Stanley park destruction.

[yogiderek]

Has anyone been able to take photos yet of the destruction in Stanley park? I went to the park on the saturday after the windstorm and was absolutely shocked at the hundreds of trees I saw fallen over. It is obviously going to take a few decades before the park recovers the cover it had prior to the storm. I'm going to spend a few bucks on those small potable live christmas trees you see at corner stores and take it into the park in the spring to help with the replanting. If every Vancouver forumer did this, we could help with the replanting of the park.

[vid]

A windstorm killed trees?? Oh my god!! I am so sad!!!

We lost a ton of century old trees in a windstorm a couple years ago, and then it happened again and again every few months. Yes, it is sad to see the parks in that shape but that is natural for them. Trees get blown over. They rot into the soil and fetilise new trees. The forest can't be 100% old trees, ya know.

[ckkelley]

:previous:
Still....makes me angry at God.

/jus kiddin' God.

[SpongeG]

haha

watching the news coverage was odd - some people seemed to be crying over the loss of the trees

most were in shock and thought it looked much worse in person

[agrant]

It's sad, because many of those trees were at least a hundred years old... people have grown up with the park and were very familiar with it. In order to get the park back to the way it was will take a time beyond our lifetime. We won't ever see it as it was. Just think about that. Now I admit I have no idea of the actual scale of destruction, only seen some news clips. It looks messy though.

[mr.x]

Early estimates are that there are thousands and thousands of trees knocked down in the park. They're describing this destruction almost as if it's clearcut logging.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2006/12/17/stanley-park-damage.jpg



I'm scared to know what it looks like today. Before the storm:
http://www.penmachine.com/photoessays/2002_06_aerial/Images/10.jpg




Thousands of trees blown down in city jewel
Cleanup in aftermath of big blow could take years, park workers say


Glenda Luymes, The Province; with a file from Canadian Press
Published: Monday, December 18, 2006

The buzz of chainsaws drowned out squirrel chatter in Stanley Park yesterday as crews cleared trees toppled in Friday's devastating early morning windstorm.

But while the park's main roads are expected to be opened tonight, it could take months -- even years -- to complete the cleanup.

"The jewel of the city is damaged," said park worker Jess Coomes, gesturing at an ugly mass of tangled trees, branches and bushes near Prospect Point. The timber once hid an ocean view, but yesterday the water was clearly visible.

"It's heartbreaking," said Coomes. "I don't know if it will ever be the same. This used to be forest. Now it looks like a clearcut."

Thousands of trees -- some more than a century old and dating to the days of Lord Stanley himself -- were felled by the wind, which changed direction a number of times and brought gusts of more than 100 km/h.

The wild weather also caused a small landslide west of the Lions Gate Bridge, burying a small section of the seawall in mud and woody debris. "The damage is unbelievable," said park supervisor Eric Meaghre. "I've worked here 34 years and I've never seen anything like this -- not even close."

Veteran forestry worker John Martin said the blowdown sent the park back to "Square 1," adding: "The worst of it is, we were just starting to get the park in good shape. We'd taken out a lot of diseased trees and done all new plantings. Now we have to start all over."

About 40 workers helped with the cleanup yesterday, some cutting short vacations to lend a hand.

The crews' first priority is opening the park's access roads by clearing the fallen trees and testing standing trees to make sure they remain rooted. Once the roads are clear, workers will start to tackle the seawall and trails. The site of the small landslide needs to be analyzed before any work can proceed.

Vancouver parks board chairman Ian Robertson said the cleanup cost won't be known until January, but some of it could be recouped by giving logging companies contracts to clear the fallen timber.

He said logging "might be the most cost-effective way to manage the cleanup. We don't have a contingency fund for this type of damage."

After the eastern portion of the park was opened yesterday morning, park-goers were able to see the devastation for themselves.

"It's horrible, just a disaster," said Karen Doglioni as she collected fallen greenery to decorate her home for Christmas. "I thought just a few trees had fallen down, but this is really sad."

Coomes said park workers checked on the known squatters in Stanley Park and all were "OK."

- Hydro crews continued to work at restoring power to customers across B.C. yesterday. About 28,000 homes remained without power, compared with 77,000 just 12 hours earlier. About 250,000 homes were originally without power following Friday's storm.

gluymes@png.canwest.com

- - -

SHADES OF TYPHOON FREDA

Friday's windstorm has drawn comparisons to Typhoon Freda, a freak storm that sent trees crashing onto cars along the Stanley Park causeway in October 1962.

One woman was killed and 42 others were trapped as violent winds flung giant fir trees across the road, according to an old Province newspaper article. People left their cars and began to run for safety, while police and firefighters tried to restore order. The historic storm also led to widespread power failures and looting in damaged Vancouver shops.

Typhoon Freda cost about $750 million in damage -- about $5 billion in today's dollars.
© The Vancouver Province 2006

[mr.x]

Here's Global BC's report on Stanley Park:

http://video.canada.com/?&cat=Global%20BC

[vid]

Well that's what happens to trees. Stanley Park was an amazing Urban Forest, and it still will be. But you have to realise that the word 'forest' isn't 'Many stately centurian trees in an immaculate setting'; It include blow down. It include underbrush. It includes weeds. It doesn't include walking trails. The forest is changing and it's beyond your control. That doesn't mean it won't be as enjoyable in the future. I was at Pancake Bay after a large wind storm in 1999, and even though about 33% of the trees were blown down and there was mud everywhere a week after the storm, it didn't prevent me from enjoying the park, or even the nature trails.

It only looks bad.

[agrant]

I think we're well aware of that. Thanks. :tup: It still sucks. That's all.

[vid]

It does suck. It sucks like a vacuum.

a Dyson Vacuum, perhaps?

[yogiderek]

So what we should do is try to organize a mass replanting. I've been planting trees in there for years. I barely made it up what was left of the cathedral trail. There were some massive trees totally obscuring the trail. When I got to the Tatlow trail I was amazed at the amount of LIGHT, now hitting the trail. It was strange since we're almost at the winter equinox. I haven't made it over to the area above Siwash rock, but I've hear that is even worse. One positive thing, the tallest tree in the park, did survive.

[vid]

What kind of plants were you planting there?

[yogiderek]

thanks for the video MR. X if you look at that worst destruction. It is actually adjascent to the area hit hardest in 1962. They turned that area into the playing area. Plus, the trail in the damaged area is actually an ecologically sensitive zone, again ironic. Its quite steep and can't be accessed directly from the seawall, accept from third beach. Also, note that around the Ceperly meadows, only one Willow tree survives.

[mr.x]

thanks for the video MR. X if you look at that worst destruction. It is actually adjascent to the area hit hardest in 1962. They turned that area into the playing area. Plus, the trail in the damaged area is actually an ecologically sensitive zone, again ironic. Its quite steep and can't be accessed directly from the seawall, accept from third beach. Also, note that around the Ceperly meadows, only one Willow tree survives.

I say we helicopter in 100 foot trees into the park!


I hope all the trees at the Aquarium, if not already blown down from the wind, will be replanted elsewhere in the park rather than being cut down.


That playing area you're talking about, is it Brockton Oval?
http://www.canadacricket.com/cricket/images/brockton.JPG
http://www.merddin.demon.co.uk/images/big/canada98/vancouver1.jpg

[The Jabroni]

Aw man, that's gotta suck. I was there 8 years ago, and it was one kick ass park with all those trees.

[Overground]

They've been playing cricket at Brockton Oval since they logged it in the late 1800s. The first match was played in 1892. So I don't think Brockton Oval had anything to do with a play area created after 1962. edit - I just found this -

-The Brockton Point Recreation Grounds circa 1900 were the finest athletic grounds in the City of Vancouver. The ground played host to lacrosse, rugby, baseball, and soccer at the Oval. Field hockey and cricket were played on Upper Brockton. Tennis Courts were located at the N.E. corner of the Upper Brockton field. The fields boasted a grandstand and bleachers, lacrosse clubhouse and cinder track in the vicinity of Brockton Oval; a Pavilion, changing rooms and a caretaker's cottage at Upper Brockton.

The Brockton Point Cricket Club is the successor in interest to the Brockton Point Athletic Club - the Athletic Club having ceased operations in 1913 and the cricket club having commenced operations in 1914 out of the same location in Stanley Park. Brockton Point Cricket Club has maintained continuity of use of the Pavilion and Upper Brockton from 1914 to the present day.

[sync]

they should build a giant wall to stop the wind from blowing down any more trees.

[ckkelley]

:previous:

Yeah, a giant retractable wall that disappears into the ground when it's not windy.

[mr.x]

no, a force field.

[LeftCoaster]

You guys are all idiots, they should chop all the trees down and replace them with stronger synthetic trees so this senseless distruction will never happen again.

[mr.x]

You guys are all idiots, they should chop all the trees down and replace them with stronger synthetic trees so this senseless distruction will never happen again.

each supported by pilings that drive 100-150 metres beneath the earth.

[yogiderek]

You guys are all idiots, they should chop all the trees down and replace them with stronger synthetic trees so this senseless distruction will never happen again.

I really don't find anything funny about this ignorant comment. We're talking about a National treasure here that happens to be Vancouver's #1 tourist spot. So please keep your innane comments to yourself.

As to the area that was cleared by Hurricane Freda it is up towards Prospect point, has baseball fields.

[mr.x]

not to mention the park attracts 8 million people annually, including the aquarium's 1 million.

[Canadian Mind]

the wall idea might actually be feasible someday.

[hollywoodnorth]

the wall idea might actually be feasible someday.


same with the forcefield......just give us a few hundred years :)

[SpongeG]

on the noon news today - they sort of gave an appeal about stanley park

they asked people if they want to donate or give trees for stanley park - liek you can give someone a tree in stanley park for christmas - apparently you can get a plaque or something

so any last minute shoppers out there... you can contact the city parks board i think to arrange a gift

[LeftCoaster]

I really don't find anything funny about this ignorant comment. We're talking about a National treasure here that happens to be Vancouver's #1 tourist spot. So please keep your innane comments to yourself.

You're not very bright are you?

[SpongeG]

on the news today they said the storm tonight could do some more damage because a lot of trees were weakened in the last storm and a lot hasn't been cleaned up yet etc.

some of the footage they showed - really opened up the view to the west - will be interesting to go see

[vid]

You're not very bright are you?

I enjoyed your quip, LC. :) I enjoyed your quip.

[yogiderek]

You're not very bright are you?

You're obviously the RETARD!! Perhaps if you worked in the park trying to maintain it, then you wouldn't of put such a stupid comment in the first place.

I was in there again today. The part near the baseball fields looks like almos %90 of the tree tops have been blown off. There were hundreds of logs now piled up against the roadway. Couldn't make it all the way though to Prospect point via the forest because of the fallen trees on the ground.

[feepa]

You're obviously the RETARD!! Perhaps if you worked in the park trying to maintain it, then you wouldn't of put such a stupid comment in the first place.

I was in there again today. The part near the baseball fields looks like almos %90 of the tree tops have been blown off. There were hundreds of logs now piled up against the roadway. Couldn't make it all the way though to Prospect point via the forest because of the fallen trees on the ground.

Perhaps you've heard of sense of humour before? How about a joke, and a little sarcasm in the post? At least this was very clear to me.

[MolsonExport]

This is terrible. Something like this struck Cathedral Grove (Strathcona Prov. Park, Vancouver Island) about a decade ago. I remember comparing my before-and-after photos (I used to stop at Cathedrale Grove every summer on my way to Long Beach and PacRim Nat Park).

[freeweed]

With regards to the synthetic tree idea - I can't find a picture to save my life, but Winnipeg did exactly that down one of its main roads a few years back.

Imagining a park made entirely out of these abominations really gave me the willies.

[SpongeG]

weird

i have seen fake trees disguised as Cell phone towers before in south africa - they were all over the place - i thought to myself - what weird trees they have down here - lol

sort of like this

http://static.flickr.com/8/10858472_c7a164d3de_m.jpg

they also had ones like these

http://news.com.com/i/ne/p/2004/celltower_palm_500x723.jpg

[LeftCoaster]

I'll ask it again yogiderek, You're not very bright are you? Although by this time the question is quite rethorical, as you have already proved to everyone you are quite obviously not the smartest of people.

And those synthetic trees are really weird, i diddnt even know they existed on such a large scale, as my comment was of course only a JOKE.

[ReginaGuy]

You're obviously the RETARD!! Perhaps if you worked in the park trying to maintain it, then you wouldn't of put such a stupid comment in the first place.

I was in there again today. The part near the baseball fields looks like almos %90 of the tree tops have been blown off. There were hundreds of logs now piled up against the roadway. Couldn't make it all the way though to Prospect point via the forest because of the fallen trees on the ground.
you're a nut case. Learn to take a joke

[officedweller]

So should the Parks Board really be "cleaning-up" the park in areas where the downed trees do not interfere with roads or trails?

If they remove all of the wind-blown trees, won't they be stripping the land of nutrients that would have been provided by the rotting logs and stumps?

I agree with Vid in his comments on the previous page - it's part of nature. I think that having the trees come down is part of the ecological process, and I don't think that interfering with that processs - by removing the downed trees to make the park look "pretty" is necessarily the way to go. Certainly they should inspect and ensure that trees near trails do not pose a hazard, but where park use is not affected, leave the evolution of the park to natural processes.

[mr.x]

Some pictures of Stanley Park, what a mess:

http://media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/WEA%20STORM%20DAMAGE%20TOPIX.jpg
http://media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/WEA%20STORM%20DAMAGE%20TOPIX-1.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1220n-trees.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1220n-trees-2.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1220n-trees-1,jpg.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1219n-heritagetreez9.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1219n-heritagetreez8.jpg
http://media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/SUN1218N%20Park%202.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1217n-clean-up9.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1217n-clean-up5.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1217n-clean-up1.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/stormdamage/sun1217n-clean-up1-1.jpg

[vid]

"If they remove all of the wind-blown trees, won't they be stripping the land of nutrients that would have been provided by the rotting logs and stumps?"

YES! And you will hurt the park in the long run if you do. Fix it up a bit near the road ways, but make sure you don't take out too much. It's a forest, not a logging operation, not an aesthetic decoration. Just be glad it didn't burn down, ok? :)

[fever]

I agree that the roads and trails should be cleared but the rest of it, especially on the west side, should be left to just grow...

[SpongeG]

yes letting nature do its part is the best thing

[yogiderek]

sick joke boyz. I'll laugh hillariously when something you love is destroyed too.

[vid]

Well now you're just being an asshole. :hug:

No body wants to replace Stanley Park with fake trees.

[Jared]

weird

i have seen fake trees disguised as Cell phone towers before in south africa - they were all over the place - i thought to myself - what weird trees they have down here - lol

sort of like this

http://static.flickr.com/8/10858472_c7a164d3de_m.jpg

they also had ones like these

http://news.com.com/i/ne/p/2004/celltower_palm_500x723.jpg


I saw then in SA too; same reaction: "that's one weird lookin tree!". Apparently a lot of shanty towns have them put in, they get some money from the telecom companies. Not to mention that despite living in a lean-to, a good chunk of people in living in these places still have cell phones.

[vid]

They're everywhere. They're called 'Camouflaged Cell Towers'

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/faketree.htm
http://danbricklin.com/log/celltowers.htm
http://www.utilitycamo.com/sites.html

There is one that I seem to remember for some reason, that looked like a giant petunia? I think it was in Jersey..

[LeftCoaster]

Thats sorta cool, I guess they are better than regular cell towers, but not really.

And Yogiderek, if you cant learn to laugh a bit about a few trees being knocked down in a natural windstorm what the hell are you going to do when there is a real tragedy in your life? grow up man.

[vid]

They're what sparked my interest with utility towers, aside from the 300 metre tower standing in my back yard as a kid. :) It was actually 5 blocks away, and I didn't see it up close until High school. (It's beside the high school)

Some of them are pretty good, like the ones in Italy in one link, you can't tell its a tower. The palm tree ones are terrible, though. I hate both palm trees and ugly things, and that's both combined!

[twoNeurons]

Thats sorta cool, I guess they are better than regular cell towers, but not really.

And Yogiderek, if you cant learn to laugh a bit about a few trees being knocked down in a natural windstorm what the hell are you going to do when there is a real tragedy in your life? grow up man.

I laughed out loud when I saw the Synthetic Trees comment.
Oh man... now I've got Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" in my head.

[SpongeG]

Police rescue man trapped in Stanley Park
Updated Thu. Dec. 21 2006 11:06 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Vancouver police have rescued a man who had been trapped in Stanley Park since last Friday's brutal wind storm.


The storm uprooted, toppled and damaged an estimated 1,000 trees in the park. Some of those trees apparently prevented the 59-year-old man from fleeing for safety.


"He was basically penned in by the fallen trees," said Supt. Steve Sweeney.


"He wasn't crushed by them or stuck under them. He was weak and frail and unable to climb out and extricate himself from the situation."


The man was able to call 911 using a cellphone, and managed to give officials enough directions that they were able to find him in the sprawling, 400-hectare park.


Police were stunned that the man had survived for five days with little food.


"He had a little bit of food in his backpack and survived from rainwater and what he had with him. It's amazing," said Sweeney.


The man's cellphone provider had cancelled his service almost a year ago, but he was still able to contact emergency services.


Doctors treated him at St. Paul's Hospital for exposure and dehydration.


Police are unsure if he's one of about 15 homeless people who live in the park. Officials had thought they were all accounted for, although Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said Wednesday that two could still be missing.


One homeless man, Laurence, told CTV Vancouver that he barely survived Friday's storm, after a tree crashed down right beside his tent.


"I was kind of like, God must love me because he let me live through it," he said with a grin.


Just to make sure no one else may have been trapped in the park, police used two helicopters with infrared cameras to scour the area for any signs of human life, but found nothing.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061221/park_trapped_061221/20061221?hub=TopStories

[mr.x]

An estimated 3,000 trees were blown down in Vancouver's Stanley Park during a fierce windstorm on Dec. 15. The west side of the park is still closed as crews continue their cleanup efforts.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/vapr/20061222/188486-64876.jpg



Damage to Stanley Park is shocking
'It looks like a bomb went off,' as Province team tours site of devastation


Kent Spencer, The Province
Published: Friday, December 22, 2006

The damage to Stanley Park is shocking.

Province photographer Sam Leung and I had our first look behind the barricades yesterday.

The trees are gone along Park Drive at Prospect Point. Remember the pleasant green light falling through the overhead canopy during the summer? It was like a magic kingdom.

No more. That quaint tree-covered lane is now a useless mass of junk, good only for firewood.

Where there was a closed-in feeling, now there is only sky, giving an unwanted feeling of openness.

Chainsaw crews have cleared the road, doing an amazing job of climbing up bent-over timbers and sawing them off partway up without harming themselves.

At eye-level one senses the enormity of the carnage rather than taking it all in.

In its utter destruction, it is impressive. Thirty-metre timbers snapped off in midsection; four-metre-high chunks of mud and root from the base of fallen-over giants, which lie invisible among the mass of brush; four-metre strips of bark ripped off in the death throes.

"It looks like a bomb went off," said Sam.

Saws have been going full-time to reopen the road, but trees are still hung up and ready to go. It looks like it will be dangerous for some time to come.

At one point, a pair of bald eagles circled high above. They were making odd "ooh-ooh-ooh" sounds, like distress calls. Sam explained why. The park's ecology society told him the eagles had lost their homes. Two of four nests, which can weigh up to 500 kilograms, were blown down.

We weren't the only curious ones.

Helicopters buzzed overhead. One circled a dozen times, the people inside no doubt as amazed as we were by the scene of destruction.

Occasionally, a person appeared, silently taking pictures, like they were looking at a grave. No words were exchanged. It wasn't a place for conversation.

kspencer@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2006



not much i can say.

[SpongeG]

wow

seems the expected christmas storm is hitting the island - some areas are having category 2 hurricane winds

the cam they showed on the news in victoria was shaking pretty wildly

[Dylan Leblanc]

reading that Province article reminds me how pampered city slickers are

[SSLL]

What a shame

[osirisboy]

Regarding the question of cleaning up the debris or not that’s on the ground. I heard that if they leave it the way it is that it will be a high risk for a forest fire to occur in the dry months. I say clean it up! I don’t want a fire burning everything down even if that would be part of a natural process. Stanley Park has always received special care. We have to remember that it’s not some wild rugged forest, rather it’s an urban park.

[leftside]

Took the bike out for a ride around the seawall today. Couldn't get all the way round, so I took some of the trails that were "shut". It's pretty bad. Lots of fallen trees.

I just hope they plant more trees than were blown down so that in a 100 years time or so it looks even better than today. We are never going to see it looking so good again though.

[SpongeG]

according to the news i saw the otehr day they haven been getting a lot of money but it doesn't seem that much really - something like $125,000 $75,000 of that coming from corporate donations

[subdude]

reading that Province article reminds me how pampered city slickers are

Why did you type this? I don't get it - how are we city slickers 'pampered' because of these few simple paragraphs in the Province? Am I so pampered that I don't get your point? Please explain.

[vid]

You're pampered because if a tree blows down, people are on it like THAT *snaps fingers simultaneously with the word 'THAT'*. When you live out in the sticks, it would be days, or even weeks before trees are cleared and power is restored. City's always have priority. Yes, they do deserve it, but still. That counts as pampered.

[SpongeG]

well they had to clear the trees that fell in teh causeway and roadways - it snarled traffic for hours

otehr than that most of the park hasn't been cleared yet apparentyl

[agrant]

Pampered? You get what you pay for.

[SpongeG]

the park officially reopened yesterday

but the sewall remains closed

[SpongeG]

heres a video of destruction i found on you tube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQbfihfzpDQ

Quick drive through Stanley Park to see the wind damage from the recent windstorm.
Prospect point was hit quite hard (5:00) , I'm sure the parking machine was the first thing they fixed. ;)

A lot of trees were knocked down, and you can still see some trees leaning over the roadway.

[SpongeG]

stanley park hit again after last nights windstorm

1000's of people still without power

[mr.x]

Global News has launched a mini-telethon fundraiser to help cover the cost of cleaning up storm-damaged Stanley Park.

All week on Global's Early News (5 p.m.) and News Hour (6 p.m.) newscasts, volunteers will take calls from those wishing to donate to the Tree-a-thon for Stanley Park Restoration Fund. Viewers are asked to phone 604-280-6397 or 1-877-330-6397.

[SpongeG]

jim pattison will match whatever the public donates apparently

Jim Pattison, President of the Pattison Broadcast Group which owns and operates PGTV, "The Drive", and "The River", has just announced he will match dollar for dollar, the amount donated by British Columbians to help restore Stanley Park. He says he will donate up to one million dollars to the effort.

Pattison says he pratically grew up in the park which has been nearly flattened by a series of severe storms.

Hot off Pattison’s announcement, Telus announced it would donate $100 thousand dollars to the effort, so Pattison is already on the hook for a hundred grand and the goal of raising $2 million to clean up and do some restoration work is on its way.

Donations over $50 will be issued a tax receipt. Donations can be mailed to the

Vancouver Park Board
c/o Stanley Park Tree Fund
2099 Beach Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6G 1Z4

Cheques should be made payable to Vancouver Park Board
- Stanley Park Tree Fund.
Include your name, phone number and address with your donation.
All donations of $50 or more are tax deductible.
If you wish to dedicate a tree in Stanley Park, the cost is $2,000. Your donation will provide for the planting and preservation of a tree in an area of the park that was most affected. A certificate of recognition will be issued to you or in the name of a loved one. Your donation also will be publicly recognized in Stanley Park. If you are interested in dedicating a tree, please call 604-257-6911.


http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/4538/3/pattison+parks+his+money+where+his+mouth+is

[SpongeG]

Stanley Park syndrome grips province
By TomFletcher
Jan 10 2007


BC Views

Health care is so 2006, according to the latest conventional wisdom. The next federal election will be all about “the environment” and what’s (not) being done to combat global warming.

As this is being written, another window-rattling windstorm is making its way across Vancouver Island, so it’s not surprising that atmospheric matters are top of mind this winter.

But the over-the-top reaction to the recent blowdown of trees in Stanley Park shows how fickle and flighty urban public opinion has become. Fund-raising drives have sprung up to restore the Stanley Park trees, because Vancouver can afford to finance Canada’s only precious hand-wringing elected park commissioners, but can’t manage the replacement of 3,000 trees that would eventually sprout on their own anyway.

The Globe and Mail has been running full-page ads touting its donation of 10 trees to the restoration effort, raising the awkward possibility that more than 10 trees may be sacrificed to deliver their self-congratulatory message.

Meanwhile, a couple of kilometers around Point Grey at Pacific Spirit Regional Park, the wind damage is just as bad, but no telethons have sprung up to aid the regional government there. There’s a shortage of nudists to protest at this time of year, but the steep trail down to Wreck Beach must be an awful mess.

And in the Interior, people surrounded by millions of beetle-killed pine trees must have been scratching their heads at the tree hysteria in the big city. As Kamloops This Week put it in a recent editorial, that city’s residents are having to deal with 30,000 dead or dying trees, and Forest Minister Rich Coleman says they’re responsible for trees on their property.

“Meanwhile,” the paper notes, “a few trees are left teetering in West Vancouver following a windstorm and residents in the richest postal code in Canada are afforded helicopter logging, with the province footing the bill. And one wonders why residents of the Interior might feel they truly are beyond Hope.”

As everyone who’s seen Al Gore’s movie keeps assuring me, greenhouse gases are obviously to blame for all this extreme weather. Never mind that the keepers of weather stats say this isn’t the worst on record, just like the 2003 B.C. forest fire season wasn’t the worst. If it feels like the truth, that’s close enough these days.

Is all this concern about the environment genuine? As mentioned here a couple of weeks ago, we’re in for a loud argument this year over two (possibly three) coal-fired power plants proposed in B.C. In China they’re planning hundreds of coal-fired plants, and buying up B.C. coal to feed to them. The plants proposed for Princeton and Tumbler Ridge don’t make a pinch of difference to the planet, and for that matter all of Canada’s emissions are a tiny fraction of the whole picture. It’s developing countries where the big emission increases are going to be coming from.

An inconvenient truth, to borrow Gore’s phrase, is that with health care as with the environment, it’s not bold new laws but day-to-day choices by individuals that matter most for people in B.C.

My thermostat’s been set at 18 degrees for about 20 years now. My last bathroom renovation, more than a decade ago, included not only a water-saving toilet but one of those low-flow shower heads that you have to run around underneath to get wet. My four-cylinder, AirCared vehicle is currently gassed up about once a month.

If you can’t say the same, maybe you should go sit through Gore’s lecture on global warming at the local cinema. I’ll put on a sweater and stay home.

Why not child care?


If we must have another federal election, voters would be better served by a vigorous discussion about child care than grandiose posturing over climate change.

The end of federal subsidies to child care means B.C. rates are going up by $2 a day starting in July, for those who use licensed daycare. Opponents will argue that this is wanton slashing of social programs by the heartless Harper Conservatives, when in fact the switch to the $100-a-month Universal Child Care Benefit represents a major increase in federal spending.

Those parents lucky enough to have licensed daycare will pay only half their federal benefit to cover the increase, leaving them an extra $40 a month to spend on a trip to the museum with the kids, or beer and popcorn.

Fewer children


The change in federal child care policy also reduces the provincial subsidy available for building new daycare spaces. With a strong job market in B.C., and parents getting a monthly federal cheque for each child under six years old, could it possibly be that market demand for licensed daycare will increase enough to make up for the lost subsidy? Or must Quebec-style subsidized state daycare be the goal for all of Canada?

As Mark Steyn points out in his new book, America Alone, now is not an ideal time for Canada or any developed country to launch an expensive new social program. Our birthrate has fallen to below replacement level, which means the expensive social programs we already have are in serious jeopardy.

School enrolment will keep dropping for the next decade. In some rural B.C. districts the schools are already half empty, due to a combination of lower birth rate and migration to urban centres. Daycare space, anyone?

Tom Fletcher is B.C. bureau reporter for Black Press newspapers.


http://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=24&cat=48&id=808761&more=

[mr.x]

South Surrey drivers got a dump of over one foot of snow as temperatures dropped. Motorists with summer tires were caught off guard creating chaos, getting stuck and clogging most of main arterial routes.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/prv01010nsnowstorm01.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/prv01010nsnowstorm03.jpg



The replacement panel for the tear in the roof of B.C. Place is lifted to the roof. The 150-foot teflon triangle came to B.C. from Mexico.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/prv0111npanel01.jpg
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A snow storm made driving conditions hazardous and stopped traffic on Highway 1 at 264th Street in Langley January 10, 2007.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/prv01010n-snow-013.jpg
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/prv01010n-snow-010.jpg



A recent windstorm downed a tree at Burrard and Cornwall blocking southbound traffic. Parks crews cut and chip the tree to remove the obstruction.
http://media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/PRV01069N%20Wind%2001-1.jpg




Storm-caused damage in Vancouver, B.C.
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The damage on the seawall in Stanley park as a result of windstorms.
http://media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/PRV01069N%20seawall%2004.jpg
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Storm-caused damage in Vancouver, BC Tuesday, January 9, 2007. Pictured is a tree down at English Bay.
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/gallery/wicked_weather07/prv0109nwind01.jpg

[SpongeG]

best buy and future shop both donated $50,000 on the 6 oclock news fund raiser thingy

[yogiderek]

SEVEN MILLION THANK YOU'S. To all those that have helped, now that the federal government has chipped in 2 million. Thanks to all for the help. The process of rebuilding will be long, but done right. An extensive article in the Courier this week for those that are interested.
namaste, derek

[mr.x]

Cost for restoration of Stanley Park rises to $9 million


By Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, January 26, 2007

The pricetag for the restoration of Stanley Park has risen to $9 million, including $3.5 million to rebuild the seawall and stabilize the slopes above the popular perimeter promenade.

The park restoration working group, headed by Stanley District manager Jim Lowden, has produced an itemized preliminary estimate to be presented to city council on Tuesday.

The report identifies funds for the work totalling $8.6 million -- $2 million from the city’s 2006 budget surplus, $2 million from the provincial government, $2 million from the federal government and $2.6 million in public and corporate donations received over the past five weeks.

The seawall and the forests that cover much of the park were badly damaged by hurricane-force winds in the wee hours of Dec.15, 2006. Several storms since then have caused damaged trees to fall. About 3,000 trees were blown down in areas totalling 40 hectares (100 acres) and all the walking trails west of Pipeline Road remain closed and extremely dangerous.

The seawall, undermined by pounding surf from severe winter storms and threatened by damaged, leaning trees, may be closed for much of the year.
© Vancouver Sun 2007