SYLVIA OATES

The below text is taken from a Press Release issued by WOLF on November 15.

Watchers of Langley Forests is pleased to announce that artist Sylvia Oates will donate
twenty percent of the sales proceeds from two of her new paintings towards the purchase
of the McLellan Park East Forest. The public will get a chance to see the works of art
during the Eastside Culture Crawl. http://eastsideculturecrawl.com/

Sylvia Oates is a painter who who draws her inspiration from the beauty of our west coast
environmSylvia Oent. The paintings were inspired by a visit Sylvia Oates made to the
forest on October 20. Her connection to nature is longstanding.Her formative years were
spent in the Willoughby area of Langley Township. “My happiest hours were spent in the
bush at the edge of our farm” she said of her childhood in a letter to the editor.Sylvia Oates is
now based in Vancouver with her studio in East Vancouver. She works in acrylics and oils
and occasionally mixed media. Her website is http://www.sylviaoates.ca/Sylvia_Oates/Home.html.  The paintings will be displayed in her studio during the Eastside Culture Crawl running from November 16 to November 18.

The McLellan Park East Forest is one of two municipally owned forest stands in the Glen
Valley area of Langley Township. It is twenty five acres in size. Together with Mclelan
Park West it constitutes the last significant forested block in Glen Valley. Both McLellan
Park parcels were originally put up for auction earlier this year but after a public outcry
the municipality withdrew the western parcel from the market.

The McLellan Park East Forest is of the dwindling Coastal Western Hemlock ecological
community. It is a mature second growth forest. Of the two CWH types prevalent in the
forest one one is endangered and the other is destined to be endangered if circumstances
continue as they are. Two wetlands add to the overall biodiversity.
The Township has owned the land for over eighty years and left it relatively untouched.
The only evidence of logging is from pioneer times. Some trees may be up to 240 yrs old.
The money from the sale of the lands is to go to the purchase of a site on which to build a
recreational centre in the community of Aldergrove.
Watchers of Langley Forest is a group of Langley citizens who came together to fight for
the conservation of both forests. Since late July 2012 WOLF has been waging a public
awareness campaign to make the public aware of this ecological rarity. WOLF and the
Township of Langley have signed a contract that gives WOLF a narrow time frame
to raise three million dollars to buy the property from the Township.The deadline is
December 17.

WOLF would like to thank Sylvia Oates for her generosity and support.