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

Management Unit 12: East Pod
1.0 Existing Conditions
Management Unit 12 is a roughly triangular unit consisting of a central, open sandy area surrounded
with a tree/shrub border (Drawing 9) (Figure 34). The vegetation of the central area is sparse grasses
and forbs, including plantain, goldenrod, hairy cat’s ear, sweet clover and some invasive species,
including broom. Also in the centre is a single, 21 m high, multi stemmed cottonwood, beneath which
seedling cottonwoods and the invasive species, daphne, are growing (Figure 34, left side). The centre
of the south tip has denser vegetation with, in addition to the foregoing species, cow parsnip
(Heracleum lanatum), two species of thistle, blackberry, and black cottonwood.
Along the south perimeter the major tree species are Pacific crabapple and birch, with one large
willow (Figure 34, left background). Smaller trees and shrubs include red elderberry, red-osier
dogwood, black hawthorne, salmonberry, and blackberry. The most abundant forb is goldenrod.
An introduced tree species, possibly cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia), grows to a height of 9 m along
the northeast perimeter, from where it is encroaching into the central open area (Figure 35). That
species is also the main tree species along the northwest border, where it grows to 14 m high. Other
species along the northwest side, mostly toward the west end, are Pacific crabapple, a species of
cherry, black hawthorne, and shrubs, such as snowberry and daphne.
2.0 Goals and Objectives
Species Management Goal
• Dry habitat: White-crowned sparrow nesting; sparrow wintering and migration
• Treed areas: accipiters, passerines (warblers, sparrows, thrushes), eventual perches for bald
eagles and red-tailed hawks in isolated cottonwoods or alders.
Habitat Management Objectives
• Maintain free flyways into the estuarine bays of MU1 by controlling the spread of invasive
woody vegetation in both open sandy areas and understorey of treed areas (e.g. alder,
cottonwood, exotic elm);
• Remove all woody vegetation in the open, central area (except the existing clump of
cottonwoods);
• Permit only native shrubs to grow beneath the trees in the central and perimeter areas;
• Control daphne, broom and any other invasive species as part of the above two points;
• Restrict trails to perimeter;
• Exclude dogs (to prevent disturbance to ground-nesting birds and estuarine birds);
• Fence viewing area at south tip to discourage access to estuary.
3.0 Management Prescriptions
3.1 Initial Enhancement Requirements
• Construct a fence and erect signs to block access to the estuary at the south tip of the pod.
Blackie Spit Park: Wildlife Habitat Enhancement Plan – Management Unit 12 60