DEAR EDITOR:
Mount Gardner is Bowen Island’s last considerable stand of relatively untouched wilderness. To protect it is essential to maintaining resiliency in the face of climate change. It is already necessary to stand for it against encroaching housing development, threats of logging, industrial use, and misuse by trail users – let our community be stewards for it in a way that preserves its wild nature.
In Kevan Bernards’ Aug. 5 letter to the editor, he mentions that Mount Gardner “offers the biggest value to recreational users,” but he neglects to specify that the overwhelming majority of those trail users are non-motorized, which represents a wide range of recreational activities. As stated in the BC Ministry of Forests Recreation Trail Management Guide, “The compatibility of multiple-use trails must be considered: in most cases, motorized and non-motorized use on the same trail is not recommended.” The conflict that has arisen is about something more important than trail designations, however, it is about a difference in vision for the stewardship of Mount Gardner.
It is myopic to think that recreation interests should be what solely dictate strategic action. As stated in BC’s Forest and Range Practices Act, there are eleven resource values identified as important factors in the management of our forests: biodiversity, cultural heritage, fish/riparian, forage and associated plant communities, recreation, resource features, soils, timber, visual quality, water quality, and wildlife.
Trail maintenance activities are foundational, but the broader scope of stewardship also involves protecting ecologically valuable land, collaborating with land owners, businesses, and governing agencies on legal issues, integrating conservation with land use planning, leading education and community outreach, monitoring natural areas, and much more.
Stewardship is not just the actions taken to manage a resource, it is also the intention behind those actions. A steward is someone who is characterized by the ability to be worthy of trust and is responsive to the community. Kevan’s letter failed to mention that the specific reason the former Bowen Trails Coalition dissolved in 2020 was because these values were not upheld.
In light of the current state of our forests in B.C., the term “responsible motorized use” of our natural areas is oxymoronic. We are living in unprecedented times when maintaining the status quo is no longer an option. We must move forward with progressive thinking about the way we use and manage our lands and environment.
The conflict over the future of Mount Gardner has been successful at raising community awareness about the need for taking further responsibility for the care of our lands. To correct misinformation in Kevan’s letter, it is not “a small group who wish to see singular trail designation,” it is a large community of representative stakeholders who wish to make their contribution. If BTRA’s intentions are altruistic as claimed, then their continued support in the maintenance of the trails will be unconditional. It is time for the community-at-large to participate in the greater responsibility of the true stewardship of Mount Gardner.
Kiley Redhead
