Built in 1923, the Canadian White Pine Mill was one of Western Canada's first sawmills. It produced Douglas Fir, Western White Pine, Hemfir, Spruce and Western Red Cedar lumber for foreign and domestic markets for more than 80 years, before being decommissioned by then-owner Weyerhaeuser in 2002. Shortly after, Wesgroup and ParkLane Homes purchased the 130-acre brownfield site, which stretches for nearly 1.5 km along the mighty Fraser River.
Six years later, the property has been largely remediated, and a comprehensive Master Plan developed to transform the East Fraserlands into a vibrant, ecologically sound, mixed-use neighbourhood, able to sustain a broad range of flora and fauna.
Along the Fraser River foreshore, for example, a variety of new marsh, beach and riverside grass habitats will be created, including on 'Sanctuary Island', where animals may retreat from human activity.
Extensive landscape plantings throughout the community will be specifically designed to maximize opportunities for songbird nesting and foraging, and to attract the widest possible variety of bird species.
Tidal channels and sloughs conducive to salmon-rearing will be constructed, in recognition of the Fraser River's status as the world's greatest salmon river.
And new rain gardens, watercourses and wetlands will be developed to provide a natural storm water management system with diverse habitat for indigenous species.
Incorporating the collective work of countless biologists, ornithologists, botanists and other experts, the remediation of the East Fraserlands brings ingenuity, and imagination, to life.
