Welcome to the Bear Mountain Tree Sit!

Local residents and area environmentalists raised this tree platform in April 2007 to defend a sacred First Nations cave, a unique Garry Oak meadow, and habitat for federally listed rare species. This pocket of lush forest in Langford, BC is home to Western Screech Owls, Pileated Woodpeckers, Pacific Tree Frogs and hundreds of other creatures, and it is threatened by a proposed highway interchange designed to serve the massive Bear Mountain Resort development.

Visit the tree house! Climbing trainings will continue on-site this month. Big thanks to all the folks who are helping out with food, water, tents, and tarps, and donations to our legal defense fund!

Want to join in the fun? Get in touch by email: treesit (at) gmail (dot) com.

There is an amazing variety of bird species at the site of the proposed interchange. Here's a list of the birds we've seen since April.

Red-tailed hawk (nesting)
Great horned owl
Barred owl (pair)
Western screech owl
Bald eagle
Pileated woodpecker
Common nighthawk
Stellar’s jay
American robin
Cliff swallow
Sparrows (many kinds)
Oregon junco
Red-breasted nuthatch
Brown creeper
Black-capped chickadee
Winter wren
Bushtit
Rufous Hummingbird

The proposed interchange would destroy Garry Oak meadows and rare species. Help us stop the destruction.

Thanks to Rob Bowen for the map.


What happens next?
Local citizens are calling on all levels of government to protect environmental and cultural values
– Survey rare wildlife, plants, and ecosystems in the interchange area
– Conduct a full public consultation to determine whether this project benefits the community

– Hold a meaningful First Nations cultural use study
relying on testimony from elders
– Disclose all documents
relating to the environmental and social impacts of the project
No more secret deals

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so moved by your actions...I am so happy that the cultural value of the land is so primary...we travel to far off places like India and Indonesia when the beautiful Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast are ignored. Please continue knowing so many of us who cannot be there are in total support of your move to be heard. There is nothing to fight...only so much to teach!!!
Thank-you Spaet Mountain People
With love and devotion-Karma Cho-dzin Penny Lalo Singh (founder of the Mt. Elphinstone Peace Camp) (2000-?)

Anonymous said...

I'm glad someone is standing up for this. Our local governments are corupt. I grew up right there and as a kid played in and around that cave for years. It's going to be really sad to see the forests destroyed. I'm going to try to make it out there to visit one last time.