Blackie Spit Park: Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Plan - City of Surrey

Executive Summary
The process of designating Blackie Spit as a park and the development of management direction
has taken place over several decades. Through a process of public consultation, the Blackie Spit
Park Master Plan (Catherine Berris and Associates and Dillon Consulting, 1999) provided overall
direction for the park, that being ‘to protect the long-term environmental integrity of Blackie Spit
while providing opportunities for community and nature-based uses’. Subsequently, this wildlife
habitat enhancement plan was commissioned to address the specific wildlife habitat management
opportunities in the context of a park that has a long history of passive recreational use.
Blackie Spit Park is the product of a haphazard management history. Originally forming part of
the Nicomekl River estuary, parts of it were dyked for farming. Subsequently, three dredging
episodes resulted in sandy dredgate being dumped on the former marshes and parts of the
farmland. Currently the park consists of dyked farmland, old and new dykes and drainage ditches,
varying ages of dredgate, the sandy spit and relatively natural estuary in which old pilings provide
evidence of a former oyster cannery. The current vegetation patterns, therefore, reflect that
history and the substrates, mostly of dredgate origin in the north and of estuarine origin in the
south, are the most influential determinant of the habitat potential.
Development of the plan began by examining the existing and potential habitat potential of the
park in conjunction with staff of Surrey Parks, Recreation & Culture and members of the White
Rock and Surrey Naturalists. The park was then divided into 19 Management Units that reflected
existing patterns of land form, habitat development, or land use. Individual habitat management
plans were developed that consisted of the establishment of wildlife species goals, habitat
management objectives, and detailed management activities. The development of the
management prescriptions for each unit were also influenced by the nature of adjacent units, thus
recognizing the integrated complex of habitats in the park.
Part1 of the report provides an overview of the wildlife and habitat values of the park and explains
the management approach and outlines the methods by which the plan was developed. It also
summarizes the Management Unit goals, costs, and habitat monitoring and maintenance
requirements. Wildlife monitoring goals and methods are also outlined so that baseline
information can be collected and the success of the management prescriptions measured.
Part 2 of the report consists of management plans for each of the 19 Management Units. Each
plan comprises the following elements:
1.0 Existing Conditions
2.0 Goals and Objectives
3.0 Management Prescriptions
3.1 Initial Enhancement Requirements
3.2 Ongoing Maintenance Requirements
3.3 Initial Enhancement Costs
3.4 Monitoring Schedule
Blackie Spit Park: Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Plan – PART 1: Background and Summary
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