A 20-year fight to save almost a third of Savary Island may soon be over, but only if more than $6 million can be raised.
Savary Island Land Trust (SILT) executive director Liz Webster said her organization has been asked by Nature Trust of BC, the principal purchaser, to contribute $1 million to fund the purchase of 330 acres of District Lot 1375, also known as the island’s “wild heart.”
“This is probably the biggest thing that’s ever happened on Savary,” said Webster. “It’s huge. We’re really thrilled.”
SILT, which includes more than 300 members, is asking for the public’s financial support to raise the money. “We are hoping the money can be raised so this land can be protected,” said Webster.
The total purchase price for the land is unknown, but according to Nature Trust the price tag could be as high as $6 or $7 million.
Opposition to development of the lot stretches back to at least the 1980s, but escalated in 1995 when developers from Washington State applied to Powell River Regional District to have the lot subdivided for a gated community with its own private airport. Webster said SILT was formed at this time.
Since then other developments have been proposed, including one in 2001 that would have seen the lot divided into 36 10-acre parcels. That plan, however, was not pursued due to local opposition. In 2002, Nature Trust was able to purchase half of the lot.
District Lot 1375, the last and largest undivided and undeveloped wilderness on Savary, is now half-owned by Nature Trust and Washington State developer Roger Sahlin, said Webster.
Webster said that besides being the island’s largest groundwater recharge area, the land holds unique ecological values, including old-growth stands of red cedar and Douglas fir trees, first nations archaeological sites and a rare coastal sand-dune plant ecology.
In July, a representative of Sahlin’s interest in the land contacted SILT to set a meeting up between the Nature Trust, SILT and Sahlin in order to negotiate the sale of a large portion of Sahlin’s land.
In May 2015, Sahlin filed for bankruptcy in Washington State, but Webster said it was unclear about what role that will play in the land sale.
