Dr
Brink was a university teacher, naturalist and environmentalist. He
inspired an entire generation and directly or indirectly was
responsible for protecting many areas of BC.
We in the Camosun Bog group have particular reason to be appreciative
of Dr Brink. Bogs used to be considered wet and useless spaces and Dr
Brink was one of the first people to recognise the importance of this
habitat. When UBC started to dump fill in Camosun Bog in 1970, he
worked with several other professors to stop this and was able to
persuade the UBC president to end the work. Without his effort there
would be no bog left for us to restore.
Dr Brink was a member of the UBC
Technical Committee on the Endowment Lands which worked with GVRD on
developing options for the restoration of the bog. In 1990, he helped
VNHS secure funding for the removal of 150 hemlock trees from the bog
–
the first stage of restoration.
He was always interested in the
work we were doing. He joined us in the
bog in June 2006 and told us some fascinating stories about the bog
including canoeing down 16th Ave in winter! We were able to
videotape him at this time and also presented him with a certificate
from GVRD officially recognising his contribution to the saving of the
bog.
