Dyer Creek Watershed Profile

Profile

Dyer Creek Watershed
Total Drainage Area: km2
Length: 1 km
Orientation: Northeast to southwest
Elevation Range: 250 to 480 m
Average Channel width: 3 m

Characteristics

Dyer Creek starts on the east side of Grouse Mountain and flows south and then southwest through the forested slopes of lower Grouse Mountain. Dyer flows through a culvert beneath East Braemar Road and flows into the pond just south of East Braemar Road joining Hastings Creek. Dyer is a small tributary of Hastings Creek

Although impacted by logging early in the early 1900’s, the Dyer Creek watershed is mostly natural second-growth forest. Only the lower reach around East Braemar Road has been developed

Trees in the Lynn Valley area grow tall and slim because they are well sheltered and because they grow so close together they reach for the sun. The Lynn Valley area is also well watered by a network of creeks which carries nutrients from surrounding hills (Steward, 1975)

History

Hastings Creek and its numerous tributaries made up the prime spawning area for most of the Lynn’s migratory runs of cutthroat, steelhead, coho and chinook

1860’s - The first significant non-native settlement began as the Douglas-fir and Western white pine were cut for spars or sailing ship masts and exported to Britain for Royal Navy ships. Lynn Valley became known as spar forest as it provided spars 70 feet long and 13 feet in diameter

1875 – Logging for red cedar bolts became the main activity

1895 - World’s largest fir tree felled in Lynn Valley settlement area: Over 2000 years old; 417 feet high; 77 feet in circumference at the butt; 16 inch thick bark.

Early 1900’s – Accidental introduction of white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) results in the loss of most of the Western white pine on the North Shore

Lynn Valley Population: 1909 = 200; 1919 = 1400; 1971 = 25,000

1926 – Logging in Lynn Valley finishes

Late 1940’s – Balsam woody aphid (Chermes piceae) is introduced impacting the Amabilis fir

Watershed Use

Fish: Cutthroat Trout

3 Cutthroat fry found below East Braemar Road in 1993 Fish Trapping

Wildlife: Various species including raccoons, mink, river otters, black bears, Belted Kingfishers, Dippers, Great Blue Herons, Common Mergansers, Harlequin Ducks, and Swallows (Tera Environmental Consultants Ltd.)

Vegetation: Coastal Western Hemlock, dry subzone. Remaining native trees in watershed include western hemlock, douglas-fir, western red cedar, big leaf maple, and red alder up to about 120 years old

Trails: there are a variety of trails throughout the watershed. Activities include hiking and mountain biking

Powerlines at Braemar Road

Concerns

Trail at top of bank right of Dyer Creek appears heavily used by mountain bikers

Key Interest Groups/Government Bodies

Municipal Gov’t: District of North Vancouver (DNV); District Parks Department; Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre

Regional Gov’t: GVRD (regional parks, sewers and air quality); GVWD

Provincial Gov’t: Ministry of Transportation and Highways; Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks

Federal Gov’t: Department of Fisheries and Oceans; Environment Canada; Transport Canada

Local NGO’s: North Shore Streamkeepers; North Shore Fish and Game Club; Pacific Streamkeepers Federation; Lynn Valley Community Association

BC Hydro

School District 44

North (Shore/Vancouver) Historical Society

Mountain bikers

Bibliography and Available Sources of Information

Note: Very little information exists on Dyer Creek. Most of the following references provide only indirect information on Dyer Creek.
BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. TRIM/UTM Maps.
Bouton, Cherry. (2000). North Shore History. www.cherrybouton.com/nshistory.html
Clark, B. (1985). Hastings Creek Habitat Evaluation. MoE: Fish and Wildlife Branch. Surrey, B.C.
District of North Vancouver Fish Trapping Summary. (1993). Unpubl.
District of North Vancouver. (2001). GIS Database.
District of North Vancouver. Storm Drain Maps. Map Pages: H-13, H-12, G-12
District of North Vancouver Website. (2001). Hastings Creek Salmon Restoration Update. www.district.north-van.bc.ca/admin2/depart/enviro/hastings%5Fcreek% 5Fupdate.html
District of North Vancouver. Lynn Valley Official Community Plan.
Draycott, W. M. (1919). ‘A History of Lynn Valley’.
Draycot, Walter. (1912). "Lynn Valley: From the Wilds of Nature to Civilization". North Vancouver.
Draycot, Walter. (February 2000). Early Days in Lynn Valley. North Vancouver, BC: Contact Printing and Mailing Ltd.
Gabby. "Logging History of the North Shore". (1994). North Vancouver: Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre Library.
GVRD. (August 1999). Assessment of Current and Future GVS&DD Area Watershed and Catchment Conditions. Prepared for: Liquid Waste Management Plan. Stormwater Management Technical Advisory Task Group.
The Lynn-Seymour Rivers and the Hastings Stream: Geologic History of Their Origin.
Steward, Barry. "Lynn Valley’s Creeks and Fish Habitats". (1975). North Vancouver: Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre. (North Shore Archives).
Tera Environmental Consultants Ltd. Seymour-Lynn Vegetation and Wildlife Species List.

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