Work crews removed two banners on Highway 1 Friday afternoon, and police threatened to arrest the campers if they interfered. A new banner was raised Friday evening.

The city is expected to demand a court order to remove the campers so interchange construction can begin. As of Friday, volunteers had raised five platforms to the tops of the trees, up to 120 feet (40 meters) off the ground, in an effort to stop the project so that environmental and cultural values can be protected. 

 

Another platform is set to be raised on Saturday, December 15.

• "The City of Langford or Bear Mountain Resort could apply for an injunction as early as Monday, December 17," says Zoe Blunt, one of the tree sit supporters. "We will meet them in court, and spell out all the reasons why it is not in the public interest to build this interchange."

Furthermore, there is no compelling reason to remove the camp, she adds. Bylaw officers visited the camp Friday and alleged the campers were responsible for a number of violations, but in fact, the officers have not ticketed anyone for a bylaw violation in the forest since the camp started in April.

• "The campers are excellent stewards of the environment," Blunt explains. "We've hauled out hundreds of pounds of trash that was dumped at the site in past years, and we've recovered hundreds of recyclable bottles and cans left by partiers and homeless people before the area was targeted for an interchange."

When the campers arrived, the First Nations cave had trash and broken bottles littering the interior, Blunt notes. The garbage was carefully picked up and hauled away by the volunteers. The presence of the campers has also put an end to the problem of younger people consuming alcohol and drugs in the forest near the cave.

Fires for warmth and cooking have been safe and contained, and latrines are located well away from watercourses. "It's a lot like a Boy Scout or Girl Guide camp in the wilderness," Blunt says.

Donations to the camp's legal defense fund at the law firm of Underhill, Faulkner, Boies Parker in Victoria have boosted the odds of winning the case, Blunt says.

In April, a loosely-organized group established a camp in the woods to protect the wetlands, forest, cave, and wildlife from the development. The area around Spencer's Pond and the Langford Lake Cave at the north end of Leigh Road is valued by local residents as a park and green space. The new interchange is likely to decimate the cave, the pond, the underground geology and the diverse wildlife in the area.

Volunteers have conducted their own survey of the flora and fauna in the path of the new highway project. Some of the results are online at http://treesit.blogspot.com, along with maps, photos, background and links for more information.