Coast Mountain News Thursday, January 31, 2013
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Vol. 29 | No. 03 Thursday, January 31, 2013
Serving the Bella Coola Valley and the Chilcotin
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Artist Latham Mack's work now part of UBC collection Serving the Bella CoolaPage Valley and the Chilcotin
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CoastMountainNews.com
Volunteer Banchi Hanuse takes a break on one of the newly constructed benches at Hakai
BC Parks’ staff and volunteers complete trail-building project at Hakai BC PARKS PRESS RELEASE For the past three years, BC Parks, in collaboration with the Hakai Beach Institute and the Hakai Luxvbalis Collaborative Management Board, has undertaken a facility improvement project to upgrade the existing trail systems on Calvert Island. These trails are nestled within the magnificent Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy,
which is the province’s largest marine protected area. The area boasts scenic coastlines and hosts a wide variety of plants, mammals, amphibians and some of the most diverse marine life found on the planet! These trail improvements would not have been possible without outstanding local support and the hard-working volunteers that dedicate their time each year. This year, BC Parks and the Hakai Institute set a record for
number of volunteers present: 14 ambitious volunteers accompanied by four BC Parks Rangers. The courageous volunteers are: Louella Baker, Frances Brown, John Schmitt and Ken Roxburgh from Quardra Island; John and Linda Baldwin from Vancouver; Laura Goodall from England; and Jeff and Lindsay Gericke, Katie and Dennis Hayhurst and Banchi Hanuse from Bella Coola. They provided crucial help with helicopter lifts, lumber packing
and the construction of a variety of formidable structures. The Nuxalk Guardians, John Sampson and Ernie Tallio, were a critical part of this volunteer team - they not only provided transportation and supplies for the volunteers, but also helped immensely with construction. The ‘backwoods engineering’ of several structures on the trails consisted of elevated boardwalks, timber bridges, a park bench and seven magnificent flights of stairs!
These upgrades were designed to make the trails more accessible for a wider range of age groups and reduce damage to the sensitive and unique ecosystems that are represented in the area. The boardwalks, also referred to as “toad underpasses” by one of the more comedic volunteers, are raised slightly off the ground to allow for natural regeneration SEE HAKAI ON PAGE 3