Don't know if a phoenix actually rose from the ashes when the TLC people burned the last Sooke Potholes mortgage yesterday -- or, if it did, whether it drowned on take-off.

Man but it rained, not that this dismayed the 40 or so outdoorsy types who gathered in the Sooke Hills for the ceremony. They were the kind who say "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing," before cheerfully marching into the forest in their Gore-Tex and gaiters while the rest of us curse and try to remember how much we paid for the shoes that just got sucked off our feet. Former federal environment minister David Anderson was there, appearing robust. So were a couple of guys who looked disconcertingly like Noah.

The whole event was fraught with a symbolism that went beyond its stated intent. It was a declaration from The Land Conservancy of B.C.: We're still here, still paying our bills, you can have faith in us. And it was a declaration from CRD Parks: Look at all the great work we've done over the past decade, let's keep going.

"This is a re-engagement," said CRD parks chairman Christopher Causton, a big fan of the partnership that has seen TLC and the regional government work hand in hand in securing land for parks and trails, the nimble, creative non-profit group playing Orr to the government's big-but-slow Esposito.

Tomorrow, the CRD parks committee will ponder whether to extend the 10-year land acquisition fund that was set up in 2000 to save Greater Victoria from being swallowed by urban sprawl.

Financed by a property tax that averages out to $10 per household, it has allowed the regional district to buy almost 3,000 hectares of the green bits that people take for granted around the south Island: the Sooke Hills, Sooke Potholes, land linking Mount Work and Thetis Lake parks, on and on -- $28 million worth of property, with $17 million of that paid for through the CRD fund, and most of the remainder raised by TLC. It has been a good deal for local taxpayers, who have had to cover less than two-thirds of the price of their parks.

Therefore it came as a shock in March when a two-year internal tug-of-war between TLC's founder and executive director, Bill Turner, and the group's board exploded into a very public, very nasty family feud, with Turner and his followers being shoved out.

It was a philosophical dispute, the board worried that TLC, with about $6 million in debt, was being too aggressive in going after parkland, Turner and company placing more priority on protecting property while the window of opportunity was open.

For TLC's members and partners, it was like riding in a car with a couple who suddenly started fighting for the steering wheel.

It all came to a head this summer when TLC members elected a pro-Turner board, which wasted no time in rehiring him. Deputy director Ian Fawcett, canned right after Turner was ousted, is also back. So is Alison Spriggs, a popular and high-profile campaigner who left the organization a few years ago. The defeated board members have melted away, even if their dire warnings of financial doom still echo.

The public, so dependent on TLC for the preservation of the Island's leafy loveliness, is left wondering what to think.

That's why the organization made a big deal yesterday when the last mortgage on the Sooke Potholes was paid out courtesy of a $37,500 donation by a local couple, Bennett Camp and Polly Higgins. It was a reminder, Turner said, that TLC always pays its bills, that it has done a lot of lasting good over the past dozen years.

Turner says the financial situation was never as bad as the old board thought. Membership is hovering steady around the 7,000 mark, about two-thirds from the south Island. If those levels stay steady, things should be fine -- though no one knows how many annual memberships will be renewed as they come due following The Troubles, the appropriately Ulster-tinged name given to the time of discord.

Don't expect TLC to launch any big, new fundraising campaigns, though, not until the economy bounces back. The phoenix, an image conjured up by Causton yesterday, still must rise from the ashes.

jknox@tc.canwest.com