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July 9, 2009
B.C. pulp mill property to become wildlife preserve in deal with Ducks Unlimited
CHEMAINUS, B.C. – Grasses in every possible hue of green wave in an ocean breeze while red-winged black birds perch on large cat-tails that rise up on the banks of the river below and bright yellow American finches land for a quick drink.
In the distance, smoke stacks from the Catalyst pulp mill in Crofton are within view but eagles and vultures circle overhead and dark blue kingfishers make low-level, high-speed passes just centimetres above the river.
This "real-life Shangri-La" was once destined to become a site for pulp mill waste.
Instead, it will become a haven for thousands of migrating birds, ducks and swans, as well as resident eagles, hawks, fish and land mammals under a unique deal between Catalyst Paper Corp. and Ducks Unlimited Canada.
"The interaction with the agricultural land and the inter-tidal mudflat and the estuary and the river itself creates this incredible mix of habitat that is good for water fowl, raptors, shore birds," said Les Bogdan, Duck's Unlimited's B.C. operations manager.
"It's incredible for all other wildlife, plus the river itself is incredible for salmon."
The pulp mill property will become a permanent nature preserve after Ducks Unlimited – along with contributions from a host of government, private and conservation organizations and individuals – put together a $3.7-million deal to buy the more than 200 hectares of wildlife habitat known as the Chemainus Estuary.
The estuary is located on critical southern Vancouver Island coastal habitat about 75 kilometres north of Victoria.
The deal will be announced Thursday at a ceremony on a grass-covered bluff on the banks of the Chemainus River that overlooks the vast expanse of tidal marshes, tall grasses and meandering waterways ebbing and flowing with life from the sea and local waterways.
"We had our eye on this for a long time," said Bogdan. "It's one of the best pieces of property in B.C."
Ducks Unlimited tried in 1979 to buy the Chemainus Estuary when the price was $1 million, but forest company Weyerhaeuser paid above-market price for the land, said Bogdan.
The forest companies knew Ducks Unlimited wanted the property and negotiations for a sale started last year.
The area forms a habitat of international importance to waterfowl and other birds using the coastal migration corridor along the Pacific Flyway, Bogdan said.
Averages of 1,000 waterfowl a day have been sighted during the migration and wintering periods.
Dan Buffett,a biologist for Ducks Unlimited, said he's seen dozens of huge trumpeter swans landing in the calm estuary waters in the fall migration season.
Buffett said the Chemainus Estuary, next only to B.C.'s mighty Fraser River estuary, is ranked as the second most important estuary in British Columbia, and now that it is protected it will certainly rank as one of the top 15 in Canada.
"From a habitat perspective we've got really unique types of habitat," Buffett said during a tour of the property, which is currently blocked by a gate.
"We've got tidal marshes. We have some fresh-water type habitat. We have agricultural habitat and we have forest."
He said some of the forest habitat in the estuary is globally significant, in terms of the amount that's left.
Buffett said the Chemainus and Bonzo rivers meet the ocean in the estuary.
"That creates a lot of food for a lot of migratory birds, for a lot of local birds, shore birds," he said.
"There are the old farm fields that are no longer actively farmed, lots of voles and lots of small mammals, and we've got raptors, eagles, vultures and hawks. We've got a number of the salmon coming up, too."
Ducks Unlimited has yet to work out user plans with local groups, including aboriginals who still hunt and fish in the area, but the Chemainus Estuary will be a relatively untouched wildlife habitat, said Buffett.
Campgrounds and picnic sites are not planned, he said.
"Our challenge is going to be to try and integrate existing uses, potentially some new uses, but make sure that we're still making all that habitat viable in the long-term," Buffett said.
"Wildlife, sometimes, they just need to be in undisturbed areas. Wildlife needs a home too."
