By Janis Ringuette

In March, selected European elm trees growing along the edge of the Dallas Road bluffs were cut to help stabilize the cliffs. Tall non-native elms move violently in high winds; that motion loosens the soil around their roots, promoting erosion and contributing to “long term instability of the bank,” according to City of Victoria Environmental Technician, Fred Hook.

Botanist Dr. Christopher Brayshaw took this 1968 photo at the south end of Douglas Street at Dallas Road. There were no elms and a clear view of the ocean and beach.

Cutting began at Cook Street and Dallas Road where about 20 large elms were removed alongside the path leading down to the turret and beach. Smaller elms were topped to about four feet to allow sunlight to reach the ground. That will allow native vegetation to regenerate and hold surface soils in place.

Near Finlayson Point, in Beacon Hill Park, 30 elms measuring over 8” in diameter and/or 25 feet above the top of the bank were targeted. At the Douglas Street corner, about ten large elms, some 35-40 feet high, were removed.

Dr. Brayshaw stood at the same location in 2000. The view was completely blocked by a tall elm thicket.

Native trees - Pacific willow, Pacific crab apple and Bitter cherry - stay low and shape to the wind with minimal motion. A few of these remain on the bluffs but most have been overwhelmed by the highly invasive elms. Elms spread quickly by sending up shoots from their roots, a process called suckering.

Botanists disagree about the elm species - English, Rock or Cork - but they do agree they are invasive and undesirable. James Bay resident Dr. Chris Brayshaw calls elm thickets along Dallas Road an “invasion.” In a 2005 botanical survey of Beacon Hill Park, Dr. Adolf Ceska called them “infestations.”

Other invasive plants - Gorse, Scotch broom and Tree lupine - crowd out native species too but the spread of elms along the bluffs has been particularly fast and devastating. Two photos document the dramatic elm growth at the south end of Douglas Street at Dallas Road. The first photo, taken by Dr. Brayshaw in 1968, shows an unobstructed view of the ocean with no elms. In the second photo, taken at the same location in 2000, the view is blocked by a tall, impenetrable wall of elms.

The Dallas Road cliffs have been eroding slowly for thousands of years. Local aboriginal people called the cliff edge ‘Heel-ng-ikun,’ meaning “falling away bank”. In previous decades, the City of Victoria attempted “to stop” or “reduce” this natural process by constructing stairways, paths, walls, drains, berms, reefs and breakwaters. Most had the opposite effect.

Bluff erosion and bluff ecosystems are complicated issues. That is why the March cut was cautious and limited. No elms were killed; they will sprout back quickly and their roots remain in place to stabilize the bluffs.

Until a long-term management study for the cliffs is completed this year, there will be no major bluff work and no attempt to replace invasive elms with native plants.