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Province has until Thursday to buy Quadra Island park land with community-raised funds

Aug 1 2013/in News Coverage

Years of planning and fundraising for a new Quadra Island provincial park could be lost Thursday if the B.C. government fails to hit a deadline to purchase the private land.

The government has until 3 p.m. Thursday to submit a bid to buy 395 hectares of waterfront property for sale by forest company Merrill & Ring, based in Washington state.

Quadra Island’s roughly 3,000 full-time residents have led a charge to raise more than $200,000, to try to push the province into action to save the property from logging or development.

The pristine land links Octopus Islands and Small Inlet provincial parks on the north end of Quadra Island, east of Campbell River. It’s a popular location for eco-tourism and has been targeted for a park for more than 16 years.

The government entered into a conditional agreement with Merrill & Ring in 2012, which involved $6.15 million in cash and land transfers. But after a series of missed deadlines, the forest company said it has moved on to numerous other bidders.

“We’ve had good negotiations and conversations with the government,” said Norm Schaaf, vice-president of Merrill & Ring’s Timberlands branch.

“It was disappointing that we were unable to reach the completion of this deal, after several years of working on it and feeling we were pretty close. We were all disappointed, government and us. We don’t hold any ill feelings, that way. It’s just one of those things.”

It’s still possible the province could step in with a bid before Thursday, Schaaf said. After that, the forest company will work on completing purchase and sale agreements with another bidder, he said

Environment Minister Mary Polak said that despite delays, the government is “absolutely committed to doing it.”

The province needs to find roughly $2 million to afford the purchase, Polak said.

“We don’t want to see the opportunity slip through our fingers,” she said.

“To be able to make that connection between the two existing parks would be fantastic. But at the end of the day, these things still cost money, and we need to find ways to do that.

“There aren’t any ministries walking around with $2 million to spare.”

Polak admitted it’s unlikely the government will meet Thursday’s deadline.

“Not all hope is lost because the deadline passes,” she said. The province is “exploring other means” to close the deal, and Polak said she’s been inspired by the “amazing” fundraising efforts of the community.

Local residents and politicians remain worried the land could be sold to someone else.

“We’ve been keeping our fingers crossed for months and months,” said Susan Westren, of the Quadra Island Conservancy and Stewardship Society, which has spearheaded the Save the Heart of Quadra Parks fundraising campaign.

The Strathcona Regional District, which has pledged an additional $100,000 toward the park purchase, wrote Merrill & Ring to ask for an extension.

“It’s getting kind of panicky,” said Jim Abram, the Quadra Island regional director.

“I think it’d be kind of silly for Merrill & Ring to throw the deal out at this point. We’re very close.”

North Island NDP MLA Claire Trevena said the government should restore its annual parks acquisition budget, so it could accommodate purchases like this in the future.

Trevena said she’s hopeful the government can work out a deal.

“There’s been so much work, for so long, it would be extraordinarily sad for the community and the province if we lost it.”

Cougar den may have been lost to logging, Port Alberni man says

Aug 1 2013/in News Coverage

An avid, amateur cougar enthusiast in Port Alberni fears that logging on the Alberni Hump has destroyed a cougar den used by generations of the big cats.

“Island Timberlands has built a road right up to it, and there’s flagging tape right at the entrance,” said Ray McLellan, who has tracked and watched cougars at the small cave since he was growing up in Port Alberni in the 1970s.

“Now the last little section on top of the hump has been logged. They could have left a nice buffer around it,” said McLellan, whose father was a cougar hunter.

The area was logged last summer, but McLellan hoped the cougars would return to their traditional safe cave — a cut in the rocks that goes back six metres and is about 45 centimetres high.

However, there has been no sign of them, McLellan said. Before the logging started, he had bought a trail camera that he planned to hang in front of the den.

“They won’t put up with this amount of disturbance. They need peace and quiet,” McLellan said.

“These animals would usually take refuge in the Cameron River canyon, but that has been clearcut too. These cougars are now displaced,” he said.

One fear is that the animals could cut along Roger Creek and Dry Creek Park and head into Port Alberni, he said.

“And bad things happen when they hang around town too much.”

Island Timberlands spokeswoman Morgan Kennah said the company was not aware that there was a cougar den in the area.

“If a noticeable den was discovered in timber at any stage of our planning, we would map the location and plan activities around the area accordingly,” she said.

“We have a bear den identified in this area which was protected with adjacent tree retention.”

Usually cougars den in escarpments and rock bluffs that are not conducive to harvesting trees, Kennah said,

No more logging is planned around the Alberni Hump for now, she said.

“Our near-term harvest plans in this area were complete this past winter.”

A Forests Ministry spokesman said Island Timberlands has to abide by the Private Managed Forest Land Act and protect critical wildlife habitat, but cougars are not considered a species at risk.

The provincial government estimates, from a 2010 survey, that there are between 400 and 600 cougars on Vancouver Island and the population is on the upswing.

The cougar population estimate provincewide is between 5,100 and 7,000 animals.

McLellan said it is likely the den had been used by cougars for hundreds of years.

“There have been five generations of animals since I found it in the mid-’70s,” he said.

“When one lot disappears, their place is almost invariably taken by a big male, and that tells me it is prime habitat,” he said.

Salon cuts hair in support of endangered forests

Aug 1 2013/in News Coverage

Time for a haircut?

If you can stave it off until Sunday (Aug. 4), you can get a cut from noted Vancouver master stylist Champ Waterhouse at the Spirit of the Sea Festival – and help protect endangered old-growth forests in B.C. in the bargain.

‘Haircuts – Not Clearcuts’ will be the theme of a special booth on White Rock’s East Beach; the latest event organized by Crescent Beach’s arts, environment and community-friendly Seventh Heaven Bio Salon.

Owner Chloe Scarf said it’s a chance to make an environmental statement and be introduced to the the latest member of her team, the cowboy-hat-wearing, six-shooter blow-dryer-wielding Waterhouse.

Half the proceeds of the regularly-priced cuts will be donated to the Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA), an environmental non-profit working not only to protect old-growth forests but to ensure sustainable forestry in the province.

Scarf said it will the salon’s second consecutive year participating in the festival’s celebratory atmosphere, while also helping people learn something about protecting old-growth forests. The AFA’s Hannah Carpendale will also be on site to hand out information and answer questions, she added.

Extra entertainment value will be added by Waterhouse’s sense of style and fun, she said.

“Champ’s a really, really skilled haircutter,” she commented, noting that he joined forces with Seventh Heaven about a month ago, a serendipitous alignment that coincided with Waterhouse’s desire for a change of pace following years of working at high-end Vancouver salons.

“We worked together for years on Commercial Drive,” she said. “It’s very hard to find his calibre of stylist.”

Scarf said the pseudo-cowboy outfit was Waterhouse’s own idea, shortly after he came on board at Seventh Heaven.

“Don’t ask me where he got the 1800s pistol blow dryer from,” she said, laughing. “He’s a true creative and a technician – and he’s really a character.”

“I’m totally excited about Haircuts Not Clearcuts,” Waterhouse said. “I’ve done lots of things like this in the past for different causes.”

He said he has been enjoying getting to know the White Rock and South Surrey clientele over the last month.

“It’s totally different from working in Vancouver – much more laid back,” he said.

Although ‘Haircuts Not Clearcuts’ makes an eye-catching hook, Carpendale said the organization is about more than fighting clearcuts in endangered old-growth forests, such as those on Vancouver Island, in the southwest mainland and in the southern interior.

“There is so little old-growth left at this point in some areas that any commercial practice of logging endangered old-growth (whether clearcut or other) will have a huge ecological impact…protecting (the forests) could also include restrictions on other logging practices than just clearcuts,” she said.

The organization is also working to ensure that second-growth forests are logged at a sustainable rate, she said.

2025 Activity Report & Financials

Apr 30 2026

2025 was a milestone year for the Ancient Forest Alliance and the old-growth campaign. Despite the BC government's backsliding on many of its old-growth commitments, there was still much work to be proud of, including celebrating our 15th year working to protect ancient forests. Check out our 2025 Activity Report & Financials to see the impact YOU made on 2025, plus, find out what we have in store for 2026!

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