Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Public recreation study could be part of LRMP

The Ministry of Forests has released a study on public recreation in Sea to Sky country that will serve as a base for the development of a comprehensive recreation management plan for the Squamish Forest District.

The Ministry of Forests has released a study on public recreation in Sea to Sky country that will serve as a base for the development of a comprehensive recreation management plan for the Squamish Forest District.

That recreation plan could ultimately slot into an overall Squamish Land Resource Management Plan (LRMP) but in the interim it is being used by the district as a management tool.

The study maps out the entire forest district into preliminary zones that are designated as suitable for either motorized or non-motorized public access.

One map has been compiled for summer and another for winter use.

A few sensitive areas – including the Soo River Wetlands, Lillooet River East and Squamish River West – have been marked for both non-motorized and limited recreation use.

Among the areas designated for non-motorized access on the winter map are: Tricouni Peak East, Cougar Mountain, the Whistler Interpretive Forest, Mount Brew area, Twenty-One Mile Creek, the Rainbow Mountain-Nineteen Mile Creek and Madely Lake areas, the Sims Creek alpine, the Joffre and Cayoosh alpine, Metal Dome, Cloudburst, Ashlu Creek alpine, the southern Elaho River alpine and the Upper Elaho River.

In all 42 zones have been tagged for potential management as areas off limits to public motorized access in winter. For summer, that number is increased to 44.

The study, finalized in November, was conducted by the Outdoor Recreation council at the request of the Ministry of Forests. It was funded through the province’s Land Use Co-ordination Office.

It is just one of many studies currently being spearheaded by LUCO with a view to gathering technical data that can be used to start public discussion on a comprehensive land use plan – possibly an LRMP – early next year.

The Forest Ministry’s public recreation study will be one piece of the information puzzle presented at a series of open houses to be held throughout the corridor come late February or March, said LUCO’s Peter Jones.

The public recreation study builds on the information collected for the B.C. Assets and Lands’ commercial recreation study that was rolled out in March this year.

LUCO is also currently conducting a socio-economic assessment of current conditions and trends in Sea to Sky country as well as an environmental assessment, noted Jones.

A carrying capacity study being conducted in the Cougar Mountain area by consultant Doug Leavers is also being funded by LUCO. His work is nearing completion and will be key in assessing the suitability of commercial recreation tenure applications in high-use areas.

As well, a Timber Supply Review has been under way and the Ministry of Forests and the Ministry of Environment are working on several initiatives with regards to old growth areas and wildlife management plans.

All these studies are being co-ordinated through LUCO and an Inter Agency Management Committee that was established last year. The IAMC is comprised of senior regional staff from 10 different governmental agencies.

The information collected to date is being laid out in a portfolio of maps of the entire district.

"We are carrying out the work that would be necessary for proceeding with a comprehensive planning process," said Jones. "What we have been doing over the last year is a technical project of pulling information together, within government. That is an important component of developing a plan, regardless of whether it is a public planning process or something that is developed within government," noted Jones.

"We are laying out the ground work for the development of a plan. That is what we are doing right now… It can be the foundation for an LRMP," he said.

"We have also been talking to local governments and First Nations about possible ways they could participate in this planning project."

Jones said the two forums – one initiated through the One Whistler study and the recent tourism-forestry workshop hosted by Squamish – were both good in helping build relationships and a common understanding about the use of land and natural resources in this district.

"I think there is general agreement, both inside and outside government, that there is a need for more co-ordination and integration of past land use decisions and current initiatives," noted Jones.

"I anticipate that a large number of the people who participated in both these forums will continue to request government to initiate a planning process and I think the government’s position has been pretty clear on that," said Jones.

"Premier Dosanjh wrote to the B.C. Chamber of Commerce on this subject back in September and said the government remains committed to completing strategic land use plans throughout British Columbia as resources become available."

The Ministry of Forests’ public recreation report is, in the meantime, being used as backdrop against which to assess applications for commercial recreation tenures.

As the various puzzle pieces come together, there are some overlaps and conflicts that will need to be ironed out through a public consultation process.

The Forestry study, for example, designates some areas for potential management as non-motorized zones that the BCAL commercial recreation strategy has already tagged for motorized commercial access.

Copies of Forest Ministry’s public recreation study have been sent to all 14 key public recreation user groups that helped provide input, including local snowmobile clubs, the Federation of Mountain Clubs, the Whistler section of the Alpine Club of Canada, Whistler and Squamish mountain bike clubs, the Cayoosh Recreation Club, the Lillooet Snowmobile Club, the Bridge River Valley Snowmobile Association, local anglers, Squamish horseback riders, the climbers Access society and AWARE.

Some of the groups are outright opposed to the concept of zoning and prohibiting access to Crown land for specific user groups.

Most agree that a process for conflict resolution will be key to the success of any plan.

"It’s a vision of where we want to go but it is not etched in stone," said the Forest Ministry’s regional recreation manager, Doug Herchmer of the report. "It will probably be modified over the course of the next number of months based on feed back."

The study notes that various planning and analysis initiatives have been undertaken in the past but that there is no comprehensive recreation plan for Crown lands within this district.

The report states that current management is based on the general provisions of the Forest Act and the Forest Practices Code. "For the high level of recreation use in the Squamish Forest District, the above legislation no longer provides adequate policy or strategic and operational level guidance for management."