PREPARED FOR THE VILLAGE OF CUMBERLAND by Tim Ennis Latitude Conservation Solutions Company BASELINE INVENTORY – VILLAGE OF CUMBERLAND FOREST LANDS August 2019 Baseline Inventory - Village of Cumberland Forest Lands Executive Summary The Corporation of the Village of Cumberland (the Village) owns 229.5 hectares (567.1 acres) of land in seven parcels within the municipal boundaries of the Village of Cumberland which it manages for the storage and conveyance of drinking water (the Lands). The Lands include the Stevens Lake Reservoir, Hamilton Lake Reservoir, #2 Reservoir and Henderson Lake. Each of these are connected sequentially by Cumberland Creek, a tributary of Perseverance Creek. The Lands also include the Allen Lake Reservoir which drains directly into Perseverance Creek. Approximately 65 hectares (160 acres) of the Lands (28%) are outside of the Cumberland Creek and Allen Lake drainages, and therefore do not contribute to the Village’s drinking water supply watersheds. These areas primarily drain through an unnamed creek (locally known as Lookout Creek) and thence into Perseverance Creek downstream of the Village’s water supply infrastructure. The Lands are located at the northern tip of the Beaufort Range in the Comox Valley, extending from roughly 650 meters above sea-level (masl) in the vicinity of Steven’s Lake to 300 masl at the downstream end of Cumberland Creek and in the vicinity of Allen Lake are approximately 250 masl. The topography is varied, and includes depressions and the toe of slopes, deeply incised canyons, and rolling hills. The Lands occur within the Coastal Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone and span three subzones/variants. Ecological communities include shallow water, fen, swamp and bog wetlands as well as moist, mesic and dry forests (including forested riparian areas) and rock outcrops. Significant anthropogenic disturbances to the Lands began in the 1890’s through the 1940’s including water storage and diversion as well as logging and associated roadbuilding. In the late 1950’s or early 1960’s a silvicultural thinning treatment was applied to reduce stem densities in regenerating stands over most of the Lands. In more recent decades, recreational trail development has occurred. This inventory project describes the ecological and anthropogenic features of the Lands in order to provide an information baseline in support of management planning for the Lands and/or long-term monitoring. 1 | P a g e Baseline Inventory - Village of Cumberland Forest Lands Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 1 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Study Area ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 Ecological Classification and Mapping ...................................................................................................... 6 Biogeoclimatic Subzones and Variants ................................................................................................. 6 Species at Risk Inventory .......................................................................................................................... 8 Hydrology .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Methods ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 Pre-typing and background data review ................................................................................................... 8 Field Inventory .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Reporting .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Ecological Communities ............................................................................................................................ 9 Forests of the Sub-montane Moist Maritime Coastal Western Hemlock Zone (CWHmm1) .............. 12 Forests of the Very Dry Maritime Coastal Western Hemlock Zone (CWHxm) ................................... 12 Rock Outcrops ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Wetlands ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Anthropogenic Features ......................................................................................................................... 15 Species At Risk ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Hydrology ................................................................................................................................................ 20 Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 21 References .................................................................................................................................................. 23 Appendices .................................................................................................................................................. 24 Appendix 1. Ecological Unit Site Description Data and Photos .............................................................. 24 Appendix 2. Ecological Communities and Status Ranks ......................................................................... 24 Appendix 3. Animal Species Encountered and Status Ranks .................................................................. 24 Appendix 4. Plant List .............................................................................................................................. 24 Appendix 5. Additional photos ............................................................................................................... 24 2 | P a g e Baseline Inventory - Village of Cumberland Forest Lands List of Figures Figure 1. Location of the Lands within the Perseverance Creek watershed................................................. 5 Figure 2. Land ownership .............................................................................................................................. 5 Figure 3. BEC Zone, subzones and variants ................................................................................................... 7 Figure 4 - Ecological units in the south of the Lands .................................................................................. 10 Figure 5. Ecological Units in the north of the Lands ................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Ecological Units in the east of the Lands ..................................................................................... 11 Figure 7. Hydrology in the south of the Lands ............................................................................................ 14 Figure 8. Hydrology in the north of the Lands ............................................................................................ 14 Figure 9. Anthropogenic features in the south of the Lands ...................................................................... 16 Figure 10. Anthropogenic features in the north of the Lands .................................................................... 17 Figure 11. Anthropogenic features on the east of the Lands ..................................................................... 17 Figure 12. Species at Risk on the south of the Lands .................................................................................. 19 Figure 13. Species at Risk on the north of the Lands .................................................................................. 19 Figure 14. Species at Risk on the east of the Lands .................................................................................... 20 Figure 15. Recommended additional acquisition lands .............................................................................. 22 3 | P a g e Baseline Inventory - Village of Cumberland Forest Lands Introduction The study area includes seven parcels of private land (~230-hectares) (the Lands) acquired by the Corporation of the Village of Cumberland (the Village) in the 1950’s. These lands are managed by the Village for the supply of drinking water to the residents and businesses of Cumberland and include significant municipal infrastructure. No ecological inventories have been