Director slams nature park plans

By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning StarPublished: July 08, 2010 6:00 PM

One elected official is against pumping tax dollars into a nature park. Director Mike Gavinchuk is opposed to the Greater Vernon Advisory Committee moving ahead with turning the 140 acres around Rose’s Pond into a public facility with walking trails and interpretive signs. “Do we need that extra park?” said Gavinchuk at Thursday’s GVAC meeting. “Who has decided we need to make a park out of this little slough?” Rose’s Pond, which is along Commonage Road, has been designated as environmentally significant because it’s home to painted turtles and eared grebe. “It’s a migratory stopping point for birds,” said Al McNiven, parks and recreation general manager.

However, Gavinchuk insists naturalist groups should enhance the site, not government.“Don’t hang it on to the taxpayers. What ever we do there will be expensive,” he said. Support for the park, though, comes from GVAC chairman Wayne Lippert. “The intent is to build a trail system so people have a place to walk and we will put signs up to inform the public about the environment,” he said, adding that such enhancements should not be costly. Director Mike Macnabb points out there are already natural parks within Greater Vernon. “It’s no different than Cools Pond in the BX. It’s fenced to keep people out and to allow the wildlife to do what wildlife does,” he said. “If it’s a natural park, we’re not doing any weeding or mowing and we let Mother Nature take care of it.” In response, Gavinchuk believes Cools Pond is not well used by the public. “At the end of June, there may be a school group in there to see a little frog jump around,” he said.