Comox Valley Land Trust seeks to raise $2.4M to protect trees in Puntledge Forest

Comox Valley Land Trust has successfully purchased 61 hectares of trees in the Puntledge Forest and is fundraising to purchase and protect another 37 hectares.

By Madeline Dunnett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Those walking through Nymph falls will see remnants of the first time it was logged, such as this nurse stump. Photo by Madeline Dunnett/The Discourse

On a crisp morning in early October 2023, Tim Ennis, executive director of Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT) trekked through the trails of Nymph Falls Nature Park and explained that CVLT was working on a complex purchase of forest on a chunk of BC Hydro land in Nymph Falls, and a possible other section in the Puntledge River Recreation Trails area.

“The property that we’re walking onto here is owned by BC Hydro … and the timber on the property — the trees — they’re owned separately,” he said.

The lands themselves are part of the traditional unceded territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, who are descendants of the Sathloot, Sasitla, Ieeksen, Xa’xe and Pentlatch. Many surrounding areas get their namesake from the Éy7á7juuthem, Kwak̓wala, and Pəntl’áč languages — including the Puntledge River itself, which stems from the word Pəntl’áč (Pentlatch).

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Read the whole story on the Discourse.