New Westminster Environmental Almanac (2917 ... - Douglas College

Introduction & Overview
Introduction and Overview
New Westminster has had a long and rich history in the province of
British Columbia. Its beginning as the capital city for the colony of BC,
its location along the banks of the Fraser River, and today as the hub of
the Greater Vancouver Regional District, has made and maintains New
Westminster as a key municipality in this province. New Westminster
was once thought of as a “frontier town”, surrounded by the dense and
vast wilderness of Western Canada. In the last one hundred and twenty
years the great forests that enclosed New Westminster were transformed
into the neighbouring communities of Burnaby and Coquitlam,
Richmond and Surrey.
New Westminster has not escaped the rapid growth of our region.
However, unlike other municipalities, there is very little undeveloped
land onto which the population can expand. This growth puts a heavy
pressure on the environmental health of the community and even more so
in an urban centre like New Westminster, where green space and natural
areas are at a premium.
This book addresses the existing natural environment of New
Westminster, how to maintain the city’s environment, as well as the
initiatives that are in motion to maintain and improve environmental
quality and quantity.
New Westminster, 1865
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New Westminster Public Library