HAIG-BROWN KINGFISHER CREEK SOCIETY

Haig-Brown Kingfisher Creek is a coho salmon stream which flows through the Haig-Brown land and joins the Campbell River.

In the mid 1900's, with the growth of the town of Campbell River, the lower creek was quickly crowded out and turned into an unnatural maze of ditches and culverts. The changes in the waterways upset the spawning and life cycles of the salmon.

For a long time, Roderick Haig-Brown wanted to restore the creek so that it would be a natural waterway again. In 1979, three years after Roderick's passing, Ann Haig-Brown (Roderick's wife) and many of Rod's friends joined together in his memory to create the Haig-Brown Kingfisher Creek Society. The Society began its restoration of the Kingfisher Creek in 1984.

The Haig-Brown Kingfisher Creek Society has done many things to make the creek, the Haig-Brown House, and its surrounding grounds into a place where everyone is welcome to visit and learn.

HAIG-BROWN KINGFISHER CREEK

1984
The creek has been re-routed through Haig-Brown land, and the stream bottom has been clay lined and gravelled.

Walking trails have been made along the Campbell River. Along the trails there are benches where you can sit and enjoy the river, and even see an eagle or kingfisher.

A boardwalk has been built along the Haig-Brown Kingfisher Creek. If you walk quietly up to the bridge over the stream, you may catch a glimpse of some small coho smelt before they swim away.

HAIG-BROWN HOUSE

1. In 1975, the Haig-Brown House was purchased by the Province of British Columbia, to be retained as greenspace, and as a memorial to the work of Roderick Haig-Brown.
2. In 1990, the Haig-Brown House was recognized as a heritage site by the provincial government.
3. In 1994, the Haig-Brown House Education Centre opened as a museum and education center for school programs, various seminars, and workshops which communicate the flavour of the Haig-Browns' lives.
4. The Haig-Brown House is also a bed and breakfast inn. The House contains possessions owned and built by Ann and Roderick.

The house, which was built in 1923, is very old now, and because of the strong south east storms, a lot of the wood in the house is water damaged. Now the house is being fixed up. The study, with over 3000 books, has been restored, and work continues on the rest of the house.

FUTURE GOALS

1. Installing water storage reservoirs in the uplands
2. Fish rearing facilities within the creek
3. Restoring the waters of the watershed that are in culverts to new stream channels

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