The Sea to Sea Regional Park Reserve is now the largest park in the region after the CRD announced it had acquired two lots near Ayum Creek in Sooke.
The two lots totaling 39-hectares were purchased through the Regional Parks Land Acquisition Fund for $475,000.
The additions increase the total park size to nearly 4000 hectares.
The park is a large wilderness area within the Juan de Fuca area. The large expanse of wilderness provides habitat for bears, wolves and cougars. It forms part of the Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt, a corridor of protected green space linking Saanich Inlet in the east to Juan de Fuca Strait in the west.
CRD Regional Parks Committee Chair Mike Hicks said these properties have been on the Regional Parks acquisition list since 2003 “They are valuable additions to the Mount Manuel Quimper portion of the Sea to Sea Regional Park Reserve.”
The acquisition of the lots completes the southeastern boundary of the Sea to Sea Regional Park Reserve, and will help maintain the wilderness character of the Sooke Hills.
The properties contain mature second growth forest in the Coastal Western Hemlock ecosystem and contain potential habitat for a species at risk, the sharp-tailed snake, which is red-listed (extirpated, endangered or threatened) provincially.
