Jeude met up with councillor Andrew Stone for a hike to Fairy Fen to show him the tracks of ATVs and dirt bikes and discuss possible ways of discouraging the thrill seekers from trespassing into Fairy Fen.
"Fairy Fen is the only fen of its type in the lower mainland and there are species and plants here that don't occur anywhere else." Plowman explained.
The Conservancy's website (bowenislandconservancy.org) states, "Fairy Fen is described by biologists as one of the most undisturbed, biologically diverse, and ecologically rare fens in southern British Columbia (a fen is a wetland fed by ground or surface water and is neutral or alkaline in its chemistry, supporting a high diversity of plant and animal species). It protects unique plants, such as Labrador Tea, bog St. John's-wort, bog cranberry, and a wide variety of sedges and mosses."
Even though the fen lies undisturbed, the destruction of the creek feeding into it can have repercussions for the wetland. "The Nature Reserve covers about 18 hectares. We were restricted by the size of the reserve and tried to cover as much of the watershed as possible to protect the fen," Van Lidth de Jeude says. "The fen is filled with organic material and we are afraid of the siltation that comes from the creek. It will kill the growth of sphagnum."
Not far from the fen, a sign clearly marks the area as part of a nature sanctuary, tire tracks run across the creek bed only five metres away. "They come right through here," says Van Lidth de Jeude, pointing at the dry creek. He says that he was on his way to the fen on the previous Friday around 4:30 p.m., when he heard engine noise. He hurried down the slope but when he got there, he only found tracks.
"Even if I had got here in time [to see the ATVs], there wouldn't have been anything I could have done as they don't have to have licence plates," says Van Lidth de Jeude, adding that this makes enforcing the no driving regulation in the fen difficult. Another idea was to put up barriers to prevent easy entrance to the area but Van Lidth de Jeude points at a large trunk of a tree that had fallen across the path a couple of years ago and has been cut into at least five section by chainsaw-carrying ATV enthusiasts.
The signs that are placed at access points to the area say: Welcome to Fairy Fen Nature Sanctuary, please respect the area and the wildlife it supports. The icons clearly indicate no ATV, dirt bikes and mountain bikes. Plowman says that the Conservancy has put up 15 out of the 18 that were produced with funding from the Islands Trust.
"That is part of the conundrum," Plowman says. "It's not reasonable to say that people will be arrested or somehow punished. We have to enter into a dialogue with them and explain that the area is protected and maybe suggest alternatives." He added that he doesn't consider riding dirt bikes or ATVs to be wrong but simply wants to draw attention to the fen's sensitive nature. "This is a problematic area, so we need them to go somewhere else. And if there isn't a place, we might need to think of making one." Plowman added that a gate was installed at the top of the path but that people just "drive around it."
Stone agreed that an approach that fosters understanding would be best. "If you put up more gates, you create an adversarial situation. Bowen has a massive amount of trails and maybe we could let them know that we'd prefer it if they stay away from the [Fairy Fen] area," he said. "One thing that would help that along would be to inform the community."
Plowman added that it would be helpful to identify an area where ATV and dirt bike riding would be encouraged but says that the Conservancy doesn't know whom to approach to open the discussion.
Higher up the trail, the tracks are even deeper and the wall of the creek bed has collapsed. Van Lidth de Jeude points out the different threads left by ATVs and dirt bikes and explains how this contributes to the silt content that will be washed into the fen once the creek will carry water. To the right, the trail leads up to Radar Hill and connects to an access road between Josephine Drive and Salal Road. That's where they think most of the drivers of the ATVs and dirt bikes enter the area. But monitoring the entrance won't prevent the trespass. "The trail starts on Crown land, riding an ATV or dirt bike there isn't illegal," says Van Lidth de Jeude. "Only down here in the Nature Sanctuary."
"There are areas where the trail is covered in water and that makes an enormous fountain of mud go up," says Plowman, "that adds to the thrill."
