Coats donates 45.7 hectares for formation of regional park
Submitted by the RDN with some additions from the Sounder
Tuesday, November 11 2008
Submitted by the RDN with some additions from the Sounder
Clyde Coats saw his dream of turning his family property into a park come true last week. His 45.7 hectare parcel of wetlands and forest on Gabriola Island was turned into a regional park, in a partnership between the Nature Trust of British Columbia, the Regional District of Nanaimo, and the B.C. Trust for Public Lands. The RDN approved its share of the costs and the park designation at its regular board meeting on Oct. 28.
“This is a dream come true - creating a lasting legacy to nature,” said Mr. Coats, a longtime resident of Gabriola Island. “I am very grateful to the many people who helped make this possible, and I encourage other land owners to consider doing the same. I believe we can make a difference,” he said.
“I donated for simple reasons:
1. I’ve owned it for several years.
2. When we had a terrible disease amongst the forest trees, I had some loggers take out the dead trees and space the others out. Now the new trees are doing very well.
3. I live on Hoggan Lake, and the beavers had disappeared. We didn’t know where they went. I went up there and found the beavers had moved to the new lake I had built to collect water for the cranberry bushes. However, it wasn’t an economically viable thing to farm. I saw the beavers building lodges and I love nature more than anything, so I decided to make it a park. That means the beavers can stay.
“On my lands there is no hunting, no fishing and the same on this one, but now everyone can enjoy the beavers and the spaced trees.
There is one home on the land currently, built in the 1920s according to Clyde. The woman who is living there is completely off the grid.
“She doesn’t have any electricity, telephone or computer. Nothing within a half mile of her house.
“She’s a very good and capable person. So the combination of her and the beavers and nature I believe make it a good park.”
Rather than sell his property to a private buyer at full market value, Mr. Coats approached the Nature Trust and the Gabriola Island Conservation Society to have the area protected as parkland. With the support of those groups, he applied to environment Canada’s Ecological Gift Program, and was awarded more than half of the land’s appraised value ($705,000) in tax benefits from the federal government. More information on the Ecological Gift Program is available at www.on.ec.gc.ca/wildlife/ecogifts/. The remaining $600,000 value of the land will be paid to Mr. Coats through a 50/50 purchase agreement between the RDN and the Nature Trust. As part of the agreement, the RDN and the Nature Trust have each acquired 50 percent ownership of the land. The RDN also holds a 99 year lease on the Nature Trust’s share, to manage the land as a regional park.
The new regional park features a wetland and stands of rare coastal Douglas fir. Two creeks run through the property and eventually connect to Hoggan Lake. The land also kitty corners the 707-acre community park, owned and managed by the Regional District of Nanaimo.
“With this property and the adjoining 707-acre park we now have a very large, ecologically important section of Gabriola Island that’s protected,” said Larry McNabb, chair of the Regional Parks and Trails Advisory Committee. “Working with Mr. Coats and the Nature Trust to conserve these lands is a tremendous opportunity for us.”
Nature Trust CEO Doug Walker said the conservation effort will have wide-ranging benefits. “With the support of our partners, we are delighted to help Clyde Coats keep this land for the local community’s enjoyment. As you walk through the trails, you will find Douglas fir, now considered one of the top priorities for conservation in the province, and a wetland providing habitat for a host of plants, birds and insects.”
The RDN and the Nature Trust have a similar partnership, also including Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and the province of B.C., for the management of Englishman River Regional Park (ERRP), which offers 207 hectares of floodplains and forests, five kilometres of riverfront, and a community salmon hatchery. A regional park management planning process for ERRP is currently underway; the RDN will begin its management planning process for the former Coats property in 2010.
With the acquisition of the former Coats lands, the RDN now has 716 hectares (1,769 acres) of regional parkland, including two campgrounds, eight day-use parks, and seven trails. The RDN also manages more than 130 community parks, including the 707 acre community park adjoining the former Coats property.
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