An arborist and contractor have been fined $1,000 each by the District of West Vancouver after cutting down a protected bald eagle tree perch at a waterfront property overlooking Stearman Beach.
The arborist ruffled the feathers of both council and when the Grand fir tree鈥檚 branches, frequently used by two bald eagles, were
The property, on the 4300 block of Ross Crescent, had already gone through a two-and-a half year development application process with the district, and when it was finally approved January 2020 it was stipulated that the branches could never be removed.
Despite the district鈥檚 efforts to protect the tree, the consultant team for the property went ahead and hired an arborist to cut down the perch anyway. A report prepared for council says the consultant team indicated that they didn鈥檛 believe a permit was required because they categorized it as 鈥渙rdinary landscape maintenance to maintain the health of the tree鈥� under the Interim Tree Bylaw, which would make it exempt.
District staff didn鈥檛 agree with the consultant team鈥檚 explanation, given it had already strongly been indicated previously that the work required a permit and stated in the report that the work done on the tree 鈥渞equired a contractor to aerial ascend the tree and remove healthy limbs right to the trunk of the tree, which exceeded ordinary landscape maintenance.鈥�
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West Vancouver Coun. Nora Gambioli, who originally asked the district鈥檚 bylaw enforcement department to look into why the branches were cut after being contacted by neighbours, described the incident as 鈥渁 really unfortunate series of events.鈥�
鈥淲e need to support local volunteers and support education after this tragic event for nature,鈥� she said.
鈥淭hese kinds of things happen quite frequently, and I really think education and awareness is the way to go for everybody, especially for tree workers and developers.鈥�
Thankfully, despite disruptions to the branches, Gambioli said a community member had spotted one of the eagles return to the tree within the last 10 days. She said the eagles had migrated to Alaska for the summer as per usual and hadn鈥檛 "disappeared" because of the branch being cut down.
While the staff report suggests evaluating options to compensate for the loss of the branches, with artificial perches such as a pole or platform, Gambioli didn鈥檛 believe it would be the best way forward given the tree was on private property. Although, she said she would support some sort of other compensation for the loss of the habitat, for example, a live camera viewing station that would focus on the eagles and allow the community to watch their behaviour from home.听
鈥淭hat would be a really great awareness and educational tool that, if anything, would be more efficient than trying to replace the limb,鈥� Gambioli said.
鈥淚f I were the property owner, I would really want to consider making some reparations to the neighbourhood and the community.鈥�
Gambioli also encouraged the community to support local wildlife groups, including the North Shore Eagle Network.
The arborist that did the work is an approved tree contractor for district property, but their contract was terminated on Aug. 17 because they didn鈥檛 have a valid business licence. On top of the $1,000 municipal fine, the arborist was also charged a bylaw fine of $150 for not having a valid licence at the time and handed a 30-day contract suspension from performing work on district property for a private property owner. The arborist was also handed a three-month contract suspension from performing tree work on district property contracted by a district department.
One thousand dollars is the maximum fine the district can charge for this type of incident unless the matter is taken to court.
Council will have the opportunity to discuss and advise staff if they wish further action to be taken on the incident at its Oct 19, 6 p.m. meeting.
Council will also consider a proposed amendment to the Interim Tree Bylaw, which outlines permitting requirements during the nesting season following the Provincial Develop with Care Guidelines for Raptor Conservation.
Elisia Seeber is the North Shore News鈥� Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the听.
