Sea to Sky Backcountry Forum

Sea to Sky Winter Backcountry Forum - Letters of Support

Background

This is the fact sheet for those wishing to write a letter of support for the Sea to Sky Winter Backcountry forum. Anything helps!!!

In September 2001, the Sea to Sky Winter Backcountry Recreation Forum (�Winter Forum�) began monthly meetings to resolve the growing conflict among recreation users in the Sea to Sky backcountry. The Winter Forum included representatives from outdoor recreation clubs (backcountry skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers), commercial recreation operators (heli-ski, snow-cat and snowmobile tour operators), and government representatives. All representatives recognized the increasing and often conflicting recreational demands placed on the Sea to Sky backcountry. There are over six million recreational visits to the Sea to Sky corridor each year. The number of recreational visits will increase with the 2010 Olympics.

The vision of the Forum was to find a way for all recreational users to have reasonable access to an enjoyable experience in the Sea to Sky backcountry. After almost two years of consultations, discussions and negotiations, the Winter Forum developed a Winter Sharing Accord, which designates areas in the Sea to Sky backcountry for different recreational uses. The Winter Sharing Accord was signed off by all Forum participants. Every user group made compromises and trade-offs in order to achieve the Winter Sharing Accord. The Winter Sharing Accord is therefore a total package, balancing the recreational interests of each user group and thereby minimizing conflicts between the different user groups.

Unfortunately, Land and Water BC Inc. (�LWBC�), the provincial Crown Corporation which issues commercial recreation tenures in the Sea to Sky Corridor, has consistently ignored the Winter Sharing Accord and has issued commercial tenures which are inconsistent with the Winter Sharing Accord. As a result of the actions of LWBC, the Winter Sharing Accord has been severely compromised, undermining the balance achieved among the different recreational user groups. With respect to non-motorized users, the only areas left for non-motorized recreation outside Garibaldi Park are 21 Mile Creek and Mt. Sproatt. Furthermore, commercial recreation tenures are being issued without the benefit of carrying capacity studies, which are needed to ensure that the quality of the backcountry recreational experience is maintained in the Sea to Sky backcountry.

The Winter Forum is currently involved in ongoing negotiations and discussions at various levels of government regarding the Winter Sharing Accord. The Winter Forum is therefore seeking letters of support from recreational users of the Sea to Sky backcountry. Letters should be directed to the following government representatives and to the CEO of LWBC:

1. Honourable George Abbott, Minister Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management P.O. Box 9054, STN PROV GOVT Victoria, B.C. V8W 9E2 Fax: 250-356-8273

2. Bill Valentine, CEO and Associate Deputy Minister Land and Water BC Inc. P.O. Box 9475, STN PROV GOVT Victoria, B.C. V8W 9M2 Fax: 250-356-0105 E-mail: lwbc.corporate@victorial.gov.bc.ca

3. Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier Province of British Columbia P.O. Box 9041, STN PROV GOVT Victoria, B.C. V8W 9E1 Fax: 250-387-0087 E-mail: premier@gov.bc.ca

The key points to raise in the letters are:

• Identify yourself as a recreational user of the Sea to Sky backcountry.

• Your support for the Winter Sharing Accord developed by the Sea to Sky Winter Backcountry Recreation Forum because it balances the recreational interests of all user groups, including the motorized and non-motorized recreational users.

• Government should honour the Winter Sharing Accord and support the implementation of the Winter Sharing Accord.

• Land and Water BC Inc. should honour the Winter Sharing Accord and stop issuing commercial recreation tenures which are inconsistent and incompatible with the Winter Sharing Accord.

• Before more commercial recreation tenures are issued in the Sea to Sky backcountry, carrying capacity studies should be conducted to ensure that the quality of the backcountry wilderness recreational experience is maintained in the Sea to Sky backcountry.

If you have any questions or need more information regarding the Winter Forum or the Winter Sharing Accord for the Sea to Sky corridor, please contact Monika Bittel at monikabittel@telus.net or call 604-983-3097. If you write a letter, please forward copy of it to Monika Bittel c/o BCMC, P.O. Box 2674, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3W8 or send a copy via e-mail. Thank you for your support.

Sample Letter

Here is a copy of the letter sent on behalf of the VOC. Everyone's name didn't fit on but I tried! (Milena)

March 19, 2004 Varsity Outdoor Club Box 98 Student Union Building 6138 Student Union Mall Vancouver BC V6T 2B9

RE: Sea to Sky Backcountry Recreation Forum

Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier Province of British Columbia PO Box 9041 STN PROV GOVT Victoria BC V8W 9E1

Dear Premier Campbell,

We, the executive council of the Varsity Outdoor Club at the University of British Columbia, are writing to express our support of the Sea to Sky Winter Backcountry Recreation Sharing Forum, and the Sharing Accord produced by the Forum.

In case you are not familiar with the Forum, here is a bit of history: in September 2001 a group of community members representing non-motorized backcountry recreationists such as skiers; motorized users such as snowmobilers; and commercial tenure holders, began to hold meetings about backcountry recreation in the Sea to Sky corridor of the Squamish Forest District. Their goal was to create a plan that would ensure that all users of the area would have reasonable access to an enjoyable experience in the backcountry by minimizing the incidences of user conflicts between different groups. A group of approximately 30 people have been meeting once per month since then, and have written and mapped a Sharing Accord which divides the backcountry of the Squamish Forest District into specific use areas. In some areas all use types are permitted (for example, backcountry skiing and snowmobiling are both permitted), and in other areas motorized use is restricted to ensure that non-motorized users have a protected enjoyable experience. For more information on the Forum, we suggest that you refer to the Winter Forum's website at www.backcountryforum.org, or that you speak with MSRM employees Malcolm Leung (formerly with Land and Water BC), Kevin Lee (with LWBC), or Ross Kreye (with the LRMP). Under the guidance of the newly formed Sea to Sky Backcountry Recreation Forum Association, the Sharing Accord map is being included as Recreation�s contribution to the draft Squamish Land and Resource Management Plan.

The Sharing Accord is a finely balanced agreement between user groups that was laboriously constructed through an intensive consultation process to ensure that all users� concerns were fairly represented. However, despite verbal support of the Sharing Accord from Land and Water BC, and the presence of representatives from LWBC throughout the process, conflicting tenures continue to be granted by LWBC in the Sea to Sky corridor. A conflicting tenure is one that allows a commercial operator to conduct an activity that is restricted in that area by the Sharing Accord, (eg. allowing a heli-skiing operation to ski in a Non-Motorized area, or permitting snowmobile tours in a Non-Motorized with Restricted Motorized Access Area). From the start, Forum participants laboured to shape the map around existing tenures, and with each new conflicting tenure granted, the map changes, and the carefully constructed balance - reasonable access to an enjoyable experience for all users - is being lost. With each new tenure granted, non-motorized users especially have lost areas that were protected from motorized use, and these areas cannot be regained until the tenures expire. As an organization primarily engaged in non motorized activities, the Varsity Outdoor Club is concerned that our rights to an enjoyable experience are being lost along with these areas.

As you can see, LWBC has undermined the Sharing Accord and the efforts of the Forum to represent all user groups, including both motorized and non motorized, commercial and public recreationists. The Varsity Outdoor Club would like at this time to express our unequivocal support for the efforts of the Backcountry Forum in developing this Sharing Accord and to make two recommendations on how the Provincial Government, through the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management, should approach this problem. The first is that LWBC should be forbidden from issuing tenures that conflict with the Sharing Accord map. Since this map was developed with all users in mind by a broad based coalition representing a variety of interests, it is only fair that the wishes of the recreation community be reflected in the decisions to grant tenures. The second is that it be put in writing in the LRMP that no tenures with use that conflicts with the LRMP Winter Backcountry Recreation map (currently almost the same as the Sharing Accord map) shall be granted, and that no currently existing conflicting tenures shall be replaced with new conflicting tenures, should the current tenure holder wish to forfeit their tenure, or should their tenure expire.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We believe that this Forum has had great success in bringing together a diverse variety of groups with one common goal in mind � the enjoyment of British Columbia�s beautiful backcountry areas. We feel the Sharing Accord is a progressive solution to the conflicts which occur in the backcountry, and hope that with your support, the Forum�s goal can be realized. Your prompt actions on this matter will be truly appreciated by the Varsity Outdoor Club, and all recreationists in the Sea to Sky corridor.

Respectfully,

Roberta Holden (President) Chris Stathers (Vice President) Sandra Nicol (Sea to Sky Winter Backcountry Forum Representative) Milena Semproni (Sea to Sky Summer Backcountry Forum Representative)

On Behalf of the:

Membership and Executive of the Varsity Outdoor Club, University of British Columbia

cc: Honourable George Abbott, Minister of Sustainable Resource Management Bill Valentine, CEO, Land and Water BC Inc.

Letter Regarding Phelix Creek/VOC Waddington Hut

Dear Mr. Tudhope,

The Varsity Outdoor Club Executive is writing this letter on behalf of its general membership to address some concerns that have arisen regarding the VOC�s Waddington Hut at Phelix Creek. We believe that our views are also shared by the broader non � motorized recreational community who make use of our hut in this beautiful wilderness area.

We are concerned with the application that has been made to establish a commercial snowmobile/ATV operation in the area which would run regular trips in the vicinity of the hut. The Waddington or Phelix Creek Hut was built as a joint project of the VOC and the BC Worker�s Compensation Board in 1998 with the purpose of providing a base for the exploration of this amazing area with its wide range of opportunities for backcountry skiing, rock climbing and mountaineering. The hut is open to the general public as well as VOC members and is popular amongst various groups looking to get out and enjoy the backcountry, including groups who use the hut as a base to teach mountaineering skills. For instance, this past New Year�s holiday saw almost thirty people at the hut taking advantage of the great ski touring in the area! The VOC is concerned that allowing a commercial motorized operation to establish itself would ruin the area for the non � motorized recreationists who appreciate it for its beauty, serenity and wilderness value. We also wonder about where the proposed snowmobile route would lie as it seems that certain sections near the creek would require serious construction efforts to allow snowmobiles to pass, which would, of course, degrade the wilderness value of the area further in addition to the disruptive presence of motorized vehicles themselves. Furthermore, we would like to point out that the location of the hut was chosen partly based on the low probability in the area for snowmobiler and skier conflicts to occur. The Ministry of Forests explicitly indicated to the VOC that we should choose an area that had a low potential for conflicts, and we felt from both perspectives that it was an important consideration. VOC members and the public who use the hut are understandably quite dismayed that there has now been a reconsideration of this issue.

We believe the area encompassing the Phelix Creek drainage should be designated as a non � motorized use area as suggested by the Sea to Sky Backcountry Recreation Forums (Winter and Summer) in 2003 to preserve the quality of the outdoor experience in this valley for the non � motorized recreationists who have established a presence in the area over a number of years (including prior to the completion of the current hut). We would also like to call attention to the fact that the Ministry of Forests and the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC have both suggested after conducting studies in the area that Phelix Creek and its environs be reserved for non � motorized use because of the long history of non � motorized pursuits in the area; the presence of the popular Waddington Hut; and the value of the land as habitat for grizzly bears. Therefore, the Varsity Outdoor Club respectfully requests that the area be designated in the Squamish LRMP as a non � motorized area, and that no motorized groups or individuals be permitted to use motorized vehicles off roads in the area in light of the great value that Phelix Creek holds for non � motorized recreationists.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter; we look forward to hearing a response from you. Respectfully yours, Varsity Outdoor Club Executive comments and editing appreciated!!!! - Milena