Hornby Island

Hornby Island of British Columbia, Canada, is a Northern Gulf Island parallel with Vancouver Island's Comox Valley.

A small community of 966 residents (as of the 2001 census) is distributed across the island. The island is culturally distinctive as it was the site of a large immigration of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War, and many of these people still live on the island. In recent years the island has become a major tourist destination and its population easily quadruples in size during the summer months. Though tourism is a primary source of income for Hornby, it has led to some water supply shortages. Most people reach the island by taking a BC Ferry to Denman Island from Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island, and then a 30-car ferry to Hornby.

The primary destinations on Hornby are Tribune Bay Provincial Park, Helliwell Provincial Park, and Whaling Station Bay. The island is also a popular mountain biking destination, with a variety of designated trails in Mount Geoffrey Escarpment Provincial Park. The total land area is 29.92 km² (11.55 sq mi).

Island geology and history

The island is geographically distinctive as it was formed by post-glacial rebound with the retreat of the last ice age. Before the arrival of European settlers, the island was inhabited by the Pentlatch, a Coast Salish First Nations band. The island was found and named Isla de Lerena during the 1791 voyage of the Spanish ship "Santa Saturnina", under Juan Carrasco and José María Narváez. The name honors the Spanish Finance Minister, Don Pedro López de Lerena, who supported the settlement. In 1850 the British renamed it after Rear Admiral Phipps Hornby, then Commander of the Pacific Station.

Vegetation and soils

Hornby Island is mostly covered by mixed forest dominated by Douglas-fir. Western red cedar, western hemlock, grand fir and lodgepole pine are the other large conifers present. The smaller Pacific yew is scattered in the understorey. The arbutus, a broadleaf evergreen species, is plentiful. Broadleaf deciduous trees include bigleaf maple, red alder, black cottonwood, Pacific flowering dogwood, cascara and several species of willow. Populations of Garry oak occur on the southern end of the island and at Helliwell Provincial Park. Only about 260 acres of undisturbed stands for older forest have been identified on Hornby Island, which amount to roughly 3.5% of the island's area. There are roughly 1330 acres (538 ha) of older second-growth stands on the island, which amount to 19% of the island. [http://www.hornbyisland.com/Geography/Of_Hornby.htm]

The island's soils have developed from marine deposits of variable texture, except for the higher elevations and steeper slopes where weathered clastic sedimentary rock provides the parent material. Most of Hornby's soils are sandy or gravelly, but some deep black loams occur in the northwestern part and many of the sands at the southern end have loam-textured topsoils. Podzols are common and the bleached sand grains associated with their eluvial (A₂, Ae or E) horizons lend a salt-and-pepper appearance to many forest trails. In most cases, though, the E is not very thick and may be discontinuous. On this account, the soils were mostly classified as Brown Podzolic in a soil survey published in 1959. All of the island's soils are strongly acidic in their natural state except for those which have developed on shoreline shell middens.

External links

* [http://forum.hancockhouse.com/staticpages/index.php/20060323091954727 Live streaming video of a Hornby Island bald eagle nest.]
* [http://www.hornbyisland.net/ Hornby Island BC - A Natural Paradise & Unique Community.]
* [http://www.realhornby.com Real Hornby - Stay Connected]
* [http://www.deerheartsanctuary.com deerheart sanctuary - A center on Hornby Island for silent meditation retreat.]

Provincial Parks located on Hornby Island
* [http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/helliwel.html Helliwell Provincial Park – B.C. Ministry of Environment Site]

* [http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/tribune.html Tribune Bay Provincial Park – B.C. Ministry of Environment Site]

* [http://www.vancouverisland.com/parks/?id=536 Tribune Bay Provincial Park – Commercial Site]

References

Day, J.H., L. Farstad, and D.G. Laird, 1959. Soil Survey of Southeast Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands, British Columbia. B.C. Soil Survey, Rept. No. 6, Can. Dept. Agric.
* [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/standard/popdwell/Table-CD-DPL.cfm?T=2&PR=59&CD=5925&CSD=5925019&SR=1 Hornby Island Trust Area, Comox-Strathcona K Regional District Electoral Area, British Columbia; Statistics Canada]

[http://www.hornbyisland.com/Geography/Of_Hornby.htm "Hornby Island - The Natural Setting - Terrestrial Ecosystems"]