Welcome to the Dictionary of Island Terms. Its purpose is to pin down the patois of Vancouver Island by recording its toponyms, nicknames, phenomena, slang, personalities and places. Explore the ever-growing A-Z here.
Big Lonely Doug | nature | A locally famous Douglas Fir tree located next to the Gordon River just north of Port Renfrew. By 2012, it was the only tree left standing in a 12 hectare cutblock. Its survival is due to a sympathetic decision made the year before by surveyor Dennis Cronin, whose task it was to mark for clear-cutting one of the last remaining old-growth forests of Vancouver Island. The Big Lonely Doug stands an astounding 66 metres tall and 12 metres in circumference. It is the second largest Fir tree in Canada.
Usage: “Few things are more simultaneously illustrative of our species’ folly and fancy than the Big Lonely Doug…”