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[IronNoggin]

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/nrra/

Under the guise of catering to our "better interests", the Provincial Government has launched a new legislation proposal "for better regulation of natural resource roads". In the preamble they note: "This simplified process will create certainty about rules and regulations, and provide consistency for all sectors and resource road users".

All their wonderful words (spin) aside, what this really translates to is the wholesale curtailing of access to this province's back country. If passed, this new bill will allow the government to gate all access roads under their control, and hand off "policing" (read LIMIT & GATE) all other roads "owned" by Industry.

Already here on The Rock, Island Timberlands has started slapping up dozens upon dozens of No Trespassing Notices. Not simply on the side roads which are seeing gates assembled at an unprecedented rate, but most of the Main Arteries which of course are the only way for anyone to access the back country. It is assumed they are doing so in preparation for the passage of this bill, and has come as a surprise to both back country users and enforcement (RCMP and CO's). Chiefly this has occurred in the Comox region, but is spreading as I've now seen a handful of new signs/gates in the Port Alberni area.

Left unchecked, it will spread as fast as wildfire to the rest of the Province. If successful in pushing this bill through, the Provincial Government will be in effect curtailing everyone's access to the back country Province Wide. It simply will not matter whether you are "fishermen, hunters, mountain bikers, hikers, climbers, motorized recreation" etc etc, the answer will simply be NO You May NOT Enter!

For any who enjoy our natural heritage, and the ability to access that, I'd strongly suggest you treat this matter with the Seriousness it deserves! Write or call your MLA, send comments to the link posted above, and do it NOW! This is NO time for apathy! We are at extreme risk of losing FAR too much if this overbearing legislation is allowed to go unchecked!

I already have sent letters in, am working on comments to provide to the address noted above, and will post a few suggestions towards that once I have my thoughts assembled. I VERY much hope we can all come together, and ensure our access to OUR Province remains secure!

Matt

[troutbreath]

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=28457.0

This is one of those issues that's hard for the general public to appreciate.

[Sandman]

All their wonderful words (spin) aside, what this really translates to is the wholesale curtailing of access to this province's back country. If passed, this new bill will allow the government to gate all access roads under their control, and hand off "policing" (read LIMIT & GATE) all other roads "owned" by Industry.

That seems to be contrary to #5 of the "Framework Policies" which holds that:

Open Roads: Roads if open are available to everyone except as required to protect the road, to mitigate unacceptable environment impacts, and to provide for the safety of road users.

What this means: The designated maintainer cannot decide who is allowed to use the road [emphasis mine]. However, users must meet obligations, such as following road use rules, and those who do not may be subject to enforcement actions.
The designated maintainer will have the authority to temporarily close roads to everyone for maintenance activities or when conditions put the road, the environment or users at risk. For example, it may be necessary to restrict use or close the road temporarily due to timber falling operations next to a road, spring break-up, or maintenance activities such as bridge replacement.

This would appear to offer protection to the other potential users from being restricted in access unless it is temporary for safety (during active logging hours for example) or during maintenance work (repairing a washed-out bridge), or permanently (potential for environmental damage or user risk caused by continued use).  This proposed legislation (not to say this government is not capable of changing laws at a whim) appears to protect recreational users from "designated maintainers" who attempt to restrict their access (by way of gating) and should help combat what you are seeing on the Island Timberland's roads.

[StillAqua]

I agree with Nog.......you have to be careful about these types of legislation that hand over crown "responsibilities" to private parties. Despite what the policies say, they may have generated a loophole that gives private companies great powers as "maintainers" to interpret in their own way the need for "road protection and safety" and allow them to control and restrict access. Time to circle the wagons......

[Sandman]

I agree with Nog.......you have to be careful about these types of legislation that hand over crown "responsibilities" to private parties. Despite what the policies say, they may have generated a loophole that gives private companies great powers as "maintainers" to interpret in their own way the need for "road protection and safety" and allow them to control and restrict access. Time to circle the wagons......

The pressure needs to be put to bear that the "open roads" policy is written into the law, and that access can only be restricted on a temporary basis for the reasons mentioned.  These are roads that, while built and maintained by private industry, are built on Crown land and as such should be available to the "public" as long (as the public follows the rules and uses the roads responsibly). 

[IronNoggin]

Apparently the BC legislation is part of an International Public Access Management Plan.

It is directly connected to US and Alberta PUBLIC access plans.

Read this report, lots of information pertinent to BC: http://issuu.com/foothillsresearchinstitute/docs/flmf_2009_03_report_accessmgmtstudy_final

From that Plan we get:

"At the end of the work, perhaps the overriding lesson is that access management is one of the most difficult land use planning problems. This is particularly true when the objective involves denying public users access to existing routes."

And there, in a nutshell, is what we're facing... 

Nog

[nickredway]

Wrecking bar, check, sledgehammer, check, splitter, check, gas axe check  

[nickredway]

In all seriousness I have friends up in Royston on the island and it's already a problem up there.

[IronNoggin]

In all seriousness I have friends up in Royston on the island and it's already a problem up there.

In all seriousness, unless a significant number of people let them know directly of their opposition to this proposal (and soon btw) the problem WILL spread rapidly to the vast majority of the province. Sandman's (and others) wishful interpreting of the "spin" aside, the Agenda here is to directly limit everyone's access in the name of "protecting the environment" and "liability issues". It is much more focused on the latter, and of course seen as a major cash saving initiative presented by those who never wander off the pavement.

The term "Let Them Play Golf" which was employed in the direction of recreational anglers in another situation earlier this year comes very much to mind. IF you are content with that, If you are content to simply sit idly by with the vein hope that others will take care of countering this proposal for you, then YOU will shortly bear witness to the loss of the vast majority of access to the back country in this province.

If you bother to have a read of the Master Plan this proposal is based on (latest link above), you cannot help but note:

- The extremely detailed description of measures employed to keep people from accessing the land and how effective they are...berms, gates, manned and unmanned, excavation, and even enforcement and punishment for accessing a closed area.

We have species of fish being killed off, habitat being destroyed, rivers and lakes being polluted and drained of their water on our crown land, and now they want to restrict our access to those lands so that industry can work unimpeded... 

Then, should we try to access this crown land despite efforts to prevent us doing so, they are recommending:

"Fit the punishment to the crime: Make penalties meaningful...adding appropriate community service as a penalty and linking violations to other recreational opportunities..."

Appears Orwell was closer than he thought... 

So, each individual is now faced with a choice. Put pen to paper, get your comments in before the deadline, contact your MLA and inform them of your concern. Or, sit idly by and hope someone else deals with this for you, or ignore it all together in the mad hope it will simply not effect you personally. If you are in the latter camp, I suggest you start looking into golf related investment opportunities. For without great public outcry, our access WILL disappear in BC...

Nog