Wolf Wiedemann, a long-time resident of Gambier Island and one of the founding directors of the Gambier Island Conservancy, passed away on August 26, 2011 at the age of 84. Wolf and his wife, Maria Van Dyk, who was also a founding director, built a marvelous, custom-crafted, house on what had been their five-hectare recreational property atop a hill near Gambier Harbour. They moved into their retirement home on a permanent basis in 1995.

Wolf's work experience in accounting and sales for Canadian Pacific Airlines highly qualified him to assume the responsibility as the Conservancy's treasurer, a position he held from the inception of the Conservancy in 1995 until his death. Wolf proved to be a very dedicated, talented and innovative treasurer. His precise and meticulous financial reports, presented at every Conservancy meeting and annually to the provincial government, were impressive in their detail and professionalism. Among his accomplishments as treasurer were the following: a land trust fund he set up and managed for the Conservancy; collecting and administrating funds donated to the Conservancy to help establish the Mt Artaban Nature Reserve; financial advice he provided to the Islands Trust Fund when they were developing the Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program; and through his negotiation skills, he was able to annually secure funding from the Sunshine Coast Regional District to maintain and develop trails on the island.

Wolf loved hiking in the outdoors and the peaceful solitude of nature. Aside from his treasurer duties, he worked tirelessly over the years to establish a network of hiking trails across the whole island to connect all communities as well as routes to popular recreational destinations such as Gambier Lake and beach access locations. Initially, there was some opposition to his vision for an across-island interconnecting trail network. He patiently supported the efforts of various communities to develop trails in their vicinity and eventually these trails became connected to each other, forming a network across the island. Once this network became established, Wolf took the lead in the preparation of a detailed trail map with colour-coded routes and trail descriptions, including estimated hiking times for each of the routes. Using Conservancy funds, he arranged for the map to be printed in a convenient brochure format with the Conservancy's logo, mission statement and contact information included. This trail network and map was perhaps Wolf's greatest legacy to the Conservancy, which will serve to facilitate access for future generations of nature lovers to explore and preserve the natural beauty of Gambier Island. Wolf's contribution to the Conservancy was exceptional and won't soon be forgotten.

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