John Dean Provincial Park
IUCN Category II - National Park
BWf1
The John Dean Provincial Park is one of only 173 ha Provincial Park in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The park is located in the southeastern part of Vancouver Iceland, on the Saanich Peninsula and is part of the Capital Regional District.
After the Strathcona Provincial Park ( established 1911) and Mount Robson Provincial Park ( established 1913) it is the third oldest of the provincial parks in British Columbia.
Plant
The park is located on the Saanich Peninsula, about 26 kilometers south is the provincial capital of Victoria. Approximately 8 kilometers north-west of the park lies the small town of Sidney. The of the form reminiscent of a lying on the back " L" Park is widely happening in the east of Highway 17 and to the west by Highway 17A. The park itself is built around the Mount Newton, which 306 meters is the highest point in the park and also on the peninsula.
Spread over the park there are several small and larger areas marshland as well as several small lakes and streams. Located in the park, on the summit of Mount Newton, an area is excluded from the park. There, near the historical viewpoint, there is a military installation. Something northeast another small area is excluded, here are today telecommunication towers.
Due to the usually prevailing wind directions, the park, just like the entire peninsula, relatively protected from the otherwise quite frequent and very abundant rainfall. The entire peninsula is regarded as one of the driest areas on the coast.
In the park is a protected area category II (National Park).
History
The park was established in 1921. The area is a donation from John Dean. John Dean, who then named after the park was one of the early leaders of the nearby Victoria. On the site, which was the centerpiece of the park later, still standing in the park founding a small log cabin in which he spent the summer months on a regular basis. The building was demolished in 1957. Today, a plaque recalls.
At its founding, the park had an area of 100.87 acres, which is approximately 40.8 ha. Over time, the park boundaries were repeatedly redefined, most recently by Act of 29 June 2000. Since then, the park covers 173 ha today
However, as with almost all provincial parks in British Columbia also applies to this that he long before the area populated by immigrants or she was part of a park, they refuse and Jagd-/Fischereigebiet different tribes of First Nations, here mainly by the people of Saanich, was.
Flora and Fauna
Within the ecosystem of British Columbia, the park area is assigned Moist Maritime subzone of the Coastal Douglas Fir zone. Same Biogeoklimatische zones are characterized by a respective same climate and the same or similar biological and geological conditions. This results in the respective zones then a very similar inventory of plants and animals.
In the park grows mainly the coastal Douglas fir ( in the English language "Coastal Douglas Fir " called ). However, there are also populations of the giant tree of life, the red alder, Oregon oak, Oregon maple and American strawberry tree. In their understory issue also includes the Ordinary Oregon grape, the Erlenblättrige Amelanchier, the Pacific yew tree and the forest - foam spar ( Holodiscus discolor). In the undergrowth, there are still the Nuttall's flowering dogwood, also known as Pacific Dogwood Blossoms (English Pacific dogwood ), the coat of arms plant of British Columbia
Due to the small size of the park can be found here on larger mammal animals only, which also occur in the environment. This is mainly the Columbia black -tailed deer and several smaller mammals such as American mink and raccoon. The population of smaller mammals, reptiles and amphibians has not yet been examined in detail.
The bird species are numerous and range from widespread species to endangered species. There are present large hunters like Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon, as well as various sea birds and waterfowl and also normal birds. Were sighted include: Pileated Woodpecker, Red-necked Grebe Great Northern Loon, Canada heron or oystercatchers Cliff.
Adjacent parks
On the peninsula are still other parks. Besides the two westerly Provincial Parks Gowlland death and Goldstream there is also located east of the Gulf Islands National Park.
Activities
The park is basically a small park for day visitors. Extensive tourist infrastructure it does not therefore offers. The park has only a very basic sanitary facilities. Focus of tourist use is hiking, but also a dense network of trails has been created in the park. Embedded in this network of hiking trails are the five viewpoints. Since the park attracts around a mountain, are constantly hike on the trails of different heights.