The Capital Regional District has added another piece of land to its Sea to Sea Regional Park Reserve in Sooke.
The $475,000 purchase, announced Tuesday, consists of two lots totalling 39 hectares of land near Ayum Creek.
The idea is to expand public park space and open that section of the Sea to Sea Park to the public this spring, said Mike Hicks, Capital Regional District parks committee chair.
“This particular piece was identified a long time ago, and any land we buy for parks is great for Sooke,” Hicks said.
Money for the purchase came from the CRD’s land acquisition fund.
Both lots were privately owned before the purchase, and make up the first portion of the park reserve where trails and facilities are being developed for wilderness recreation.
The properties also contain mature second growth forest in the Coastal Western Hemlock ecosystem, including a potential habitat for species at risk such as the sharp-tailed snake, an endangered animal provincewide.
Sea to Sea Regional Park Reserve is a large wilderness area within the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area, encompassing both T’Sou-ke and Scia’new First Nation traditional territories.
This vast expanse of wilderness, is home for bears, wolves, and cougars, and forms part of the Sea to Sea Green Blue Belt, a corridor of protected green space linking the Saanich Inlet in the east to the Juan de Fuca Strait in the west.