Subfonds - Friends of Boundary Bay sous fonds

The Friends of Boundary Bay is an environmental advocacy group working to preserve the Boundary Bay area in Delta. The organization was formed in August of 1990, and became active in lobbying for the preservation of the Boundary Bay area as a wildlife site, and the prevention of golf course development in the area. The organizations's activities in this area included attending Delta Council meetings, issuing press releases, and staging demonstrations. The organization also worked to launch interpretive programs and a mobile interpretive unit regarding the preservation of Boundary Bay. The organization also staged fundraisers, including a reading by W.P. Kinsella and a silent auction held December 15, 1990, and a "Blues for the Bay" benefit concert held February 15, 1991. The organization also rented office space to serve as a library, research centre, and general information sharing facility for all groups working to preserve the Boundary Bay area. The office included a meeting room to be used by these groups, as well as the library/research centre. Research materials consisted of articles, reports, and other items donated by various individuals. The office also served as a temporary repository for the records of some other local environmental groups, such as the Point Roberts Heron Preservation Committee. The organization also worked with other environmental groups, such as the Boundary Bay Conservation Committee, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, the Point Roberts Heron Preservation Committee, the Fraser for Life, the Burns Bog Society, the Vancouver Natural History Society, the Tsawwassen Nature Park Society, the Delta Naturalists, the Surrey/White Rock Naturalists, the Puget Sounders, and others.

Martin Keeley worked alongside the Fraser for Life Communications Society during his time with the Point Roberts Heron Preservation Committee. In July 1990, Martin Keeley along with the Fraser for Life decided to create another company under the umbrella of the Communications Society, calling it the Friends of Boundary Bay. The intention was to get Martin Keeley to be the executive director of the organization. The Friends of Boundary Bay was an environmental advocacy group working to preserve the Boundary Bay area in Delta. It acted as a lobbyist for the preservation of the Boundary Bay area as a wildlife preserve, and for the prevention of golf course development in the area. The organization's activities in this area included attending Delta Council meetings, issuing press releases, and staging demonstrations. The organization also worked to launch interpretive programs and a mobile interpretive unit regarding the preservation of Boundary Bay. The organization also staged fundraisers, including a reading by W. P. Kinsella and a silent auction held December 15, 1990, and a "Blues for the Bay" benefit concert held February 15, 1991.

The organization also rented office space to serve as a library, research centre, and general information sharing facility for all groups working to preserve the Boundary Bay area. The office included a meeting room to be used by these groups, as well as the library/research centre. Research materials consisted of articles, reports, and other items donated by various individuals. The office also served as a temporary repository for the records of some other local environmental groups, such as the Point Roberts Heron Preservation Committee and the Fraser for Life Communications Society.

By 1991, Martin Keeley was heavily invested in at least three environmental groups around the Boundary Bay area. He remained active in most of them until his leave in 1998/1999. Other organizations that were in direct contact with Martin Keeley and the Friends of Boundary Bay were the Fraser Wetlands Committee (FWC), the Delta Naturalists Society (DNS), the Burns Bog Conservation Society (BBCS), the Nature Trust of British Columbia, the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, the Vancouver Natural History Society, the Tsawwassen Nature Park Society, the Surrey/White Rock Naturalists and the Puget Sounders.

In 1998, Martin Keeley began looking for a replacement for his position as Executive Director of the Friends of Boundary Bay. His other organizations had slowly given control to other people. By the end of 1998, he had replaced himself and began his departure for the Cayman Islands. In 1999, following Keeley's departure, the Friends of Boundary Bay changed its name to the B.C. Wetlands Society to reflect its changing role in education and research involving wetlands ecosystems. While still based in Delta, BC, the BC Wetlands Society focused its efforts on environmental education in British Columbia. Its mission was “to promote the conservation of British Columbia’s wetlands ecosystems through education, research and stewardship”. In support of this mission, the society’s main activities were as follows:

1. Provision of education programs and resources to schools,
   community groups and the general public;
2. Coordinate stewardship programs in local wetlands; and
3. Coordinate the efforts of interested environmental
   organizations.

Funding for the Friends of Boundary Bay and the BC Wetlands Society has decreased significantly since 2000, subsequently curtailing its field activities. The organization's research and programs were integrated into other organizations duties. None of the records in this sous fonds are directly related to the activites of the BC Wetlands Society, they are only related to the period of time before the name change and when the organization was still known as the Friends of Boundary Bay.