VICTORIA, British Columbia, April 1, 2005 - The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of the Environment, today announced the addition of Loretta's Wood, a 38.7 ha nature reserve encompassing most of Mount Menzies on North Pender Island, to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada. The Islands Trust Fund Board transferred the lands to Parks Canada as a result of public consultation that showed strong support for the transfer. "This latest addition to Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada will enhance our ability to manage this area and achieve sound ecological integrity within the park," said Minister Dion. "We are grateful to the Islands Trust Fund Board for their foresight in making this transfer possible." "Ecosystems are best managed as landscapes," said Louise Bell, Chair of the Islands Trust Fund Board. "Having Parks Canada, with its conservation knowledge and scientific expertise, manage the Loretta's Wood property is preferable to having three different organizations administering these adjoining parcels of land." The Board negotiated terms of transfer that addressed specific concerns voiced by the local community. These terms include a prohibition on camping, fires, bicycles, horses and non-emergency vehicles on the transferred lands. The property would revert to the Islands Trust Fund should the lands ever become surplus to the national park reserve's needs. The Loretta's Wood name will live on in the park as the name of a trail through the area that is to be developed at a later date. This name honours the mother of the original donor of the land to the Islands Trust Fund in 2003. The transferred lands border the Pender Island's Parks Commission's Mount Menzies Park, which in turn borders other existing national park reserve lands. Loretta's Wood has high ecological values, featuring four provincially rare or endangered plant communities, one vulnerable plant community, and one Species of Concern as listed by COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), the red-legged frog. The property also contains wetland and terrestrial herbaceous ecosystems, both of which have been identified in the joint federal-provincial Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory initiative. Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada was officially established in May 2003. This 40th national park of Canada protects a portion of the Strait of Georgia Lowlands, one of Canada's most at-risk natural regions. - 30 - Information: André Lamarre Director of Communications Office of the Minister of the Environment (819) 997-1441 Jim Barlow Field Unit Superintendent, Coastal BC Parks Canada (250) 363-8564 Louise Bell Chairperson Islands Trust Fund (250) 335-2113
