Over the summer, missing beach logs on Vancouver beaches became an incredibly sensitive topic for beachgoers. This is why the park board is alerting locals our precious logs are safe.
They’re a natural place to sit, lay your blanket out by, and set up for a beach day. Logs are to Vancouver’s beaches what private daybeds are to luxurious pools – a spot to set up for a relaxing day by the water, to see and be seen, and establish your base camp for a much-needed beach day.
So it’s understandable why Vancouverites worry about the logs, right?
To ensure everyone is up to date on the log’s whereabouts, Jeff McLean, the park operations manager at the Vancouver Park Board, explained in a video posted to Twitter that parks are being prepared for the winter season.
“As storm season rolls in, these logs become more of a hazard,” McLean said. “High tides and extreme weather events can pull logs into the water and force them against infrastructure, causing damage to the seawall and piers. Or wash them out to sea, putting boats and other watercraft at risk.”
Vancouver’s beloved beach logs are moving…but just up the beach! Don’t worry folks, we do this every year to prepare for storm season and promise to put them back out in the spring. pic.twitter.com/EuOClMdUwV
— Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (@ParkBoard) November 15, 2022
McLean explains that the logs sitting close to the shoreline are moved higher up the beach every year.
“Some of these logs have washed up after rolling off the log booms or trees that are falling into the water during storm surges,” he added. “These will be returned to mills or salvaged for other uses. Some even make it into our parks infrastructure lining paths, or plant beds.”
The rest will be stockpiled in safe areas on the beaches to be returned in the spring.
“So don’t worry. You may see some of these logs being moved around in the next couple of weeks.
“But we promise to return them as soon as the weather warms up again in the spring.”
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In July, the city’s obsession with beach logs even made global headlines as one of the top stories in The Guardian.
A spokesperson for the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation had told Daily Hive at the time that a majority of logs on beaches were removed in response to the pandemic and the need for social distancing.
After sitting in “log jail” for some time, the logs were returned to the beaches – but not all of them made it back.
A few days later, the park board announced it planned on rolling out more at English Bay.
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