Forslund-Watson

Highlights

The project consists of 31.2 hectares (80 acres) of woodlot and hay meadows, with some small wetland areas originating from springs and small streams in the area.

The project area is one of the few large woodlots left in Langley, and serves as an oasis for forest, grassland and wetland wildlife. The majority of Langley is a steadily expanding community and the remainder of the municipality consists of pastures and small development areas. The Langley Field Naturalists have documented over 144 species of birds on the property, including 17 raptors and many migrant passerines.

This Pacific Estuary Conservation Program (PECP) project area has potential as a nature education site and represents the collective efforts of naturalists, non-profit conservation organizations and government agencies to help manage and enhance lands donated by landowners to provide wildlife habitat.

Background

The Forslund-Watson project consists of land donated by Albert and Walter Forslund and their niece Shirley Watson to the province for wildlife habitat in 1979 and 1985. The Langley Field Naturalists acted as custodians until 1985, when the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks (now the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection) officially took over management of the site as a wildlife conservation area with the assistance of the Wild Bird Trust and the naturalists.

Prior to the Forslund family homesteading in the area in 1885, habitats originally consisted of coastal forests dominated by Douglas Fir. Over the past century much of the forested land was logged and the current woodlot consists of red alder, cottonwood, some second-growth Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar. Hayfields provide ideal “old-field” habitats for rodents, grassland wildlife and birds of prey.

Project habitat improvements consist of the construction of a small dam and water control structure to help retain more year-round water in a small wetland at the north end of the property. Small wetlands in this area are sometimes seasonally dry because of variable precipitation or fluctuating groundwater levels. The costs of this project was shared between Ducks Unlimited Canada and the BC Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and underwritten by Tim and Charlotte Travis.

Project Partners

BC Ministry of Water, Land & Air Protection
BC Habitat Conservation Trust Fund
Municipality of Langley
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Wild Bird Trust
Langley Field Naturalists
Tim & Charlotte Travis