Gifts to Canadians 2008

British Columbia Region

CAMPBELL RIVER, A GIFT OF STEWARDSHIP

Baikie Island after the completion of extensive restoration work (Photo by Tim Ennis)

Once an industrial mud pit, the Campbell River Estuary is mid-stride in a dramatic transformation back into an area of rich diversity and beauty.

Looking down into the shallow river water swirling lazily past the rocky shore, it is easy to spot dozens of finger-length Chinook fry milling about the weeds and algae. A decade ago, such a sight would not be so easy to come by, despite the Campbell River's acclaimed status as on of BC's most prolific salmon spawning rivers.

The logging industry had long used the shoreline at the mouth of the Campbell River for processing the giant timber ferried down from the interior forests of Vancouver Island. Vast booms crowded the estuary's channels, waiting to be dragged up on the shore to be milled, a process that scraped off the vegetation and turned a thriving habitat of ecological complexity into an industrial mud pit.

Reclaiming Nature's Bounty - The Baikie Island Reserve

In 1999, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), the City of Campbell River and the Tula Foundation joined forces to purchase a small island in the centre of the estuary, known as Baikie Island, and a portion of the adjacent foreshore. After extensive surveying and planning, restoration crews set to work ripping up concrete, excavating more than 38,000 cubic metres of fill and regrading the shoreline to its natural contours, digging two new backchannels, and replanting native vegetation in marsh and riparian areas.

These restoration efforts have been highly successful, and today the Baikie Island Reserve is a world-renowned example of how swiftly a landscape can be shepherded back to health. The buzz of saws has been replaced with the songs of Marsh Wrens. Eagles and Black Bears wander the property. Fish fry fill the marshes and streams.

The Reclamation Continues

NCC's success with the Baikie Island Reserve is only the first step in the greater project of reclaiming all of the Campbell River Estuary. Seeing another opportunity to add to its conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts, NCC, the City of Campbell River and the Tula Foundation purchased another piece of the Campbell River Estuary in the fall of 2007.

Once the site of the Ocean Blue Cedar Shake Mill, this two-acre (0.8-hectare) waterfront property bears little resemblance to the rest of the estuary that has been nurtured back to health. Still, the land is ecologically important due to its proximity to Baikie Island and its influence on the intertidal area at the head of the estuary. As before, NCC will restore the original marsh shoreline, and will also uncover a fish-bearing stream that lays buried under the rubble of industry.

Once the conservation design for the property is complete and a conservation covenant has been finalized, NCC will transfer the restoration lands to the City of Campbell River. The covenant, held by NCC, will assure the perpetual conservation of the site. Restoration efforts will begin after the transfer of the property and, like other work in the estuary, will be a joint undertaking with the City, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Discovery Coast Greenways Land Trust, and the local community.

Media coverage
Campbell River Mirror article
Courier Islander article