Condos in the Nature Park

Smack dab in the middle of a 6am powerhike through the Kimberley Nature Park the other morning, I was enjoying my usual dose of wilderness fresh air (along with my ever-present Malamute companion - Miss Mabel) before heading to work for the day, when noisy construction crews still some distance away on Upper Army caused me to stop dead in my tracks.. The banging and hammering was so intense that even before observing any of the insessant activity I was convinced that in a few moments I would be face to face with the beginnings of  a development the size of North Star Condos.  How on earth could this be, I thought? 

Rounding the corner, I slowed my pace and peeked from behind an ancient Douglas Fir tree. I was immediately faced with a scene that I did not expect, nor could have been prepared for...

Nothing. No cement trucks, no carpenters building foundations... nothing!  Scanning the landscape, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The Nature Park scene appeared as I had seen it hundreds of times before. Suddenly a cold shiver went up my spine - I sensed something was watching me from above.

Standing silently beside the elder Douglas Fir - heart pounding in my ears -  it began again - the thunderous construction hammering started again. It all had about the same impact on my heart as a triple expresso - I just about came out of my skin, even Miss Mabel jumped! This time the noise was above me, and when I looked up my eyes were immediately covered with "construction" debri from above. I chuckled to myself , realized that I was looking at the construction crew -  several Piliated woodpeckers above, and an assortment of smaller woodpeckers nearby.

The condo develpment was in full swing - woodpecker style!

Brushing sawdust from myself and continuing my hike, I had time to ponder what I had witnessed. More mature trees combined with changes in global climate are adding up to more Pine beetles laying eggs, more larva feeding on the living layer of the tree, and more woodpeckers creating "tree condos". Ultimately this will have an impact on the ecosystem providing "condos" for other animals who have an impact, and so on and so forth. It's all infinitely connected.

So this all begs a question: Do we intervene and take out the beetle-killed lodgepole pine, or do we let nature deal with it all - fungus decay for some trees, possibly fire for others? From a perspective of viewing nature, the Kimberley Nature Park is a gem. From the perspective of supplying a potential fuel source for a wildfire, the nature park is a concern. What to do?
From my perspective, we (human caretakers trying our best to work in partnership with "The Mother") need to emulate fire as much as possible by "gently" removing fuel one baby step at time, while respecting ecological systems in the park. This work is important and should be a high priority in my opinion, so the City of Kimberley needs to match funds when they are offered from provincial sources - not turn funds away as they did recently. The Kimberley Nature Park is a gem and it is also a dynamic ecological system that needs to be nurtured.

Future mayor of Kimberley I would love to have a coffee with you to discuss funds available to utilize our specialized Kimberley Nature Park work force - this is Kimberley's very own version of "clean, light industry" and we need them back to work in the Kimberley Nature Park.
Darryl Oakley