British Columbia: This Favoured Land

Joan McGrath is a Toronto Board of Education library consultant.

British Columbia is indeed a land favoured: its climate and scenery are such that the province is a mecca both for holiday-makers and for retirees; the landscape is as beautiful as any in the world could be, and far less marred by man than most of the rest of North America.

For all its riches, however, the natural treasury of British Columbia is not inexhaustible, as earlier generations chose to believe. It is now a strong concern to repair as far as possible the damages inflicted in the past, and to take serious thought for the future. Liz Bryan examines the land and life of British Columbia, its geology and climatic factors, history and settlement patterns, natural flora and fauna, and the environmental damage that is so much a by-product of modern technology and human carelessness. Her thoughtful assessment of the situation is certainly serious, but guardedly optimistic.

The text is enhanced by a wealth of photography of extraordinary quality, and by the lovely water-colour paintings by Jack Grundle. Not one of the numerous illustrations suggests the presence of humankind anywhere in the wilderness so stunningly portrayed — a vision promoted with the support and encouragement of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment.