What’s next for the man who’s lived in Stanley Park for 30 years?

This is the final story in a three-part series about a man who has lived in Vancouver’s Stanley Park for the last three decades. Read the first part here and the second part here.

Stanley Park looks quite different now than it did in 1990.

The green, lush forest is becoming a shadow of its former self with thousands of trees being cut down and removed.

And having lived in the park for 34 years, Christenson Bailey notices everything.

The 74-year-old man set up his small, tarped campsite deep in the park more than three decades ago to make art, be inspired, and live in peace.

He’s lived by flashlights and candles, caught wild geese and ducks for food, and stayed on good terms with the park rangers.

Bailey says he used to hear certain birds singing every morning, but those melodies have gone quiet.

In one area of the forest, there used to be a small stream flowing where owls would come and bathe.

“Really beautiful,” Bailey says. “They don’t do that anymore.”

Each time a plane flies overhead, Bailey needs to block his ears.

“I get hundreds of (planes) in a week. And it’s more in the summer,” he says, irritated.

But the changes never bother Bailey for long.

While walking through the park during an interview, Bailey sees a logging truck drive by carrying dozens of downed trees. It’s part of the Vancouver Park Board’s efforts to fight an infestation of hemlock looper moths.

The sight of so many majestic trees being razed from Vancouver’s most beloved park might weigh heavily on some.

Surprisingly, Bailey is at peace with it.

“Life goes on,” he says as the truck drives by. “This environment element doesn’t exist without a continuum. In the universe, the only positive outlook to put out is life goes on.”

So, too, must Bailey’s life go on. And