George Grams’ article explores the interpretation of the wording in the Islands Trust Act: ”The object of the Trust is to preserve and protect the Trust area and its unique amenities and environment....” I can’t understand why “interpretation” is required as the people who drafted the Act were very clear. It was all about the environment.

George has glossed over the word “unique,” which is key to the whole act. According to most dictionaries “unique” means “being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.” Houses and stores are not unique, nor is development or even our amazing Saturday market.

George has decided not to apply “unique” to “environment.” It’s obvious that the Act intends this adjective to apply to both “amenities” and “environment.” Thus, the unique amenities in the Gulf Islands are those provided by the area’s unique natural environment. In fact, when the Islands Trust Act was created in 1974, there had been so much concern about protecting our fragile environment that many people wanted to turn the Gulf Islands into a national park.

The Trust area contains 97 percent of all BC ecological communities considered to be at risk. We are in the heart of the Coastal Douglas Fir zone, which, according to the Coastal Douglas Fir Conservation Partnership, contains rare and highly endangered ecosystems, including Douglas-fir forests, Garry oak woodlands, wetlands, estuaries, and other unique communities of plants, animals, and fungi found nowhere else in the world.

I’m not sure why the Islands Trust wants to change its mandate. Protecting our very special, unique, and most beautiful environment does not prevent us from providing housing for people or from doing anything else that is essential to life in the Gulf Islands. Over the last few years much low-cost housing, like the Drake Road development, has been built on Salt Spring. We are going in the right direction. But these things take time, and, unfortunately, new needs continue to develop faster than we can satisfy them.

People visit the Gulf Islands because of their unique natural environment, such as the beaches, the trails, and the forests. Let’s not kill the golden goose. Instead, let’s continue to protect what we have while simultaneously working to correct our social problems. The status quo does not prevent us from doing this. If we wish to make any word changes, let’s talk about “the environmental amenities of the Gulf Islands.”