Volume Nine, Number Two    April 2004    www.columbiajournal.ca

Bog Deal Stirs Mixed Reaction


Marco Procaccini

After years of lobbying and negotiation, an agreement has finally been reached to preserve most of the controversial Burns Bog in Delta. But not everyone is entirely happy with the deal.

The City of Delta, the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the provincial and federal governments have agreed to the $73 million purchase of five thousand acres of bog lands.

"This day belongs to the people. They've wanted the bog saved. Their money has paid to save it," said Delta Mayor Lois Jackson. "Now it is up to us, the four levels of government, to ensure that this unique and precious ecosystem is preserved."

Even the BC government, which has come under fire from ecology groups and communities across the province over what they say are its destructive environmental policies, supported the preservation deal and contributed $28.6 million toward the purchase.

"(We) protected over 5,000 acres--an area five times the size of Stanley Park,” said Premier Gordon Campbell in a press statement. “That gives us clean air and is home to an abundance of plants and wildlife. This is truly an investment in our future."

The deal is based on the findings of the ecosystem review conducted by the previous NDP government in 2000.

Jackson says the new lands are adjacent to the existing preserved lands owned by the city of Delta.

But Elisa Olsen, president of the Burns Bog Conservation Society, says that while the deal is a huge step forward, it falls short of what is needed to fully protect the bog, claiming that the report failed to consider several key points of concern, such as several of the endangered species and the impact on the broader community by development around the bog.

“There are still 426 acres that have been left out of the reserve,” she said. “It’s like we’ve got the elephant, but not the elephant’s trunk. We did our own polling that show citizens want the protection of the full 5426 acres.”

She adds that the extra acreage is critical in protecting identified endangered species, like the pacific water shrew and the southern red backed vole.

The remaining 436 acres straddle Highway 91 at the east end of the bog between 64th and 72nd avenues in North Delta.

Olsen is concerned that this land will be put up for commercial development. But she said the Society would continue to engage in educational and publicity campaigns to ensure that the remaining acreage will eventually be protected.

“It won’t happen in the short term,” she said. “But in the long term we will get the additional acres into the reserve.”

Burns Bog is the largest raised peat bog on the west coast of North America, and studies have shown it is a significant contributor to improving air quality in the Lower Mainland.