There is no question Shirley Bond has been a great MLA for us over the past 20 years and will be missed.
Ted Clarke’s recent article on her work and accomplishments over this time is great but made no mention of Shirley’s wonderful legacy that will live on forever, the Ancient Forest/Chun T’oh Whudujut Park.
Midway between Prince George and McBride along Highway 16, the park has become one of the “must see” features in all of B.C.
While the Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club members with help from The Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute at UNBC and the Lheidli T’enneh opened the trails and brought the wonderful Interior Wetbelt Cedar Forest to the public’s attention, the area would not have become a provincial park without the assistance of our MLA Shirley Bond behind the scene.
It was only 10 years after we began developing the trails and making the forest known to the public that the area became a provincial park in 2016, one of the very few new parks in the province since the year 2000.
Shirley got the park established and convinced the government to provide the large amount of money needed to create good access off the highway and a huge parking area for visitors.
Thank you so much Shirley!
Dave King, Caledonia Ramblers
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