Last-minute Deal to Save Jordan River Lands Days Away

VICTORIA - Those former forest lands up for sale on the west coast of Vancouver Island could be days away from at least partial protection.
Wednesday, members of the Capital Regional District's Parks committee met behind closed doors on a bid to purchase lands that include but aren't limited to Sandcut beach and the Surfer's beach near Jordan river, to turn them into parks.

The total dollar value is unknown, but the beach lands are believed to be worth about $4 million.

If the CRD gets a deal, it would be a happy ending to a long and painful saga that started three years ago.

That's when the BC Government allowed logging company Western Forest Products to pull 28,000 hectares out of a tree farm license, giving the land to the company to do with what it wanted.

The company immediately made plans to sell the land for real estate development, saying it eeded money to keep the company and jobs on Vancouver Island afloat.

It prompted a bitter fight between people in the area and a potential real estate developer who had an option on the land.

Eventually, he walked away from the deal.

12,000 hectares were to have gone back up on the market Monday March 8th.

But it appears a last minute deal is in the offing. It could be announced officially by the end of this week.

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