The Chemainus Residents Association has given North Cowichan and its environmental consultants – Madrone Environmental Services – its own survey highlighting the diversity of flowering plants in Echo Heights Forest.

"Council didn't include flowering plants when it asked Madrone for additional data," CRA Chair Tom Masters said. "Even though Madrone's own environmental assessment last fall stated spring was the right time to do such a study, Council apparently felt such information wasn't needed."

 He said that CRA volunteers completed a detailed plant survey in May, 2006, as part of fact-finding in the campaign to preserve the 52-acre municipal forest as a park. North Cowichan recently announced that 221 housing units would be built on 49% of the property.

"We fully expected that Madrone would be asked to assess the flowering plants so that council would have all information before making a final decision," Masters said. "Our own study showed the great diversity of plant life in the forest, from the trees and shrubs to rare small plants. The range of mushrooms and other fungi was quite amazing."

Masters quoted PhD botanists Adolph and Oluna Cseka, who wrote the following in last fall's Madrone's study: "All the potential rare vascular plants are either the so-called winter annuals or spring-flowering geophytes (bulb plants) and it is almost impossible to assess their presence or absence on the site at this time of year."

"For some reason council told Madrone to survey for owls in March and nesting birds later this spring, but didn't want data on the rest of the habitat that supports this wildlife," Masters said. "I find it a very strange way to make a reasoned decision on such an important issue."