The waffling conduct of Saanich council on the future of Haro Woods is shameful and disheartening for all three parties with interest at stake, the forest, pedestrians, and bikers.
Recreationally, many more people of all ages (toddlers to octogenarians) enjoy the foot paths for walking, jogging, bird-watching, and fresh air and solitude away from traffic. Some of us enjoy the moderately-hilly trails over rougher ground in the north-east corner of Haro Woods, although the wide swaths of BMX trails with jumps and swales and deep excavations scattered to the side so dominate the understory landscape that images of clear-cuts come to mind and there is little pleasure in passing through. The health of any forest is absolutely dependent on the integrity of the complex underground ecosystem that sustains it. Excavations by bikers to build jumps and swales have fractured this essential subsurface ecosystem, disrupting understory vegetation and compromising the regenerative potential inherent in healthy woodland. Inserting a playground for a minority of users in Haro Woods would inevitably further compromise the health of this small public wild woodland.
Off-road bikers unquestionably deserve areas to safely learn and practice their sport, but carving a corner out of this small urban forest would be totally inadequate in meeting the needs of the growing off-road biking community. Bikers are already coming to Haro Woods from greater distances “to check out the trails we’ve heard about” (verbatim quote from a chat last month with a pair poised to enter Haro Wood on their bikes from Finnerty Road). Consider how many more would arrive were a designated section of Haro Woods to be marked on maps!
Saanich needs to locate areas for off-road cyclists (as is done for other sports – tennis, soccer, golf, swimming, jungle-gyms for youngsters, etc.) that would not cause substantial environmental harm and not impoverish venues for those plying the original active sports of walking - running. The argument that it has been going on for a longtime is an unacceptable basis for condoning illegal off-road biking, which is in violation of the P4N zoning bylaw for Haro Woods, and for further compromising the health of this small urban woods.
M & D Paul
Gordon Head