Metro Vancouver sells Bowen Island land to conservation group

Metro Vancouver has agreed to sell the majority of its Cape Roger Curtis land on Bowen Island to a conservation group that opposed a previous plan to create a campground at the site.

The deal, announced Friday, includes the sale of 65 hectares of the regional district's 97 hectares of land on the southwest corner of the island in Howe Sound, about 20 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. The non-profit Bowen Island Conservancy is paying the district $30 million for the parcel.

Metro Vancouver bought the 97 hectares, which a developer had previously created roads through and cleared building sites on, for $40 million last year.

The regional district had planned to build a 90-site campground with the purchase, but ran into local resistance. Friday's sale marks the end of that plan. 

"Over the last couple of years, there have started to be considerable challenges with the ferry system to and from the island, and it seemed for most people that they thought this was going to be quite an issue for them as the campground went along," said John McEwan, mayor of the Village of Anmore and chair of the Metro Vancouver regional parks committee.

McEwan called the sale a "good news story" and a win-win for the district and the residents of Bowen Island. 

"The park is going to be able to be preserved. We're going to be able to re-allocate those funds to other areas in the region and bring more camping and more convenience to more people. So we're really excited about it."

Bowen Island Municipality Mayor Andrew Leonard also applauded the deal on Friday, speaking to the natural beauty and ecological value of the land.

"I've been there in the fall and I've seen pods of humpbacks frolicking and playing in those waters. And then when you walk through the forest, there's a sense of solitude and connection to nature, just with the mosses and the trees, and the quiet and the sounds of the flora and fauna at times, that's truly remarkable," Leonard said.

He said he expects the non-profit that bought the land, which already owned about 12 hectares of adjacent land, will eventually create pathways and other park features for public use. 

Metro Vancouver still owns 32 hectares of the Cape Roger Curtis land. McEwan said there is currently no plan or direction from the district board for that area.