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Standing on one leg

William Roberts pretty well sums up the economic problems facing the Sea to Sky Corridor at this time (Left Hanging, Pique letters Aug. 5). It puzzles me that one-industry towns continue to imagine that change will not impact them.

William Roberts pretty well sums up the economic problems facing the Sea to Sky Corridor at this time (Left Hanging, Pique letters Aug. 5). It puzzles me that one-industry towns continue to imagine that change will not impact them. Across the country, single industry or dominant industry towns wonder what hit them when the economy changes. Whistler as a tourist town or Pemberton as a seed potato town or Squamish as a lumber town are all standing on one leg. A changing dollar, a forest fire, a beetle, a border closure or a landslide can all happen - now! One-industry towns must have an active Plan B, Plan C and so on.

Each of the main corridor communities has greater breadth and depth than described above but there is a tendency to look backwards rather than into an exciting future. Roberts's notion of the "Official Community Business Plan" is such a sound idea. Economics can change so quickly and a nimble municipal economic department must be open to all possibilities.

The local communities have so much more to offer. The geographical location is second to none; the new highway is world class; the variety of outdoor actives goes on and on; the arts and culture are noted as being tops in Canada. Two universities! Access to oceanfront, rail connections and a large urban population just a little south all seeking a rural and wilderness experience. What more do we need? Well, an exciting, nimble and innovative Official Community Business Plan is a starter.

So, what to do? Coordinate the economics of the corridor in a whole new context based on what we have and what we could have. Catch the latest technological trends and create the new values emerging in the 21st century. Dig into the new brand possibilities and the soul of the corridor with designs and dreams and dynamics of change. Understand the new markets of seniors and women and visitors from emerging regions. Accept the notion of new work as the real work and celebrate great failures. Find "learning" in every endeavour and build it into a "Wow" enterprise. Celebrate the new leadership across many levels.

Someone recently said to me, "I wish we could go back to calm waters when things were predictable." The new mantra must be, Caution: White Water Ahead Continually!

Larry Murray

Squamish

 

The Fat Cats speak the language

There are only two reasons for killing 300-year-old living organisms: ignorance and greed. Yet that is exactly what Whistler is about to begin doing in its local forests - cutting down ancient trees.

This despite the fact that there will be zero value to future generations from old-growth stumps except as evidence of earlier generations' short-sighted arrogance. And little value for the community: less than $30,000 for about 500 logging trucks of second- and old-growth trees per year.

Now, so far (in spite of the best efforts of some members of the community), our politicians, senior bureaucrats and business community have shown no interest in stopping the cutting of Whistler's old-growth forests. Council members give impotent shrugs. Tourism Whistler has nothing to say. Whistler Blackcomb has been silent; the Chamber of Commerce invisible.

So we've decided to offer them some motivation. And it seems the best way to do that is to use the one language they all understand: money.

Perhaps if they are made to see that cutting down 300-year-old trees could hurt their bottom line, they will find their voices and use their influence to intervene. Perhaps. There's only one way to find out.

Which is why we have started a campaign urging British Columbians, Canadians and the international community NOT to visit Whistler until the mayor promises that the old-growth trees will not be cut.

We realize this community forest issue has been very cleverly structured so that no one has to accept responsibility for killing the trees. And that's very convenient for the sake of guilt-free sleep. But no matter how many excuses people offer that make it easier for them to look in the mirror, the result will be the same: these ancient trees will die. And with the resulting soil erosion and our changing climate, they will never come back.

So no excuses are acceptable. No pleadings of "I'm only doing my job" or "It's in the contract" or "Our hands are tied" will do when it comes to killing 300-year-old living organisms.

We are wiser than this. At least, we should be.

To view our video calling for the boycott of Whistler, go to YouTube and type in "Whistler Old Growth."

Oly and the Fat Cats & Van Clayton Powel

Whistler

 

Logging our heritage

Soon the chainsaws and grapple yarders synonymous with the logging industry will be starting in on the old-growth forest in the Callaghan Valley. When you look at the slopes of Blackcomb and Rainbow mountains, the evidence of Whistler's logging history is still clear today, almost 40 years after those areas were logged. When the hamlet of Alta Lake became the Resort Municipality of Whistler, a clear decision was made at all levels of government that the local forests were a far more valuable asset standing than their worth in milled board feet. That is, until recently.

We don't have any local logging companies and the last local logger I know moved away almost 20 years ago. We don't have a local sawmill and since the Woodfibre Mill closed, we don't even have a pulp mill in the region. The company contracted to carry out the logging in the Callaghan is based in Richmond. We are, however, just as dependent on a single industry as any provincial company town, and that business is tourism. Every time CSA takes a group through those forests, it showcases Whistler as a unique and beautiful resort. At a time when Whistler is struggling, destroying an asset such as an old growth forest is total folly.

That the RMOW is involved in this blows me away. The RMOW put out a FAQ sheet that works hard to downplay the fact that they are taking 20,000 square metres of forest annually. I'd like to point out that it will take 500 logging truck loads to haul that away, and that will be each year that they log. I keep hearing the refrain that there's nothing they can do about it (and that's not just the Callaghan logging issue) and they have to go along, but I find that a weak excuse. During the '80s and '90s when the local forestry industry was at its peak, nobody was able to force logging inside the municipal boundary. Council should be standing up for the values of the vast majority of Whistler residents, not capitulating to the Ministry of Forests.

David Buzzard

Whistler

 

What do our policies stand for?

From a municipal perspective, the Official Community Plan and Whistler2020 are our foundation, the touchstone of everything we do as a community. The vision incorporated into these documents should form the litmus test for every big decision we make - does this action help achieve our vision? Here's a reminder of Whistler's oft-quoted vision: "To be the premier mountain resort community - as we move toward sustainability."

Do you believe that locating a toxic asphalt plant permanently beside a residential neighbourhood, less than 400 metres from the nearest doorsteps, helps us achieve this vision? I don't.

Do you believe that doubling the size of a rock quarry, also located right beside this same neighbourhood, and without any solid rationale, helps us achieve this vision? Do you believe that increasing a quarry to 60 acres, without even knowing the remaining lifespan of the current quarry, and destroying old growth forests and other sensitive ecosystems designated for conservation/preservation under the RMOW Protected Areas Network in the process, helps us achieve this vision? I don't.

Incredibly, these are the proposed actions that members of our council (except Zeidler and Forsyth) are currently supporting.

To top it all off, these decisions that consider major contraventions to Whistler's current Official Community Plan - significant decisions about land use planning and zoning designations in a contentious area beside Whistler's newest, greenest and densest neighbourhood - are being made just as the community-wide process kicks off for a formal and comprehensive revision of our OCP. Don't you think it would be prudent to demonstrate due and sincere respect for this process and allow the OCP update to evolve and solidify our land use vision for the future, and then decide what to do about the asphalt plant, instead of making hasty decisions that will negatively impact our community? I sure do.

T. Symko

Whistler

 

Here we go!

On Thursday, Aug. 19th at 8:30 a.m., the official "walk throughs" begin at Cheakamus Crossing.

At this time, I would like to once again thank our staff at the Whistler Development Corporation for keeping our project on budget and ahead of schedule. Due to their dedication and hard work, plus the financial contribution from VANOC and the release of Crown land from the government, we have been able to give WHA waitlist members a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to own a new home in the most affordable development in the valley.

Once our purchasers have moved in, I invite everyone to come down and visit the area and see what a wonderful legacy has been created for and by the people that live and work here in our community.

Melissa McKay, P.Eng.

Director, Whistler 2020 Development Corp.

 

Many biking visionaries

I would like to thank Stephen Smysnuik for his "The Culture of Crankworx" article in last week's paper. The article provides a good overview of the growth of the bike park and Crankworx but in so doing allocates far too much credit for the success of both to one person.

First, there have been many visionary people involved in the ongoing development of the bike park. At the risk of leaving some key people out, the park was originally built by Eric Wight along with Dave Kelly, Paddy Kaye and Chris Winter. Once WB took over its operation in 1999, it was Dave, Marty Gautry, Blaine Taylor and Dave Murphy who provided the inspiration for the trail development that has resulted in the amazing growth that the park has experienced since. Along the way, the park's development has been guided by many talented people, including Jason Roe, Tom Prochazka and Brian Finestone.

The same can be said for Crankworx. Its success has been inspired by so many people, one of the least significant of which is me. Crankworx has grown out of the innovative events that preceded it. Acknowledgement should be accorded to Marika Koenig and Claire Bonin for Summer Sessions, to Paddy and Chris for Joyride and to the late Richard Juryn for Summer Gravity Festival, to name but a few. The current Crankworx team is also an amazing group of individuals led by Jeremy Roche, Mark Taylor, Darren Kinnaird and Seb Fremont and their teams of incredibly dedicated and talented people.

Lastly, the role of professional riders and key influencers cannot be underestimated. In particular, Richie Schley, Derek Westerlund, John Cowan, Tyler Morland and Andrew Shandro have provided many invaluable insights.

Space and time requires me to leave out many other people who have paved the way to make mountain biking such a success in our community - thanks to all of the trail builders, mountain bike guides, patrollers, volunteers, policy makers, businesses and passionate riders who have made this the best place in the world to ride bikes.

Rob McSkimming

Whistler

 

Completing the Cycle

Twelve farm families, countless artists and musicians, over 30 vendors of delicious food and drink, 80 volunteers, and one well-placed sprinkler combined to give 3,000 riders a day to remember in Pemberton. There were even helicopter rides to the slide. The Slow Food Cycle Sunday Ride to the Slide.

As organizers, we are so grateful to so many people whose contribution, large or small, ensured the success of the event. Many of them you might have seen at the event in their red Volunteer shirts (thanks to Race and Co) working away. Pemberton Search and Rescue were there for you the whole time along the entire route. "Moldy" and The Arts Council provided much of the eye candy. Lisa Sumire Komoru created the logo and the map. Mark Blundell and the 4H club helped hydrate the masses. Our friends and family, as always, have provided essential support at critical times.

We want to point out that the Village of Pemberton played a key role this year in supporting the registration area in its new location in town.

With these kinds of numbers, we need some heavy-hitting logistical support which came in the form of Jill Brooksbank, Russell Mack, Daniel Sailland and the VOP, on the urging of Mayor Sturdy. The Pemberton Chamber produced a sparkling Saturday night, and the Rotary and Friends of the Library produced a perfect ending at the Pioneer Park AugustFest.

We are looking forward to next year, on Sunday, Aug. 21st 2011. Same time and place.

And now we say good-bye to the glamorous event-management lifestyle and return to being a farmer and a computer systems analyst. Thank you for supporting farmland, biking and spending your money in the Meadows on Sunday.

Anna Helmer and Niki Vankerk

Pemberton

 

A sweeter deal

Having criticized the RMOW's financial proposal regarding the sewer line for Alta Lake Road, may we suggest an alternative solution.

Instead of "putting all the eggs in one basket" when applying for a grant, split the request and ask the appropriate department in the federal and B.C. governments for $1 million each. With the RMOW offering to pay a third of the cost ($1.3 million) it would leave a cost of approximately $5,000 for each of the 40 lot owners. This is comparable to the amount paid by homeowners in Emerald Estates when their sewer line was installed.

Florence Petersen

Gay Cluer

Whistler