My story starts in Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park, where I was born and raised. My father, Shan Walshe, was Quetico’s warden and head naturalist. Each year, he oversaw operations and management of this 500,000 hectare wilderness park, teaching me as he went. As the park’s only year-round occupants, my family forged skills in self-sufficiency. I took my first three day solo canoe trip at the age of twelve. Travelling in back country areas was already second nature. Soon after, I began working in the park, helping with everything from building and maintaining portages and campsites to assisting with interpretive programs.
Choosing a career in resource management was a natural extension of this upbringing. While attending Guelph University in the 1990s, I spent my summers working on projects like those I had encountered in Quetico. As a technician for the Ministry of Natural Resources, I constructed an interpretive trail system at Pennock Creek, including boardwalks and bridges. I also did a biological inventory and created outreach materials, including signage and maps.
In 1996, I made the decision to leave Ontario for British Columbia (and my future wife, whose family were residents of Errington). Leaving behind the province’s mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies, and wood ticks was an added bonus.
I quickly fell in love with Oceanside and all its beauty. Exploring the area’s parks and trails was first on my list. During this time, my work took me to Duncan, where I acted as a stewardship advisor for the Cowichan Community Land Trust, a non-profit society working to preserve lands for future generations through land acquisitions and public outreach. While with CCLT, I visited landholders along important streams to help them implement sound stewardship practices. I also prepared land management plans for clients including the B.C. Forest Discovery Center. My plan included designs and recommendations for an interpretive trail network with boardwalks, bridges, and a lookout tower.
Returning to Oceanside when my contract ended, I began a series of contracts related to community land and water stewardship. This included a stream assessment, mapping and stewardship project on Shelly Creek in Parksville, and a bioengineering project on Grandon Creek in Qualicum Beach. I also designed and built a cottage in Errington, which considerably expanded my construction skills.
With the dawn of the new millennium, my work took me in new directions. As my wife and her sister researched and wrote what would become the definitive hiking guide for Vancouver Island, I created more than 50 maps for the project (which included hiking most of the trails). This project gave me an intimate knowledge of Vancouver Island’s parks and trail systems, and how they work together to provide both public recreation and wilderness protection. It also helped with my new volunteer role as a search and rescue technician.
Expanding my skills in conservation planning, I accepted a two-year position with the Living Oceans Society in Sointula as Marine Protected Areas outreach coordinator. My work included educating the public about the use of MPAs as fisheries management and conservation tools and engaging communities, including First Nations, in coastal planning discussions. I also came to appreciate the public consultation process, and see how there were many sides to every issue. Thanks to training in conflict resolution, I learned new tools to use on the job.
Back in Oceanside in 2003, I received my professional biologist designation from BC College of Applied Biology. I also went to work on a trail construction project at Milner Gardens in Qualicum, which included boardwalks, bridges, mulched paths, and the all-important gates and fences to keep the deer at bay and protect the gardens’ sensitive and domestic plants. This work galvanized my knowledge of the methods, procedures, techniques, trends, materials and equipment used in the development and maintenance of parks and trails.
While working at Milner Gardens, I also founded a hiking and tour business to keep me in the outdoors and help share my love of recreation and the region’s parks. Coastal Revelations Nature Tours was born, and I quickly became intimate with RDN and BC Parks, particularly those in and around Mount Arrowsmith, the Englishman River, and the Qualicum Rivers, which have been my most popular regional hikes. Through this work, I came to know the region’s visitors and resident park users—including their needs, desires, and outlooks. This gives me a good perspective on WHO RDN parks is providing services for and what they want from those services.
My most recent work saw me working with local organizations to install a rain garden and interpretive signage at Kwalicum Secondary School, as well as assessing and cataloguing wildlife trees with the province’s Wildlife Tree Stewardship Program. My current knowledge of plant and forest morphology is excellent thanks to these and other projects.
While continuing to offer hiking tours in the summer, I spent the last three years working on contracts such as coordinating the Green Shores program for B.C’s Stewardship Centre. Similar to LEED for green building, this project developed and tested a rating system for coastal development. My role involved bringing together technical expertise and community engagement for overall project delivery. While on the job I responded to concerns from the public about coastal erosion and other forces and provided them with expertise and resources. I also worked closely with other staff, volunteers, contractors, and consultants.
Spanning more than 15 years, my experience includes everything from creating land management plans to constructing and maintaining park trails and structures to designing signs, operating equipment, naturescaping, communicating with the public, and delivering public recreational services.
