AN impromptu protest has delayed the removal of a tree containing an uninhabited eagles' nest built last year on Port Metro Vancouver property.
PMV had sent an arbourist to cut down the tree on the 200-block of East Esplanade Tuesday morning to make room for roadwork and Spirit Trail connections coming with the Low Level Road project. But a small group of protesters crowded the base of the tree, preventing work crews from bringing it down.
It's unclear when PMV will make another attempt to fall the tree, but it has been given the OK by the province.
Never before taking on the role of activist, Randy Burke, director of Bluewater Adventures on First Street, found himself taking the morning off from work to stand watch over the tree.
"I wasn't planning on that at all. I walked in this morning and one of my coworkers came across from the SeaBus and said 'They're flagging down there. I wonder if they're going to cut the tree down.' I just walked down to see if it was true."
Burke was joined by four other local conservationists who stuck by the tree until contractors left.
The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources granted PMV a permit to remove the tree and the nest, even though PMV is federal jurisdiction and requires no permits at all.
"We use the highest and best environmental standards, whether they're federal or provincial, to guide our projects," said Darrell Desjardin, PMV's director of environmental programs.
PMV staff contracted noted eagle biologist David Hancock to advise them on both the removal of the nest and a mitigation plan.
"It wasn't used last year for nesting. The nest is actually considered in poor condition. His assessment was that it was built by immature nesting pairs and they didn't actually do a very good job," Desjardin said.
As for mitigation, Hancock will scout the area for suitable trees for pruning to encourage nesting and the port may erect poles dedicated to housing future nests.
Still, PMV is taking the protesters' concerns to heart.
"As part of those discussions we've agreed to do further enhancements based on local knowledge where people have seen eagles nesting or trying to nest. On the basis of that, we're going to add those sites to our mitigation plan," Desjardin said. "We're hoping that will address the community's concerns."
But agreeing to come up with a mitigation plan only after deciding to cut the tree down is putting the cart before the horse, Burke said.
"I'd be really interested to know whether that has any validity as a concept or it's just simply a nice window dressing," Burke said of the plan for new nests. "It's like saying 'We're going to knock down your house but we're going to give you a tent.' Who exactly said I'm going to be happy to move into the tent?"
While the eagles may or may not take to a replacement nest, Burke worries about the more inherent value of the tree and threatened North Shore wildlife.
"I'm really concerned that, as the industrialization of the port continues, all we're going to do is whittle it away so that children never have that opportunity (to learn) because there are no eagles anymore or there are no salmon anymore," he said. "We need to protect our natural heritage or what's left of it. It's obviously not as rich as it once was but it's still here and that's, for me, why this has a greater symbolic value than simply 'a tree.'"
According to the ministry, eagle populations in the Lower Mainland are currently strong.
