|
Fund-raising
drive saves trail from developer
by LEXI BAINAS - The Cowichan Valley
Citizen Newspaper
After months of frantic fund-raising, the
Friends of Holland Creek Trail happily announced this week that they
have gathered the $130,000 needed to protect the "deep woods"
quality of their beloved trail.
The money will purchase 2.88 acres that
fronts a proposed development to provide a buffer for the trail area
within the Ladysmith town boundaries.
Spokesperson Gail Wiseman Reed said the
fundraising "was like climbing Mount Everest. We've got a wonderful
clip of some extreme kayakers going over (a waterfall). That's exactly
what it felt like for us.
The town of Ladysmith contributed $43,000
to bring the effort close to its goal and last week the Morningstar
Corporation of Red Deer, Alberta, brought the fund-raising to a
conclusion when it announced it is giving $17,000.
 The park is in a beautiful valley with
trails already in place. They're often used by teachers from area
schools and this helped gain the interest of the Alberta group.
"Their foundation is interested in
the education of children," said Wiseman Reed, a former teacher.
"They were interested that the (urban) naturalist programs were
there. Last year school groups went out on the trail. That's ongoing.
When the weather settles, the teachers will be raring to go.
"Visitors say, 'you don't know what
you have here'." Wiseman Reed
said she hopes the campaign's success, due in part to help from the
Cowichan Community Land Trust and The Land Conservancy of B.C., will
encourage other communities to do the same. "We
want to celebrate that those trees will remain dancing in the wind with
their river... and to thank and celebrate every one of our donors from
the smallest school child to the B.C. Hydros, credit unions and TD Banks
of this world for their validation of the beauty of nature and the
trail," she said. "We
sort of always knew we could do it, but the rational voice inside would
say: how are you going to do it." All
negotiations have taken place between the Town and the still-unnamed
developer. The Friends of Holland Creek were only involved with raising
money to buy the land. The group
approached hundreds of prospective donors, she said, but discovered many
are prohibited from contributing to land acquisitions within municipal
boundaries. Many others felt the Town should pick up the tab. As
a result, donors were found far and wide. Besides the Alberta
corporation, they include California residents, famous artists and
musicians, participants in the Great Lake Walk and a host of
Cowichan-area individuals and businesses who stepped up to the plate.
The Ladysmith Credit Union voted to contribute $15,000 towards the
project. "I think the most
important thing was making all the people aware of the beauty of that
trail, and the importance of maintaining nature right now on Vancouver
Island," Wiseman Reed said. "We
never wanted to go head to head. We all wanted to do this thing
peaceably. People spoke up with their contributions. I think everybody
won." Now the money must be
gathered and forwarded to the Town. |
