The Marshall-Stevenson Wildlife Sanctuary is a limited-access wetlands area located on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

west of

Qualicum Beach :''"Qualicum" re-directs here. For the neighbourhood in Ottawa, see Qualicum, Ottawa'' Qualicum Beach () is a town located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. In the 2021 census, it had a population of 9,303. It is situated at the fo ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

History

The area was originally part of the Kinkade Farmstead (now a Federal Heritage site). Farmed in the late 19th century by settler Thomas Kinkade, the area was donated to the Federal Government in 1974 by Maureen and Sherwood Marshall and is now part of the Qualicum National Wildlife Area under supervision of

Environment Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC; french: Environnement et Changement climatique Canada),Environment and Climate Change Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of the Environment ( ...

. The sanctuary is named in honor of their respective families. The sanctuary is adjacent to the Little Qualicum River Estuary Regional Conservation Area, 4.5 hectares of beach and

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

habitat at the mouth of the Little Qualicum River.

Ecology

The

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

is a tidal marsh absorbing flow from both the outlet of the Little Qualicum River and the Strait of Georgia, supporting a complex ecosystem, including salmon spawning. Migratory waterfowl (including ducks, geese, and swans) rely on the area along with resident habitat users (including eagles, owls, egrets, deer, and otters). Because of the outflow of the river,

pinniped Pinnipeds (pronounced ), commonly known as seals, are a widely distributed and diverse clade of carnivorous, fin-footed, semiaquatic, mostly marine mammals. They comprise the extant families Odobenidae (whose only living member is the walru ...

s are attracted to the area in the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

during spawning seasons. There are concerns about the health of the marsh habitats. Non-migrant Canada Geese overgraze, changing fresh and sea water levels and channel movement affect the tidal replenishment necessary to the marsh’s health.

Access

There are no public trails into the sanctuary, though there are adequate viewing areas at the periphery of the property. Mount Cokely and

Mount Arrowsmith Mount Arrowsmith is the highest mountain east of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. Its dominant rock is basalt. The mountain is contained within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region and as of September 18, 2009 is designated part of hectare M ...

are visible from the sanctuary. Marshall-Stevenson Wildlife Sanctuary panoramic

References

External links

{{coord missing, British Columbia Wildlife sanctuaries of Canada