Over the past couple of months we have learned more about Ender Ilkay and his controversial Marine Trail Resort plan that would put hundreds of cabins and a huge resort on top of the Juan de Fuca trail.

If this proposal is allowed to go forward it will open the floodgates of development on the Juan de Fuca Forest Lands. We need to protect this important park, and ensure that urban sprawl doesn’t reach this beautiful area of Vancouver Island.

The proposal goes to the local land use committee for a decision this Tuesday, February 15, 7pm at Sooke Council Chambers, 2225 Otter Point Rd. This committee will either recommend the proposal moves forward into the rezoning approval process or that the proposal gets killed. They have the power to say yes or no, and tomorrow they will make the choice.

Please write a letter today to Mike Hicks and other decision makers. Also, please attend the meeting Tuesday night, and let us know if you'd like to address the committee.

There is another way you can help as well: take two minutes to write a brief letter to the Vancouver Sun (sunletters@vancouversun.com) and the Victoria Times Colonist (letters@tc.canwest.com) about this proposal. Opinion letters have a big impact on the readers and on the issue - let's use them!

Thank you!

About the Marine Trail Resort proposal

The revised plan – like the previous plan -- envisions a sprawling tourist resort 100 metres from the Juan de Fuca Trail. Marine Trail Resort Inc. would build lodges, recreational buildings, and 263 privately-owned cabins, each with its own septic field in an area that gets a metre of rain per month in the winter. This is clearly not a "compromise," no matter what they call it. It would affect 17 kilometres of the trail, and dozens of cabins would be constructed only metres outside the park boundary.

All 12 Marine Trail project reports are online here (scroll down for links marked "Marine Trail Holdings"): http://www.crd.bc.ca/reports/juandefucalandusecom_/2011_/02february_/index.htm

Tria Donaldson | Pacific Coast Campaigner Wilderness Committee