Re: Mount Douglas Park subject to benign neglect (Letter, Aug. 30 Saanich News). Dave Poje is spot on when he indicates that Mount Douglas Park is suffering from “benign neglect”.
We moved to Victoria in 1985 and have been frequent visitors of the park since that time. Every spring we were fascinated by the glorious Garry oak meadows in the park, which were filled with abundant wildflowers.
This no longer occurs. Most of the former Garry oak meadows are now covered in a variety of invasive grass species and few wildflowers remain. Many areas have invasive shrub cover.
The Garry oak meadows in the park are mostly gone. Benign neglect indeed. Incredible volunteers remove invasive shrubs from the forests and former meadows, but no one is dealing with the invasive grasses. Saanich Parks, despite good intentions, do not have the staff or the funding to properly manage these very special ecosystems within this jewel of a park.
There appears to be no long-term plan to restore these ecosystems, despite the charter words that state that the lands “are hereby reserved in perpetuity to the protection and preservation of the natural environment.”
As Dave Poje indicates, without significant resources provided, “the current degradation is only going to worsen over time.”
It is time for action and funding for this and other degraded ecosystems in District of Saanich parks.
Ted and Lora Lea
Saanich
