Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
Renewing the Jewel:
Stanley Park and the Storm of 2006
CPRA National Conference & Trade Show • Ottawa • Ontario
September 27, 2007
Crisis / Opportunity
Focus on Organizational Response
•
•
•
•
•
Emergency management
Staffing and resources
Media coordination
Fundraising
Political and resident involvement
Stanley Park’s Forest
•
•
•
•
about 250 hectares or 620 acres
about 150,000 mature trees
one of Vancouver’s central symbols
habitat, education, recreation
Forest History
• 1860-1886: logging
• 1888: Stanley Park
• 1890-1930: 100 ha converted
to rec. uses
• 1935 & 1962: windstorms
• 1940s, 1980 & 1989: forest
management plans
Windstorms & Damage
• three major storms
• 10,000+ trees fell
• severe damage to 15% of forest
• damage to seawall & forest trails
• escarpment above seawall destabilized
Preparing the Plan
• Elected Board
• Staff & consultant team
• Steering Committee
• Stakeholders Committee
• Community Consultation
Goals for the Restoration Plan
1. Establish and maintain conditions in the
blowdown areas that will foster a resilient
coastal forest with a diversity of native tree and
other species and habitats, using methods and
equipment that protect the environment, park
visitors, workers and volunteers
Goals for the Restoration Plan
2. Repair the park’s infrastructure so that the park
activities can resume as quickly as possible
3. Create legacies that will support the whole of
Stanley Park’s forest in the long term
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
a) Protect the forest floor and
understory plant communities and
retain as many trees and snags
as possible.
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
b) Modify the
newly created
forest edge.
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
c) Remove an
appropriate
amount of
fallen trees
from the
forest floor.
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
d) Remove fine woody debris from areas
of human activity.
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
e) Plant Douglas-fir,
western red cedar,
Sitka spruce,
grand fir,
big leaf maple,
red alder and
a variety of shrubs.
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
f)
Brush back the understory surrounding newly
planted trees for the next ten years.
Foster a Resilient Coastal Forest
g) Reduce risk of invasive plant and insect infestation
within and near the blowdown areas.
Protect the Natural and Cultural
Environments
a) Relocate Park Drive and parking lot away from
Prospect Point to improve drainage, visitor safety
and aesthetics.
Protect park visitors, workers and
volunteers
a) Modify or remove danger
trees and hazard trees.
Protect park visitors, workers and
volunteers
b) Prepare and implement a slope stabilization plan.
Repair Park Infrastructure
a) Repair
damaged
portions of
the seawall.
Repair Park Infrastructure
b) Repair damaged
roads, trails,
drainage, and
utilities.
Create Supporting Legacies
a) Enhance and augment
educational and
interpretative resources
for Stanley Park.
Create Supporting Legacies
b) Allocate fallen
trees that will
be removed
based on
a hierarchy
of needs.
Community Consultation
Responses to
6 key questions:
Phone
Survey
Public
Feedback
Forest more accessible:
48%
37%
Leave one blowdown as is:
76%
65%
Retain all views PP to TB:
9%
13%
New building / attraction:
66%
50%
Sell timber to fund forest:
85%
69%
78%
65%
Re-establish historical
tree ratio:
LEARNINGS
Enviro Due Diligence
 More biologists than foresters
 Negotiated uncertainty
 Legislative ambiguity
Enviro Due Diligence
 Job site profile
 Endangered plus
 Leave a soft footprint
Balanced Resolution
 Few absolutes
 Environment vs safety
 Long term vs short term solution
Balanced Resolution
 The pressure for haste vs due diligence
 Efficiency vs political correctness
Flexible Application of the Plan
 Day to day on site judgement and direction
 Multiple layers of inputs/incremental concensus
 Learn/plan as you go
 Fire, wind, rain, biology, machinery, archeology,
human nature
Safety
 Operating a park and a restoration project
simultaneously
 The forestry culture
Safety
 Reduced economic pressure
 Weather, fire
 The public/park user – “fitness makes you stupid”
Ongoing information
 Information quells rumours
 Rumours create extra work
 The media
 The park users
 The general public
Progress to date: Do it Once, do it Right
a) The GIS information base for the park
 Environmental
 Cultural
 Infrastructure
Progress to date: Do it Once, do it Right
b) Risk assessments
 The forest
 The escarpment
 The seawall
Progress to date: Do it Once, do it Right
c) The sorting lot and brokerage
 200 logging truck loads to date
 Debris management – the logistics of scale
Progress to date: Do it Once, do it Right
d) Forestry operations
 Prospect Point complete
 Invasives
 Insects
Progress to date: Do it Once, do it Right
e) Geo tech
 Escarpment crest modification
 Drainage/path relocation
 Bio engineering
Progress to date: Do it Once, do it Right
f) Seawall
 The wall: structure, porosity, damage
• The paths: voids, slumpage, surface lifting
Budget
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Preparing the Restoration Plan
Clearing and repairing roads and trails
Prospect Point blowdown area
Other blowdown areas
Reforestation
Seawall repairs and reconstruction
Supporting legacies
Contingency
TOTAL
$ 500,000
$1,000,000
$2,250,000
$1,250,000
$1,000,000
$1,000,000
$ 750,000
$1,250,000
$9,000,000
FUNDRAISING
Tell the Story
Fact sheets, Q & As, updates
to tell the story:
 the importance of
Stanley Park
 what happened
 repair work needed
 financial need
…Concise, Consistent, Compelling Message
Story Tellers
• Senior government
officials
• Community leaders
• Media
• Staff
…Involved, Support, Advocate and Lead
Transform Ideas to Donations
1. Modified existing program to provide donation
opportunities - Tree Fund $150,000 raised
2. Advocated government support - $6 million raised
3. Recruited media support
– 4 day telethon - over 3,000 calls and $2 million
pledged
– 1 day radio campaign $100,000 pledged
Transform Ideas to Donations
4. Enlisted a community leader support - $1 million
matching to telethon donations
5. Solicited 2 financial institutions for assistance in
receiving public donations at branches
6. Supported 2 local organizations fundraising galas $300,000 pledged
Transform Ideas to Donations
7. Worked with and transformed ideas to fundraising
initiatives
– loonie/toonie campaign
– employee/employer
matching campaign
– dedicated merchandise
– % of sale
8. Benefited from over 10,000
volunteer hours
Happy Ending
Summary of Raised Revenue
A total of $9.5 million raised:
$3.5 million from individuals, corporations,
foundation, community groups,
fundraising events
$2.0 million from Federal Government
$2.0 million from Provincial Government
$2.0 million from City of Vancouver
Awesome Support
Over 6,500 individuals and 75 organizations
contributed to the restoration project:
Donation
Organization/Individual
$1,000,000
4
$250,000-$999,000
1
$100,000-$249,999
5
$50,000-$99,999
5
$10,000-$49,999
25
$2,000-$9,999
25
$2,000 Tree Fund
75
$1-1,999
6,360
Saying Thanks!
Donors are recognized
•
•
•
•
•
tax receipts and thank
you letters
cheque presentations and
receptions
web site profiles
annual report
donor wall in Stanley Park
Building for the Future




Maintain contact
Engage/involve donors in activities
Periodic reports about the project
Send stewardship letters and
annual reports
 Provide first-hand
experience (tour site)
 Invite donors to stone unveiling and
tree planting ceremony (Spring 2008)
…Keeping donors informed.
…Cultivating for future opportunities!