Tofino Sea Kayaking

Fifteen or twenty years ago, the commercial logging industry was thriving, cutting trees when and where it pleased. Anyone standing in the way of the jobs and money that the industry represented was run over like a pothole on a west coast logging road. But that didn’t stop Dorothy Baert from doing everything she could to protect Clayoquot Sound.

“I hate to remember those five years,” says Baert, the owner of Tofino Sea Kayaking. “They weren’t pleasant. I’ve spent endless hours on committees trying to prevent industry from ravaging this place.”

Eighteen years ago, Baert had just set up her sea kayaking company in Tofino, on Vancouver Island’s west coast. The tourism industry was small and weak compared to resource companies. Logging companies were obliterating huge areas of rainforest with no regard for anyone else, including tourism operators. “The logging industry wanted to cut down all the trees,” she says. Knowing what the logging companies were doing was not sustainable, Baert volunteered to sit on a sustainable development planning committee for the area. It was an early incarnation of the Land and Resource Management Plans that are in place throughout the province today, but at that time, it was a cutting edge endeavor. However, the initiative was not welcomed amicably by all. Resource industry representatives refused to acknowledge tourism operators as a legitimate member of the process. Still, Baert and others stuck it out through five years of meetings and frustrations.

While she looks back at that time as a failure, the process did lay the groundwork for all the progress that has been and is being achieved. Parts of Clayoquot have been protected from logging and other development, a better relationship has emerged between tourism and other industries, and finally, today, logging representatives are starting to see the tourism industry as having a legitimate interest in what happens to Clayoquot Sound.

In an effort to make sure everyone is clear about Tofino Sea Kayaking’s intentions in Clayoquot, Baert made them clear in the company’s mission statement: “To strive for excellence in providing quality sea kayaking programs which promote environmental awareness, safety on the water, physical well-being and cultural sensitivity through the experience of wilderness and our human connection to the natural world. We are dedicated to the protection of Clayoquot Sound as a unique wilderness area and a quality paddling destination.”

“We are committed to protecting Clayoquot Sound environment in terms of our best practices,” says Baert. The company recycles as much as they can, uses non polluting laundry detergents and soaps, practices ‘leave no trace’ camping and donates to The Friends of Clayoquot Sound and The Rainforest Education Society; two local environmental organizations. Baert also attends regional board meetings and is active in, and a past president of the local chamber of commerce representing tourism interests. “I represent the distinct needs of wilderness tourism,” she says.

To pass on a legacy of stewardship of wilderness, Tofino Sea Kayaking guides and instructors make a point of educating clients about the local environment and what the company is doing to protect it. To keep up to date on what is going on every year, a representative from Friends of Clayoquot Sound or the Rainforest Education Society comes to the company’s staff training to inform everybody about ongoing and planned projects. “That way they are informed about what’s new and we can volunteer and donate if we want,” Baert says.

“We’re lucky,” she says. “We have progressive organizations here doing good work.” And with the support of Tofino Sea Kayaking, they may finally pave the road for sustainability in Clayoquot Sound.

Website: www.tofino-kayaking.com

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