Voices for the Islands – Thirty Years of Nature Conservation on the Salish Sea
Book Review by Caroline Penn

Author: Sheila Harrington 2024
Heritage House Publishing
Book Dimensions: 7.5 in. x 10 in.288 Pages: Softcover $34.95 CAD; E-Book $14.99 CAD
In times of much sad news, fake news and loss of hope, we need to hear some good news stories about successes that come little by little when communities work together to give the land a voice. This wonderful book is a story about the author’s journey to meet the hundreds of people who worked over the last half century on conservation projects in the Salish Sea. She was hastened on her journey by the realization that many of these remarkable people might pass away before their stories were told.
Sheila Harrington’s passion for the southern Gulf Islands was first kindled when she visited them as a young girl. Their forests of cedar and fir, coastal arbutus and Garry oak, abundant marine life, and beautiful sound and seascapes gave her an enduring love for the land. These islands lie in a unique area that was first coined the Salish Sea in the 1970s by biologist Bert Webber, who researched oil spills. This inland sea with huge marine biodiversity was renamed after the Salish-speaking people who live on its shores and waters. The Salish Sea stretches from Seattle to Campbell River and west to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The name was endorsed by the Coast Salish Gathering, a united alliance of First Nations on both sides of the border in 2007 and adopted as an official place name. The Coast Salish people have always upheld that these islands are their relatives and see the ocean as a highway.
Colonial settlement of the islands in the Salish Sea accelerated in the 70s with urbanites seeking temporary and more permanent refuge in these beautiful islands. As land was bought, developed and logged, without checks and balances, forests receded, fragile wetlands were drained or threatened, and marine habitats succumbed to the pressures of increased boating, fishing and development. The 1970s to 1990s saw many ‘wars in the woods’ and the beginning of a push back to the rampant degradation that was happening on many coastal lands. The ground was already seeded by influential early environmentalists from both sides of the border. From Saturna Island, Ian McTaggart Cowan launched the television forerunners to the Nature of Things in the 1950s called the Web of Life and Living Sea while his colleague, Aldo Leopold, wrote his seminal work Sand County Almanac in which he writes, “We abuse the land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong we may begin to use it with love and respect.” UBC entomologist George Spencer had warned British Columbians of toxins in the environment in the 1940s, followed by Rachel Carson 20 years later. In 1974, the pressures on the islands triggered the creation of a unique provincial statute, the Islands Trust Act. It set a jurisdictional limit to development that forms the cornerstone of additional community efforts to preserve special places.
During the 1990s Sheila Harrington lived on Salt Spring Island and was part of the social change and exploration of options for living more harmoniously with the natural world. She was involved in community projects such as green building, recycling and composting. She teamed up with mentors, mappers and writers (my sister and brother, Briony and Malcolm Penn) to edit their booklet called, Giving the Land a Voice, Mapping our Home Places. This booklet instructs readers how to map their land and contains beautiful, illustrated maps by local artists and geographers, enhanced with fauna, flora and natural and cultural features of the land. Sheila also co-developed, with islanders Judi Stevenson, Kathy Dunster and Briony Penn, a sequel book called Islands in the Salish Sea: A Community Atlas, published in 2005. Its 160-pages brim with creativity and maps from 18 of the larger populated Islands of the Salish Sea. That book is now available in digital form on the website of the Salish Sea Institute; Bert Webber sits as an advisory board member. In 1997 Sheila became the Founding Director of the Land Trust Alliance of BC (1997-2011), a role which marked the beginning of her 30-year career in conservation. After living on Galiano Island for a spell, she eventually settled on Lasqueti Island living off the grid, where she was Director of the Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy for over 12 years.
In 2021 Sheila set off in her little sailboat and began her three-year project to record the history of conservation efforts throughout the islands in the Canadian portion of the Salish Sea. A chapter in her book covers each of these islands: Gabriola, Thetis, Salt Spring, North and South Pender, Saturna, Mayne, Galiano, Hornby, Denman, Quadra, Cortes, Savary, Bowen, Gambier and Lasqueti. Each chapter is rich with stories of community efforts to free up and protect land, rising to the challenges that began with the UN Rio Biodiversity Summit in 1992. Forty years later the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal set the goal of conserving 30% of land and water by 2030. The ecosystems of the southern Gulf Islands are obvious conservation targets as they are some of the most endangered in Canada. The islands are mostly privately owned. She chronicles the lengthy negotiations with logging companies or private landowners to acquire lands for conservation. She discusses the important leaders in each community and the tools of conservation from full protection as parks and ecological reserves, to conservation covenants that enable landowners to protect land in perpetuity through an agreement with a land trust. The book is a ‘tip of the hat’ to the role of land trusts (some land trusts call themselves a ‘conservancy’) in negotiating land acquisitions and covenants.
The book includes a glossary that explains the many terms used in the transfer and protection of land and an appendix that names the acronyms (often confusing) of the many conservation organizations. At the front of Sheila’s book, after page xi, she includes two colour-coded maps that compare the conservation successes of the Salish Sea between 2000 and 2022, due in large part to the efforts of thousands of islanders. Each island had unique methods of raising funds and some such as Galiano, were straddled with a large debt load over a period of years. The generosity of land owners with ‘deep pockets’ is mentioned many times.
Dr. Jack Little, (Professor Emeritus, Department of History, Simon Fraser University) wrote a very thorough book review of Voices for the Islands that covers five islands (Salt Spring, Galiano, Bowen, Hornby and Savary) https://thebcreview.ca/2024/08/30/2271-little-harrington/. Since Jack Little’s review, good news is that Salt Spring has protected the 400 acre Reginald Hill Conservation Area adjacent to Fulford Harbour. This review summarizes conservation projects on five other islands (Gabriola, Thetis, Saturna, Gambier and Mayne.) It is hoped this gives a tantalizing taste to read the full account of all the sixteen islands that author Sheila Harrington describes in her book.
Gabriola Island
Gabriola Island was Sheila’s first stop when she set sail from Lasqueti Island. This Island has a 25-year history of conservancy work. A forestry company, Weldwood-Westply, originally owned 2800 acres of land on the island. Through various efforts of subsequent owners and donors, 1,300 acres were conserved. As of 2021 there are three provincial parks and several community and regional parks connected by a trail network. There is a Gabriola Island Land and Trails Trust (GALTT) that creates trails, conserves land and focuses on environmental protection. Gabriola’s trail system now measures 80 km and they sell their own trail map. The Gabriola Land Conservancy (GLC) works on acquiring Crown land for conservation and recreation. The Islands Trust Conservancy (ITC) works with the Islands Trust (IT) and together they have protected over 60 nature reserves on the islands since 2022. The Elder Cedar Nature Reserve on Gabriola is a 162-acre property composed of mature stands of Douglas-fir, freshwater wetlands and riparian areas. It took the GLC 20 years to have this land set aside for conservation and recreation. The Coast Salish name S’ul-hween X’pey is used in the management plan and reflects the importance of First Nations history at this site. There are many key volunteers on these various trusts and committees who have brought with them their knowledge of ecology, trail work and fund-raising. They have created a native plant depot as part of their restoration work. As of 2021, Gabriola had managed to set aside and protect 12% of its land. Current volunteers have worked hard and are ready to mentor others to follow in their steps.
Thetis Island
Sheila’s second stop was Thetis Island (population 379), which is on the unceded ancestral territory of the Penelakut Tribe. The projects of the Thetis Island Nature Conservancy (ThINC) have included eelgrass mapping and transplanting, as well as restoration workshops in collaboration with the group SeaChange Marine Conservation Society to buffer the slope below the cemetery against wave action. ThINC has helped acquire the 41 acre Fairyslipper Forest Nature Reserve and the 52 acre Moore Hill Nature Reserve, both now owned by the Islands Trust Conservancy (ITC) and managed by ThINC. Other projects on Thetis include trail maintenance, invasive plant clearing, installation of western screech owl nesting boxes and an apothecary/medicinal plant garden. There are nature education programs and community science projects for screech owls, bats and purple martin recovery. Challenges for Thetis are that over 90% is privately owned and fundraising is slow. There is increasing involvement by the settler community to recognize historic wrongdoings toward indigenous Peopled and to understand and appreciate the important role of First Nations’ elders and knowledge keepers.
Saturna Island
Sheila’s fifth stop was Saturna Island (Tekteksen) with a population of 465 people, an increase of 31% over five years. Some of the projects include an ecological center (2008) and lighthouse restoration of the Fog Alarm Building (2009). The Saturna Island Marine Research Education Society (SIMRES) has a focus on marine protection and the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population. Island projects include fieldwork on eelgrass, sea stars, sea urchins, bull kelp and whales. Many large vessels (tankers, freighters, ferries) travel the nearby Boundary Pass to Georgia Straight and there is great concern about the impact of their noise on local sea mammals and the effects of the expansion of the Roberts Bank Terminal in Tsawwassen. Hydrophones placed in Boundary Pass now monitor ocean sounds 24/7. The Island has committed volunteers who make contributions to marine science, particularly cetacean research. The Southern Gulf Islands Whale Sighting Network (SGIWSN) includes 70 trained citizen scientists (See spyhopper.ca website for live recordings of whales). Volunteers on Saturna have noted serious declines in southern resident orcas, kelp beds and salmon. The whale watching network created an installation called “critical distances” for viewing. There is increasing acceptance of citizen science and an important success was the halting of a pipeline project between Washington State and Vancouver Island. Much credit was due to the main organizer of SIMRES. Instead of the pipeline they established a new marine park, Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve, on both sides of the border. The main organizers of SIMRES say that it is not enough to measure change, one has to speak it. Young people are encouraged to pitch their science as a means for change.
Mayne Island/ SḴŦAḴ
Sheila’s sixth stop during her three-year sailing reconnaissance of islands in the Salish Sea was Mayne Island. There the population has increased 37% since 2016 to a current 1,304 people. During WWII the Adachi (a Japanese-Canadian family) were taken away from their farm on the island as part of the forced internment process. The Japanese Memorial Gardens were built on the west side of the Island and dedicated in 2002 to these early Japanese families who farmed and fished here in the early 1900’s
Mount Parke Regional Park is the highest mountain on the island; its ridges and cliffs provide habitat for various raptors. Its protection took place over many stages, first as a Capital Regional District (CRD) community park. Then the public was allowed access to the entire ridge in 2003 and finally all was purchased in 2020. The intervening decade saw many activities led by keen, committed members of the naturalist club and conservancy. Some of their other activities include Christmas bird counts, Oceans Day, beach cleanups and a designation of Important Bird Area (IBA). A very successful program was developed for new landowners, called Walkabouts, or the Gateway. Over the years the Walkabout program did 138 consults on 1,070 acres. It produced a publication called Tread Lightly and a welcome backpack. Conservationists would do a walk around with new owners and discuss how to restore land that had growth of invasive species or had been previously logged. A native plant nursery was developed to supply plant stock for restoration work. Early land trust adopters with the West Coast Islands’ Stewardship and Conservancy Society enabled many innovative projects in restoration, ecoforestry and organic farming not only on Mayne but also on other Gulf Islands.
The Mayne Island Conservancy (MIC) started in 2005 and was fortunate to have a mentor with professional experience in wildlife conservation and mapping, Michael Dunn. He was a contributing author to the early mapping book, Giving the Land a Voice, Mapping our Home Places. He and his wife also founded the Gulf Island Centre for Ecological Learning (GICEL) and were responsible for creating many programs to teach ecoliteracy.
Other conservation projects over the years included St. John Point, a 1.7 hectare peninsula on the south end of Mayne with red-listed endangered species which was eventually protected as a CRD park. For land held by those with both US and Canadian citizenship, a cross-border organization called American Friends of Canadian Conservation (AFOCC) was able to navigate the process of enabling charitable donations from the US. Another beautiful area, the Edith Point Peninsula, 14 hectares along a 3.5 km shoreline was owned and stewarded by a family for 30 years and contains coastal meadow and wetland. That acquisition took 15 years with multiple players, including the federal Ecological Gifts Program, trust donors, MIC and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. The national significance of Mayne was its rich flora and fauna from geographic isolation that formed a natural barrier to deer populations. Deer populations, however, soared with the killing off of predators, such as wolves. Colonization halted traditional stewardship including hunting of deer and this has created imbalances where deer populations have soared. Mayne Island has a small but powerful indigenous relations committee that is helping to educate people about our responsibility to care for the natural world through ethnobotany gardens and indigenous art.
Gambier Island/ Chá7elkwnech
Gambier Island, with a population of 430 people, was Sheila’s last stop. This island, with its backdrop of the Coast Mountains, is the largest island in BC’s southernmost fjord of Átl’ḵa7tsem/Howe Sound. Since 2021 Howe Sound is under the guardianship of the Atl’katsem/Howe Sound Unesco Biosphere Reserve. Gambier has three mountains, ten watersheds and some old growth forest. As of 2023, 16% of the island is protected in the form of a provincial marine park, regional district parks and nature reserves. Also protected are 10,828 hectares of adjacent marine areas including glass sponge reef marine refuges. Historically, environmental concerns in Howe Sound included toxic chemical waste from the Britannia copper mine, gravel pits and several pulp mills. Herring disappeared from Squamish in 1969. Strong leadership from volunteers led to the Gambier Island Official Community Plan (OCP). It called for a moratorium on Crown timber licenses, log booming and road construction industries that impacted the waters of Howe Sound. Volunteers stopped a proposed copper mine on Gambier and formed the Gambier Preservation Society. The Gambier Island Conservancy (GIC) ushered in a new phase of mapping/studies to create a database of the wetlands, old growth forest and fish streams. The GIC received funds to map and improve the trail network. In 2005, the Islands Trust Conservancy established Brigade Bay Bluffs and Long Bay Wetland nature reserves. Later they connected the Long Bay Wetland Reserve with Halkett Bay Marine Park and created the Mount Artaban Reserve (107 hectares). It has two wetlands near the summit and two seasonal streams. Between 2015 and 2021 there were numerous restoration parties to work on tree planting and removal of invasive species. In 2013, GIC and the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association were registered as joint holders of conservation covenants on these three reserves. They play a role in annually monitoring the land. Scientific studies have led to the discovery of a rare species of coastal tailed frog that requires habitat protection under the SAR Federal regulations.
Halkett Bay Marine Park, 448 hectares of marine and terrestrial park, was established in 1988. In 2016 a 135 h marine foreshore was added to protect glass sponge reefs, first discovered in 1984 by a local diver. In 2022, two more Glass Sponge Reef Refuges were identified around Gambier Island. Protection efforts on forests under Crown Land have been harder to enact under the more variable whim of successive government parties, but vigorous campaigns were initiated by local conservationists. Crown land woodlots in the NE part of the island were slated for logging in 2013 but are not being logged at present. From 2012 onwards property owners on Gambier and from around Howe Sound held rallies and campaigned for comprehensive planning in Howe Sound. The author outlines many of the restorative activities taken to improve the Squamish estuary. The Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation in 2021 has a role in education and protection of biodiversity. The Squamish Nation is a signatory to the Biosphere region and the co-chair is an elected member of their council.
The summaries of the above five islands provide some idea of the many topics that Sheila Harrington covers in her 15 chapters on the islands of the Salish Sea. In her last chapter, she summarizes the astonishing achievements of island people. Under the topics of collaboration, financial challenges and opportunities, reconciliation with indigenous people and land trusts, lessons learned, tax incentives and hope for the future, she illustrates the sometimes complicated process of protecting and saving land with the hundreds of shining examples spread across the Salish Sea. Pick a chapter and your adventure begins. What role do we play in our own neighbourhoods?
Sheila Harrington gave an evening presentation to Nature Vancouver on October 10, 2024. A YouTube video is available at: Voices for the Islands

