Walks with Binkie
Sometimes in life, it’s the dreaded thing that turns out to be a blessing.
I wasn’t all that happy when my wife and daughter came home with a puppy about a year ago. We had dogs growing up. Those years informed me that dogs seldom get the long end of the stick, so I decided then to never take a dog home again.
Fast forward, after some fierce resistance, things have changed.
Every morning, Binkie and I go on a hike in the back country of Nex̱wlélex̱wm/Bowen Island. Up the mountain by our house, we access an area that is stunningly beautiful. The changes day-by-day, rain, snow, mist, sun, cloud, are extraordinary. And it is great fun exploring it with a just as curious hiking partner. Like this Monday morning as we stood in awe watching a bald eagle riding an upward current just above the bluff where we were hanging out.
These walks have triggered a change in me. It took a few weeks, but one day during the hike I noticed, I was right at home again in nature.
Just like it happened during my first big trip to Canada. Then I always camped, which gave me access to a natural world I had never seen or experienced before. It was life changing.
For that camping experience to be successful had everything to do with access to things to do. After all, you’re not going to hang out in your tiny tent all day.
You want to hike or bike the trails, go on a guided back country hike or nature tour, e-bike, e-scooter, visit a museum, go to the beach, swim, snorkel, sail, kayak, canoe, learn about Squamish Nation, learn about UNESCO Átl’ka7tsem Biosphere Region, do the Killarney Lake trail, do Loggers Day and, of course at the end of the day, eat out, visit the pub or one of the cideries, do Bowfest, and shop locally.
Clearly we have things to do on Nex̱wlélex̱wm/Bowen Island, and now the question facing our community: Will camping become part of that mix too?
I cannot deny anyone the role camping has played in my life, but proposing a campground at a site that is possibly the furthest away from the only marine access point, and most things to do, makes transportation one of the two things that are the make or break issues of this project. Others have pointed that out too.
Most people will take the car, so a 90 car parking lot at the site is needed, but also a larger ferry to carry that extra load.
The other big issue is the threat of logging of the island’s public forests lands. BC Timber Sales can come knocking any day now. If we want to offer visitors a nature experience, protection of these public forests is key.
In other words, a campground can only work if it fits into a larger plan that respects and comes from our community, and provides opportunities locally.
A campground by itself will become a burden, fitted into a larger plan it could become a blessing.
- Anton van Walraven
NIMBY Nonsense
Those who use the notion of NIMBYism as an argument against those of us who have valid concerns about the potential problems surrounding the proposed campground/park at Cape Roger Curtis are using an irrational, ad hominem attack meant to denigrate those concerns. It is not helpful, meaningful, or constructive.
Instead, it’s rather divisive. In my corporate career we regularly made decisions reaching into the tens of millions of dollars. We used a robust process for making those decisions (Kepner-Tregoe Decision Analysis) which all decision makers were thoroughly trained in. After a “best fit” alternative was chosen, the next step was to do a “potential problem analysis”.
In this step we identified all adverse consequences of the chosen alternative. We then determined the severity AND probability of occurrence for each adverse consequence. Finally, if there was any ONE consequence that was considered to be a high probability and high severity problem with no solution, THE ALTERNATIVE WAS THROWN OUT.
The “anti-NIMBY” proponents seem to want to avoid this step. However, there ARE severe, high probability consequences with this proposal.
The ferry issue alone would qualify. Does anyone really believe that BC Ferries is going to make massive investments in upgrading the ferry capacity to Bowen Island with its 4,000 residents? The best Metro Vancouver is able to come up with is that they “will engage with BC Ferries”. Unless they can come up with a specific solution and a HARD COMMITMENT to implement a specific, detailed solution in a realistic time frame, this proposal should be DOA.
- Dennis Vetter
A Grander Vision
After attending the Metro Vancouver Regional Parks Open House and speaking to a number of its representatives, it is apparent that the proposed Cape Roger Curtis park is barely more than a concept. Many of the practical challenges and issues critical to the success of the proposed plan (ferry, on-island traffic, camping, etc.) are in the very initial planning stages.
Of particular concern is that MVRP seems to be approaching this project in similar ways as they have done with other regional parks. This ‘cookie cutter’ approach is problematic.
First, this would be the sole MVRP park with water access only; there are numerous unique logistical issues which MVRP has never faced which still to be addressed. Second, Bowen — being an island — has a very distinctive and in some areas fragile ecosystem that could easily be damaged by over use and visitation.
However, within these potential problems there are some very interesting opportunities as well. Bowen sits in the Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region; a stunning achievement in its own right. The already cleared and serviced lots — which one might assume is a significant reason MVRP found these lands so desirable as camping areas — could alternatively serve as real time explorations in revitalising and restoring lands that had formerly been earmarked for development.
MVRP and Bowen Island could possibly partner with Squamish Nation, research universities, conservation groups, and even local school districts to convert the CRC lands into a part of the larger Howe Sound UNESCO Region. If done correctly, we could collectively create a potentially world class educational and research demonstration site focused on best practices for land reclamation.
Let’s challenge MVRP to think big, bold, and differently. They are spending many millions more on this land acquisition than they have in the past.
This is their — and our — rare opportunity to do something innovative, leaving a legacy far more valuable than a mere ‘park’ …and much more far reaching.
- Edward Wachtman & Sheree Johnson
