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VANCOUVER NATURAL History Society conservation committee chairman Kevin Bell believes development under consideration and develop-

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ment already underway near the Maplewood mud flats is jeopardizing the continued viability of the wildlife habitat.

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NEWS photo Terry Peters

Development encroaching on North Shore _marsh_ area

NATURALISTS FEAR the Maplewood mud flats, the fast
stretch of untouched estuarine marsh area left on the North
Shore, may be doomed in the face of increasing develop-

ment pressures.

The {6-acre wildlife habitat,
located approximately 114 miles
east of the Second Narrows
Bridge, is the remnant of an
estimated "350-acre strip of inter-
tidal marshland stretching from
Maplewood to Ambleside. Over
decades of settlement the hahitat
has been filled for industrial and

By MICHAEL BEC
News Reporter
commercial use.
The Maplewood marsh repre-
sents approximately 75 per cent of

existing North Shore marshland.
Migratory birds use the area in

conjunction with Burnaby Lake
and mud flats at Port Moody.

The Vancouver Natural History
Society (VNHS) has recorded over
170 species of birds in the
Maplewood area since 1977. Fed-
eral Fisheries and Oceans Canada
has recognized the area as a prime
rearing ground for salmon and
trout. The mud flats provide a
transition zone from fresh water to
salt water and allow young fry a
feeding and growing zone before
moving on to the open ocean.

and marsh also provide food for
many other species. Black-tail
mule deer, river otters, raccoons,
black bears, harbor seals, cougar
and coyote have been spotted on
the site over the years.

But Kevin Bell, VNHS conserva-
tion committee chairman, said
development being considered and
development already underway
near the mud flats is jeopardizing
the continued viability of the
wildlife habitat.

Development of a 12-acre por-
tion of Vancouver Port Corpora-

tion (VPC) land, located approx-
imately one mile east of the Second
Narrows Bridge on the north side
of Dollarton Highway, is already
underway.

The VPC has leased the land, a
portion of the approximately 100
acres of undeveloped Maplewood
land owned by the corporation, to
Canadian International College
Inc. for the construction of a $10
million private school and residen-
tial complex to serve an estimated

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