The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) will look to the public to take the lead in establishing an invasive species council for the region, directors agreed last week.
After the board decided a year ago that some kind of coordinating body was needed, staff presented draft terms of reference for a non-profit Sunshine Coast Invasive Species Council at the Oct. 17 planning and development committee meeting.
The approach, however, did not fly with Gibsons alternate director Lee Ann Johnson, who called it confusing.
"How does a local government go about supporting and encouraging the development of a non-profit which would be independent of the regional district?" Johnson asked. "And it would not be the business of the regional district to define who is doing what or whatever. It's up to people here on the Coast who care about the issue to come forward and shape the non-profit themselves."
Johnson said she recognized that groups "scattered all over the Coast" were working to eradicate invasive plants, and there was a need to coordinate their efforts.
But for the SCRD, she said, it would be "more appropriate to try to host an event that could lead to the establishment of a coordinating body."
Her comments followed those of board chair Garry Nohr, who said he would not agree to any terms of reference before talking to the Halfmoon Bay Broombusters, the community volunteers who are currently fighting broom in the area.
The committee agreed to ask staff to organize a meeting and notify municipalities and community groups about the date, which is yet to be determined. Following the meeting, the board will discuss whether there is a role for the SCRD in the council's operation.
Directors reaffirmed the need for a central group that local groups can tie into.
"There is a large lack of awareness out in the public and there needs to be a campaign to increase that awareness," Elphinstone director Lorne Lewis said.
One thing that's currently missing, Lewis said, is "a way of enabling people who have invasive species on their own land to deal with it themselves."
In her report to the committee, planner Teresa Fortin said both the Squamish Lillooet Regional District and Metro Vancouver have non-profit invasive species councils that are comprised of citizens and paid staff and funded by the province and local governments.
Two years ago, the SCRD joined the Coastal Invasive Species Council (ISC), which works to control invasive plants on B.C.'s south coast and Vancouver Island. This summer was the first time that ISC made progress eradicating Japanese knotweed from the Lower Sunshine Coast, the council's executive director said in August.
