Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Sea-Run Fly & Tackle]

Hello all.  This is something that some you you may already be aware of, for those that don't here is a brief summary of the potential disaster looming for steelhead and salmon in the Cheakamus river.  There is a proposed development of a golf course, 60 condo (i believe this number to be correct) and ski resort right on Brohm river crossing it if i remember correctly 40 plus times (the river is only 4km long).  This development would mean a certain end for an already decimated run of steelhead in the Cheakamus. A very large majority of the few remaining steelhead as well as coho and a few other salmonids including cutthroat trout utilize the extremely nutrient rich habitat in Brohm River.  In a nut shell the problem this development creates is this:  Water will be drawn out of the river, a problem this system already faces from a damn on its main flow the Cheakamus.  Amazingly enough fish need water to survive it is predicted that the mid to late summer flows could be reduced up to 62%. Fertilizer from the golf course will run off into Brohm.  Being an incrediably nutrient rich system already it would essentially suffocate all life in this river.   The fish in the Cheakamus have been dealt enough hardships in the last 20 years with other habitat loss, water management problems from BC hydro, the caustic soda spill in 2005..which has resulted in a reasonable amount of funding for projects to help fish out in this area.  A development like this must be fought against!!! I have started a petition at Sea-Run Fly and Tackle, Highwater Tackle in North Van. and will be contacting other tackle shops tomorrow I will update as necc. I am also accepting e-mail letters of support to my email address brian_braidwood@hotmail.com I also have an e-mail that I am more than happy to forward to any wanting to review of a more detailed outline of what is proposed in Squamish.  One of the e-mails also contains a link to a website for public opinions on this project it is a government website. I have been told by Rod Clapton of the British Columbia Federation of Driftfishers that response on this site is very valuable. For any one helping out by signing a petition via e-mail please include your name and address and a brief comment on your views.  Thank you very much to anyone who has the time to help with this. 
Brian Braidwood
President Kingfishers Rod and Gun Club
                           

[Rodney]

Brian, email sent, in case hotmail filtered my email address into junkmail.

[troutbreath]

e-mail sent

[mr.pink]

 email,sent.

[dereke]

  Get a petition up to Whistler Fly fishing. Im sure they would help!

[Chrome Mykiss]

Here's the official website from the developer's http://www.garibaldiatsquamish.com/

I found it rather vague regarding the environmental issues and concerns surrounding this project    The site looks like a vacation package brochure, nice and glossy with stock photos. Here's a good article highlighting some of the impacts of this project http://www.ubc-voc.com/wiki/Brohm_Ridge_Ski_Development

Brian you should contact "Save Our Rivers!" Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5680590325 , over 3500 members strong who will petition against this project. You may also want to contact the "BC Creek Protection Society" , http://www.bc-creeks.org/ who's purpose is "
To protect free flowing natural watercourses in Canada, particularly British Columbia, as part of an ecologically unique systems of societal significance."

I will get together a letter when I gather up the necessary info I need 

[Chrome Mykiss]

Please take the time to sign Brian's petition to stop the "Garibaldi at Squamish" (GAS) project at the following locations: Sea Run Fly & Tackle, Fred's Custom Tackle, Berry's Bait and Tackle, Michael and Young fly Shop, Hatch Match'r, Pacific Angler, Hub Sports, Whistler Flyfishing and Riverside Fly and Tackle. This only takes just a few minutes 

The GAS project is currently being reviewed by the Environmental Assessment Office of BC. You can submit comments and letters to:

Graeme McLaren
Project Assessment Director
Environmental Assessment Office
PO Box 9426 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria BC, V8W 9V1

or email to eaoinfo@gov.bc.ca with heading "Garibaldi at Squamish"

There's also an online petition from the group "Save Garibaldi" found on their site http://savegaribaldi.org/

This project needs to be stopped. Thanks.

Carlo

[salmon river]

Don't forget in Mid May there is an election as well.

[bentrod]

I think the developer was referring to all the green he will make.

[tyee1on]

e-mail sent

[Fishin_Squirrel10-4]

email sent

[tvh]

Excerpt copied and pasted from the Vancouver Sun...

Brohm River is described in the report as "unique" in its exceptional ability to support young steelhead before their migration to the ocean -- five times as productive for fish as a typical B.C. south coast river.

A report commissioned by the B.C. Conservation Foundation, paid for with money from sport fishing licence sales, says the Brohm's remarkable stream chemistry is the key.

The Brohm, one of two main steelhead nurseries for the Squamish River system, enjoys a naturally high level of phosphorus because of the volcanic geology of the area. That chemical supports an ideal food chain for raising fish.

Only two other B.C. streams, the Upper Dean River and the Blackwater River, have similar chemistry and both of those rank among the top angling streams on the planet.

The Garibaldi At Squamish development is proposed for the stream's headwaters at Brohm Ridge and includes extensive water management plans, including up to five dams, extractions of water for snowmaking, golf course irrigation and potable water supply, storm water and sewage discharge, plus resort development that includes hotels, condominiums and other homes with a combined 22,000 bed units.

The report, written by former B.C. government steelhead biologist Pat Slaney, says the project would need to bring water in from another source to augment local resources to "ensure that a water demand-fish flow crisis does not develop over time." The report also suggests that fertilizer runoff from the golf courses, and chemicals used in snow-making, could unbalance the stream's beneficial chemistry.

The project was first submitted to the province's Environmental Assessment Office in 1997 and resubmitted in 2007.

The assessment is now on hiatus while the proponents develop more data on the hydrology of the area, and is not expected to resume until January 2009.

Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch Salmon Society, said it is "ironic" that the proposal is being examined at a time when the government is promoting its new Living Water Smart program including conservation and protection of streams and lakes.

This project would be a hammerblow to the Brohm ! 22,000 bed units and a golf course! Let's hope today's financial market puts a cooler on this. I have little faith that our govt. will turn it down.

[chris gadsden]

Received this afternoon.

Just for your interest, Global News will be doing a
feature tonight on the current effort to protect
Brohm Creek near Squamish (the most productive
steelhead stream in BC in terms of densities of fish).

If not planned correctly, Brohm Creek could be significantly
affected by the massive proposed "Garibaldi at Squamish"
all-season resort. Excessive water extraction is a
particular concern.

Mark Angelo of the BCIT Fish and Wildlife Program
and Al Lill of Living Rivers are interviewed.

Watch Global/BCTV News tonight at 6:00 pm.

[Rodney]

It wasn't aired tonight. I've been told that it is postponed to Wednesday now.

[Rodney]

If you've sent in an email, please copy and paste it in your post. You don't have to include your name on the bottom, just replace it with "concerned citizen".