Released on: February 5, 2008, 5:15 pm

Press Release Author: David Stanley

Industry: Environment

Press Release Summary: Magnificent Mount Benson is one of the scenic wonders of
Nanaimo, British Columbia, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. Rising
1,019 meters above the Strait of Georgia, Mount Benson is the city's backdrop.

Press Release Body: Magnificent Mount Benson is one of the scenic wonders of
Nanaimo, British Columbia, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada. Rising
1,019 meters above the Strait of Georgia, Mount Benson is the city's backdrop. The
mountain's green forested slopes are favorites of hikers and wildlife, and there's a
sweeping view of the Coastal Mountain Range across the water from the rocky summit.

Unfortunately, this paradise is threatened. Forestry companies want to harvest
timber on the mountain, while development companies want to build luxury homes and
resorts on the cleared lands. If the logging were to go ahead, the ugly clearcuts
would be an eyesore for decades to come. Hiking trails would be destroyed and the
wildlife driven away. If subdivisions creep up the steep slopes, the damage will be
permanent.

It has happened here before. In the 1930s Mount Benson was logged, and in 1951 a
fire destroyed the regenerating forest. In the summer of 2003, just as the forest
was again taking hold, fresh logging began on the northeast side of Mount Benson in
full view of the city. This outraged the citizenry and a campaign to Save Mount
Benson was launched.

In 2004 the logging stopped after the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) entered
negotiations with landowners to purchase the impacted areas. In 2005 the owners
agreed to sell their property to the RDN for $950,000, and in March 2006 the Nanaimo
and Area Land Trust (NALT) stepped forward with a pledge to raise half the money
through public contributions.

The 212-hectare Mount Benson Regional Park will stretch along the upper front face
of Mount Benson. An adjacent 383 hectares of Provincial Crown Land is currently
leased to Malaspina University-College as a teaching woodlot which protects it
against clearcutting. Discussions are underway with Island Timberlands and Timber
West to purchase or swap other properties on the mountain's front face. Together,
NALT and the RDN hope to develop a comprehensive management plan for the mountain.

Aside from its aesthetic value, the Mount Benson Regional Park will make Nanaimo a
Canadian eco-tourism superstar with hiking and mountain biking in summer and
cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing in winter. The mountain park will complement
the existing Newcastle Island Provincial Marine Park and splendid Pipers Lagoon and
Neck Point parks further up the coast. Virgin rainforests in the nearby Linley
Valley are also undergoing park development.

The Mount Benson fundraising campaign will close on February 27, 2008, and at last
report local businesses and individuals had donated $400,000, still short of the
$475,000 NALT has pledged to raise. To make a tax-deductible donation to the Save
Mount Benson Campaign, contact the NALT Stewardship Centre, 140 Wallace Street,
Nanaimo, tel. (250) 714-1990. Photos and travel information on Nanaimo are available
at http://www.gonanaimo.com


Web Site: http://www.gonanaimo.com

Contact Details: 140 Wallace Street,
Nanaimo, British Columbia,
tel. (250) 714-1990
submit@gonanaimo.com