Trail blocked
This is the North Road entrance to the Kensington Lands. (That’s the federal government property between North Road and Whalebone.)
A while ago somebody started blocking this trail entrance a bit with sticks and a small log. One day they’d be there, next day they’d be moved aside. Rinse, lather, repeat.
I presume the person doing the blocking is trying to discourage dirt bike riders, who do sometimes zoom through the woods at an imprudent velocity, making all manner of noise; that is troubling to those who prefer a quiet forest and worry about children or dogs being squished by a zoomy motorised thing. And I presume somebody else doesn’t want the trail entrance blocked, so that second party shows up and clears it again.
Anyway. The other day the trail here was clear, but now look! The trail-blocker person has moved on to a log of serious weight, by toppling a section of log that has been standing upright here for years.
This blocking/unblocking back-and-forth amuses me more than it should. I can imagine what the two parties might say to each other if they were to meet: My way!
No, my way!
Filed in Gabriola Island,trails 5 Comments so far
5 Responses to “Trail blocked”
CJ on 28 Jun 2012 at 11:13 pm #
What’s the story behind the Kensington lands anyway?
skadhu on 30 Jun 2012 at 8:07 am #
Interesting…. the last time I was at this spot I noticed that all the warning signs (well, papers in plastic covers) about NO POACHING trees/plants/whatever at the entrance had been torn down— but I think the ones I saw in other spots, further in at trail intersections, were new. I’m wondering if there are new problems with poaching and this is part of an official response…? (I also saw what may have been ATV tracks, and I’ve seen a pickup in there as well in the past.)
nick on 30 Jun 2012 at 9:07 am #
CJ
Kensington was the company that bought all the land owned by the forestry company Weldwood after the negotiations with the community for a massive density swap ended in failure to reach agreement. Kensington promptly sold off the land to other buyers in separate parcels. One of the buyers of some of the parcels was the Federal Government, who bought the land to use as a bargaining chip in negotiations for a treaty with the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Those negotiations have stalled; and so the Federal Government retains ownership. The future of the land is uncertain. Although treaty negotiations were, on the insistence of the First Nations, with the Federal Government, the BC Provincial Government was and still is an “interested party” and what eventually happens to the land will undoubtedly involve them too. I think that’s right, but am open to being corrected.
Gabriolan on 30 Jun 2012 at 10:08 pm #
Thanks, Nick. That’s a useful summary.
Gabriolan on 30 Jun 2012 at 10:11 pm #
skadhu – the papers you describe are ripped down again and again and again. Then new copies are posted, then they’re ripped down… over and over. This has been going on for years.