The Land Conservancy has come under criticism for its proposed sale of the Wildwood Ecoforest (“Wildwood sale against Wilkinson’s principles,” Oct. 26).
In 2013, TLC’s board made the difficult decision to file for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act. The CCAA process allows an organization to restructure while fulfilling a plan of arrangement and compromise to satisfy obligations to creditors.
All of this is completed under the supervision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the court-appointed monitor, Wolrige Mahon Ltd.
The board agreed early on in this process that while we must pay creditors to the fullest extent possible, we must do so in a way that protects our properties to the greatest of our abilities. These two principles have guided our decision-making throughout.
To date, TLC has transferred 38 properties. The last remaining transfers include Kogawa House, six per cent undivided interest in Maltby Lake, densities zoned on Abkhazi Garden and Wildwood Ecoforest. One of these upcoming property transfers has recently been making headlines: TLC’s sale of Wildwood Ecoforest to local ecoforester Mark Randen.
For close to three years, TLC has been considering the transfer of Wildwood and has identified two potential buyers. One was the Ecoforestry Institute Society and one was Randen. Wildwood was not placed on the open market; rather, as in other transactions, TLC worked to identify suitable candidates in order to preserve conservation values of any property transfer.
TLC accepted an offer to purchase from EIS in November 2015 and set a court date for approval. EIS withdrew days before the court date. TLC worked with EIS to create a new offer, which was accepted, and a court date was set for June. Days before the court date, EIS withdrew.
TLC spent $42,000 negotiating these deals with no result. When scrutinizing two opposing offers in July, the Randen offer was accepted, as it was an all-cash offer, and more important, because it included a conservation covenant and forest-management plan that allowed Wildwood to continue as an active eco-forestry site.
Make no mistake, we have done our due diligence to ensure that the charitable purposes with which TLC protected Wildwood in the first place are maintained:
• Mark Randen is a former apprentice of Merv Wilkinson’s who spent 10 years learning his techniques and continues to practise these skills on his ecoforest on Gabriola Island.
• The accepted offer includes a covenant legally protecting the site from further development, subdivision and from harvesting more than the prescribed cut.
• The forest-management plan details how the ecoforest will be sustainably harvested as an alternative to clearcutting and allows access for others to learn the principles of ecoforestry that Wilkinson passed along to Randen.
The board and I appreciate the passion that so many feel toward Wildwood. We know that others want to see the best outcome for the site.
TLC looks forward to working with Randen to continue stewarding Wildwood as an important model of ecoforestry according to the legacy created by Merv Wilkinson.
Cathy Armstrong is executive director of The Land Conservancy.
