Editor,
The City of Surrey is proposing to expand services at its Sunnyside Lawn Cemetery. This could impact the section of the Semiahmoo Heritage Trail just to the east of the footbridge over 148th Street.
At this point, the Trail passes through several acres of mature second-growth forest on city owned cemetery property. This is the only section of the Semiahmoo Trail still surrounded by a deep forest of magnificent 140-year-old Douglas firs, as well as cedars, alders, and big leaf and vine maples. It is a biologically rich ecosystem, home to owls, woodpeckers and other birds and animals.
Most of the rest of the Semiahmoo Heritage Trail, running north to the Nikomekl River, is separated from housing developments only by a narrow 10-metre green fringe.
We hope this rare and beautiful section of Surrey forest will be kept intact for future generations. Most of Surrey’s trees were cut down 100+ years ago. It is important to protect what has been able to naturally regenerate, especially these precious acres surrounding Surrey’s Semiahmoo Heritage Trail.
There are already several privately owned local cemeteries. Hopefully the City of Surrey will make the preservation of this forest a priority. Surely protecting these few acres of mature forest, through which the Semiahmoo Heritage Trail passes, is more important than expanding municipal cemetery services. This can be a wonderful opportunity for the City of Surrey to demonstrate leadership in preserving and maintaining our natural heritage.
Mark Dalton, president, White Rock and Surrey Naturalists Society
