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Admiral’s Forest to become an Otter Point wilderness community park

Undeveloped second-growth forest will be added to district's park land

A trail already on the newly acquired parkland in Otter Point. (📸 Joyce Mackinnon, Contributed)

A trail already on the newly acquired parkland in Otter Point. (📸 Joyce Mackinnon, Contributed)

Good news for park lovers in Sooke: Admiral’s Forest in Otter Point has been acquired by the Juan de Fuca Community Parks Service for $650,000.

Back in April, The Westshore reported on a pledge drive the Juan de Fuca Community Trails Society was running to make the purchase possible, and now the deal is done.

The landowner offered it for sale to the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission—a long name without a great acronym like SEAPARC, its counterpart in Sooke. They're both subsidiaries of the CRD.

But JDF Parks & Rec—a better short form than JDFEAPRAC, yes?—has limited funds, so the JDF Community Trails Society jumped on board to help supplement the purchase.

More than $130,000 was donated through The Land Conservancy (TLC), locals living in Otter Point, the trails society, and others. Some of the money came through a park transfer between JDF Parks & Rec and CRD Regional Parks. Wigglesworth Lake Community Park, which was owned by the electoral area, is now a regional park. The change of ownership won’t change the park, which is adjacent to the Sooke Hills Wilderness Trail that’s already managed by CRD Regional Parks.

The land is 58 acres, and has been eyed as a community park for at least a decade. There are several unofficial walking trails that already traverse the land, winding through undeveloped second-growth forest and wetland. It’s one of the last undeveloped large acreage lots in Otter Point.