Dear Editor,

WOLF has made a concerted effort in the past five months to persuade Langley Township to protect all of the Gray Pit lands as an intact ecosystem by removing them all from the market.

WOLF has had overwhelming public support, and we wish to thank everyone who signed a petition or wrote or emailed the Township, raising their concerns.

I would also like to thank Council on behalf of WOLF for listening to all of our concerns and taking the majority off the market.

WOLF's mandate is to educate and undertake outreach in order to generate a broader public understanding of the value of forested areas within the Township. We take our role very seriously and have committed ourselves to ongoing review, commenting upon, and lobbying our local government where we feel that the public interest is not being met.

One of the primary roadblocks in this process is the Township's reliance on the provisions of the Community Charter which allow discussion of property matters in camera. This has led to a number of our activities being reactive and piecemeal.

We don't believe that this is an appropriate policy to continue with respect to the disposal of "surplus" lands in the Township. We expect that there will now be more public engagement and a more comprehensive vetting process to ensure that a "best practices" approach is realized with more transparency and public consultation.

Further to the Township's recent announcement, some may assume that the battle is over and that a satisfactory compromise has been reached.

However, WOLF continues to lobby for protection of the entire Gray Pit lands and a solution that would save the wetlands from destruction. We believe that the public interest lies in nothing less.

Sincerely,

Petrina Arnason, Langley