Dear Editor;
Re: Artificial Reef Project Runs aground
Saturday, August 28th.
It surprises me that Environmental Stewardship Manager Jennifer McGuire would prevent the sinking of an artificial reef in Halkett bay, since it would bring life to an otherwise barren and muddy area and would boost its biodiversity. Someone very powerful must own property in Halkett Bay to be able to convince the Ministry of the Environment to stop a project that would enhance the amount and types of species in the area with a project that has been a year and a half in the making at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. I suspect that they don’t want divers and other boaters to be using their bay and would like to keep it for their own personal use.
Ms. McGuire was of no help when we asked her to protect the Norum Place Park Environmental Reserve that is not only home to many species at risk but is made up of plant and animal species that are said to be the last of their kind in the Province. This small park on the banks of the Fraser River in North Delta will be totally wiped out by the construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, along with a critical section of nearby Collings Way Ravine Environmental Park Reserve, separating it from the Fraser River and the wildlife corridor that connects it to other important green spaces.
These two parks are part of a 2 1/2 km. long wildlife corridor that connect six other environmentally sensitive ravine parks with Burns Bog, the Fraser Heights Wetlands, Surrey Bend Regional Park and the upper Fraser River, an essential wildlife corridor that would be replaced with a highway.
Despite the fact that these reserves are Red- and Blue-listed habitat, home to threatened and endangered species, and are made up of habitat that are some of the last of its kind in the province, we were told there was no protection. Well now it seams there is a protection rule, and both of these parks qualify.
The Artificial Reef Society will no doubt find another location to sink their Warship to improve some other area of Howe sound, but we could never replace the loss of habitat nor the species at risk that would be lost by the construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road through this section.
The Mission statement of the Ministry of the Environment, Environmental Stewardship Division is to “maintain and restore the natural diversity of provincial ecosystems and fish and wildlife species and their habitat” So what about it, Ms. McGuire?
Don Hunt
Sunbury Neighbourhood Association
Delta BC
this letter published In the Vancouver Sun Sept 1, 2010
