🚀 go-pugleaf

The Nature Trust of B.C. worked quietly behind the scenes, collecting
private donations to help purchase Jedediah Island, one of the few Gulf of
Georgia islands to remain pristine.
 
The Nature Trust assisted the B.C. Government�s Ministry of Environment,
Lands and Parks (MOELP) as it and others helped raise the $4.2 million
purchase price. 

A total of $500,000 in private donations poured in as part of the
fund-raising effort; more than 400 individuals contributed. 

�This is an excellent example of how conservation agencies, working with
like-minded people, can achieve a wonderful addition to B.C.�s natural
heritage,� said The Nature Trust�s Executive Vice-President, Ron Erickson.


Here�s how the contributions came in (from those whose names could be
publicized):

*	The provincial government contributed $2.6 million as part of its
Protected Area Strategy program;

*	$1.1 million to come from the estate of Dan Culver, a B.C. mountain
climber and wilderness guide who was killed descending the slopes of
Pakistan�s K2, the world�s second-highest mountain, in July, 1993 after he
and Jim Haberl became the first Canadians to conquer the peak; 

*	Mountain Equipment Co-op gave $100,000. That was reported elsewhere to
be ten times the amount solicited;

*	Marine Parks Forever Society: $100,000;

*	Marine Trades Association: $50,000;

*	EJLB Foundation, a Quebec-based charity for the Low-Beer family, donated
$25,000 to The Nature Trust specifically for the project; and,

*	Canada Trust: $10,000.

The balance of $215,000 came from many personal and smaller donations to 
the B.C. Government and The Nature Trust.These included donations from:

* Connor, Clark and Lunn, an investment company whose partners knew Dan Culver;

* $1,500 from Canadian Airlines�s recycling program and 

* $1,000 from the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. 

Fund-raising efforts included the proceeds from a special concert given by
west-coast singer Shari Ulrich.

The 243-hectare (600-acre) island, located in Sabine Channel between
Lasqueti Island and Texada Island north-west of Vancouver, is part of a
chain of islands recognized by MOELP and Parks Canada as a high-priority
conservation area. 

The island contains an old-growth forest of Douglas fir and Arbutus trees.
Wildflowers abound. It contains four registered archeological sites and it
has several shellfish-filled beaches. 

The island was owned by Al and Mary Parker, a retired couple who agreed to
sell it for about two-thirds of its value on the condition it become a
park. 

The change of ownership ceremony was held March 7.

**************

This article is posted as a public service by The Nature Trust of West
Vancouver, B.C. Canada. The Nature Trust is a Charitable Corporation
(#0398650-53), which is dedicated to conserving areas of ecological
significance in British Columbia. If you wish to make a donation, please
call (604) 925-1128.

Since 1971, The Nature Trust and its partners in conservation have
invested more than C$25 million to secure over 200 acquisitions in British
Columbia. These cover 13,055 strategically located hectares (32,259
acres), thus creating a legacy of grasslands, marshes, forests and
mountains that protect the plan and wildlife species they nurture.

This article is copyright, (c) 1995, by The Nature Trust of British
Columbia, 808-100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V7T 1A2.
All rights reserved. 

E-mail should be addressed to: nature.trust@morgan-news.com