15 000 ya: End of Fraser Glaciation; plants animals
& humans colonized new coastal plain.
11 000 ya: Ocean submerged
5 000 ya: Crustal rebound returned coastline to modern
form.
2 000 ya: Songhish natives
harvested native plants of the Garry oak meadows.
1700s:
European explorers arrived.
1843:
1859: Scotch
broom introduced at Sooke by Captain Colquhoun Grant.
1869:
Anglican Synod established church farm on the slopes of the mountain in Bowker Creek watershed.
1891:
1926:
1923 to 1941:
Easter Sunday sunrise services were held at the summit.
1942:
Department of National Defense occupied the summit.
1958:
1960’s:
1967:
1970:
1980’s: Park
trails improved.
1993:
Off-road cycling banned.
1994:
Volunteers began removing blackberry, broom & ivy from the park.
1995:
1995:
1996:
Volunteers plant 700 shrubs and 1400 Oak trees.
1997: East side of park cleared of
mature broom by Mt Tolmie Conservancy
association; Volunteers plant 304 trees and 245 shrubs.
1998: Shelbourne local area plan commits to develop a resource
inventory and management plan for Mt Tolmie
park. Volunteers plant 1020 trees and
193 shrubs.
1998:
Volunteers remove regenerated broom seedlings from east side of park.
2001: A
document: “An Inventory and Description of Garry Oak Restoration Project Sites”
was completed for Saanich’s GORP.
2003: Survey
of rare plants conducted by Adolf and Oldriska Ceska for the association. Red and blue listed species
discovered include: Aster curtus, Carex
tumulicola, Allium amplectens,
Piperia elegans.
2003: The
association pilots a “Decision Support Tool for Invasive species in Garry Oak
Ecosystems” for the Garry Oak ecosystem recovery
team.
2003: The
Garry Oak Restoration Project (GORP)
begins restoration work in the Mt Tolmie
demonstration site. Seedlings are
removed and mature broom is removed on the side west of
1998 to 2007:
Regenerated broom continues to be removed by volunteers. The focus is on
removing seedlings from the summit down to Cedar Hill X Rd. on the east side of
the park. The regeneration is particularly heavy due to a significant and
unusual germination in August 2004.
2008- 2009:
The MTCA continues to remove regenerated broom. Thanks to the volunteer efforts
of students from Oak Bay High School we have completed the area from the summit
to Cedar Hill X Rd.
2010- 2011:
The MTCA continues to remove regenerated broom. Students from SMU have made an
excellent contribution to our restoration efforts.