Author: lacdesroches

Safety concerns surround use of ATVs

A number of safety concerns have been voiced throughout the neighbourhood, and some comments and suggestions are shared in this article.

Roads misused

Like many rural areas, our community roads have become dangerous playgrounds through the careless and illegal use of unlicensed motorcycles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATV). There have been spills, broken bones and near misses all year between; motorcycles and ATV riders, pedestrians and licensed vehicle drivers. Most of these riders are children. To their credit, it seems that most of the adults are insisting that these children wear helmets, but then they condone the use of roads as suitable playgrounds. Neighbours are complaining about the noise, the damage to the roads and the dangerous riding habits, reporting that riders often exceed the speed limit of 50 km, with no apparent thought of safety to pedestrians and pets. The population and activity levels are significantly increasing in our area with construction vehicles, unfamiliar drivers and additional foot traffic, and there is bound to be a serious accident involving a motorcycle or ATV this year. The safety suggestion offered is please don’t use these frontage roads as a babysitter. There are abundant de-activated roads and trails in the hills on the north side of Highway 24 for riding. Adults should teach the young people in their charge to respect private and public property, and take riding out to the trails, where it belongs.

Can’t help falling

Our neighbourhood has experienced a number of falling incidents this summer, resulting in broken bones and other personal injury. With plenty of prime working weather ahead of us in the next few months, we all wish to remind our local handymen (and women) to use extreme caution when working at heights, whether on a ladder, scaffolding, deck or even in trees. The safety suggestion offered is to tie off ladders, use safety harnesses or restraint devices if practical and most importantly, have a spotter steady equipment and watch out for neighbours while they are in the air.

Location is everything

While the weather conditions this summer have kept the threat of forest fires down, the neighbours still keep a watchful eye out for smoke or fire in the surrounding hills. One diligent neighbour, who has reported suspicious smoke to the Provincial Forest Fire Reporting Center, mentioned that more detailed location information is requested and that "Lac des Roches" is too broad, especially for a large lake. The staff at the center (1 800 663 5555) has confirmed that an approximate waypoint, or the latitude and longitude co-ordinate in degrees and minutes for the subject area, is very beneficial for dispatching the forestry spotter plane. Longitude and latitude lines can be found on many maps, such as those published in the Backroad Mapbook – Cariboo or the British Columbia Topographical Maps, as well as on several lookup sites on the Internet. As an example of a waypoint, the rock bluff on the south shore of Lac des Roches has the approximate coordinate of (Latitude) 51° 29′ N and (Longitude) 120° 37′ W. The safety suggestion offered is to identify a few significant coordinates for your community and keep these noted near the phone that would be used to report a forest fire.

Lots to share

The Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake, a community lake stewardship and preservation society produced their second annual Resident’s Newsletter in May. This newsletter is one of many updates posted on their website www.lacdesroches.org/aboutus, with information and suggestions for living on a Cariboo lake. The society is holding their annual general meeting Aug. 29, at 7 pm in the Bridge Lake Community School. Business will include executive responsibilities and upcoming year’s meeting schedule. All are welcome!

Colours tell a story of changing times at the lake

You have to like the colour green living out here on the edge of the wilderness. We see green grass, green water, green trees and even green metal roofs. Green is an indicator of the activity that has spiked with the summer holidays, that is the green building permit signs appearing on so many hydro poles along our roads. There are houses, additions, cabins, garages and wharves being built, septic fields and driveways being excavated and fences taking shape through the tall green grass.

Bloomin’ community

We are a community in bloom, as July is, when more vibrant colours appear in our yards. Our wild flowers include; orange tiger lilies; red and yellow columbine; red and pink paintbrush and pink and yellow wild roses. Alas, it is mid-July and the thousands of berries on our wild Saskatoon bushes, spotted in several yards along the lake, are still green!

Trees infested

What are supposed to be green, but again are not this year, are our Aspen leaves. As with most areas throughout the Cariboo, all of the Aspen trees, young and old, are infested with a leaf miner. As these insects tunnel through the leaf cells, making long twisting serpentine mines, they turn the leaves silvery white. Coupled with an outbreak of root rot, Aspen trees on the properties around the lake are being removed as fast as the pine and spruce trees that are succumbing to beetle and worm infestation, making room, eventually, for younger, healthier, green saplings.

Animals everywhere

The colour of brown is predominant in July. Over the last few weeks, I have observed a light brown deer, a buck in full velvet, meandering through the tall grasses to spend another day near the water. On one occasion, spooked by an undetectable sound or movement, he gracefully cleared a five rail Russell fence without hesitation. Almost daily, we see brown and white coyotes, brown hawks, brown and white bald eagles and those pesky brown gophers, munching on the abundant green dandelion leaves! Did I mention it helps if you like the colour green when you live out here on the edge?

Fishing for info

Beginning this year, some residents are participating in an informal creel report (fishing results) at Lac des Roches (LdR) for the Ministry of Environment (MoE). The MoE will use the data to help determine the current condition of the trout fishery on LdR . Creel reporting is an appropriate method of gathering data for certain lakes according to Stephen Maricle, Small Lakes Biologist, Thompson Region. He suggests that if experienced anglers notice significant changes over a couple of years, to the fishery on any lake, then he would like to hear about it at 250-371-6253.

Flies don’t bother us

The famous chironomid and mayfly hatch on LdR in late May through early July was spectacular again this year. While many neighbours were out in their boats, tempting the trout with their hand-tied flies, the real flies put on quite a performance. The clouds of chironomids hummed in the sky at the water’s edge and periodically took time out from flying to cling to everything stationary and moving near the water. The mayflies silently hover and jump in huge column formations above the trees along the lakeshore. It is reassuring to know these millions of flies don’t bite!

Ranting about ravens

I had another encounter with our resident ravens this month. Perhaps they were inadvertently lured onto the deck last year by a pot of cooling hard-boiled eggs, but did they have to take all six of them? When I carefully painted and placed fifty yellow rocks around my yard for a treasure hunt this year, I did not know that ravens could move a four-ounce piece of granite! These treasure rocks must have looked like big yellow eggs to them as they carted them off. It did seem like a good idea at the time!

Friends meet July 25

The Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake will present updates on their many initiatives on July 25, at 7 p.m. in the Bridge Lake Community School. All are welcome!

Columnist to bring readers Lac des Roches news

The editor asked that I include a little about myself in my first article. My career as a professional accountant took me to various work locations throughout B.C. , with writing being a significant part of my job, creating training material and procedure manuals. Since retiring to the Cariboo just over three years ago to help my husband build our house, I have become; a carpenter’s helper; plumber’s helper; roofer’s helper; welder’s helper, and will be any other needed helper to finish our house over the next few years. At Lac des Roches, I live "on the edge". The edge of a beautiful lake, the edge of the South Cariboo, the edge of the Interior Plateau, the edge of wilderness, and sometimes, when I am dirt biking or sailing, just plain "on the edge"!

I recently noticed that Lac des Roches (LdR) was listed as a "community" on the banner of the Cariboo Connector newspaper. I was curious about what prompted the paper to define my neighbours and me as a community. Was it because of the formation of "Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake", a group of citizens concerned about area development plans as presented by Land and Water B.C. ? Was it due to the lake stewardship initiatives? Was it because of the concerns voiced over the possible construction of a water retention dam at the outflow of the lake? Maybe it was due to the initiative to heighten awareness of recycling opportunities and arranging to have a community recycle bin placed at the Bridge Lake Store? I placed a call to Chris Nickless, publisher of the Cariboo Connector, to get an answer to my question and this led to an interesting discussion about my community. It turns out Chris hadn’t used any specific criteria but he did recognize that we are "way out there", that we are somewhat unique from the rest of the Interlakes community, and there seems to be "a lot going on". Chris ended our discussion with the suggestion that I share information with my neighbours and neighbouring communities, so here I am, submitting an article. There is a certain bond that develops with the members of a community who are living with certain challenges; in two different regional districts; at the end of the hydro grid; through a Cariboo winter above the elevation of 1134 meters, to name a few. I hope to provide readers with a sense of our strong community spirit through this column and I plan to write about the many activities and initiatives that bring my neighbours together, such as lake stewardship, land use planning, historical and cultural events, and community items from "the edge". Here are a few community items that spring to mind.

Out on the lake

The ice monitors have advised me that Little Lac des Roches, Birch Lake and Lac des Roches were ice-free on May 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. Boaters were on the lake, with fishing lines in the water on the same days. I witnessed the first sport tubers in the frigid waters of LdR on June 7, taking a very short ride behind a ski boat.

Towers going up

Applications for permits over Crown land that appeared in the 100 Mile Free Press this spring indicate that communication towers are planned for Highway 24, one to be located above the LdR rest stop. These towers will provide cellular service to travellers of the entire highway and are a welcome development to the cellular subscribers of my community.

"Living on the edge"

As I watch the media’s coverage of the flooding and potential flooding throughout BC and Alberta, I am so grateful to be living "on the edge" of a hill. My entire acreage, like the majority of the area lots, slopes down to LdR. A local contractor recently told my neighbour that he could probably make a living just making flat spots for people. Evidently, most residents want to have property on a slope, and then they immediately want flat spots for their stuff. This is so true! I keep asking for flat spots in my yard. Oh . . . did I mention I am also a cat operator’s helper?

Regular Member’s Update – June 2007

Development – still on hold

Although we have been advised that “the project is still under review”, we continue to look at information that supports our concerns for the development proposal we saw in 2005. Most of our research is intended for presentation at a future rezoning meeting, but some will be used in the development of a land management (or unofficial community plan) map-based presentation we intend to make to both the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD). Drafts of this work should be available for members to review at the August 29th AGM.

Recycling

We have arranged for a community recycle bin, located at the Bridge Lake Store. This blue bin is for any liquid or beverage container that can be recycled and have a return deposit. Metal, glass, tetra packs and plastic are all acceptable. The Knights of Columbus pick-up, sort and return these items for funding community needs in the entire 100 Mile House area.

Lake Monitoring

The official ice-off dates were,

Little Lac des Roches May 4
Birch Lake May 5
Lac des Roches May 6

On May 13, Marg Sidney of the Ministry of Environment did extensive water testing on Lac des Roches and the results are very positive. To quote Marg, “Lac des Roches is slightly alkaline which is a good thing for life and productivity”. Overall Lac des Roches looks to be in good shape so with a bit of education … and some work we hope to keep it that way”.

We are looking at devices and methods of provided lake water levels on Birch and Phinetta lakes as we currently have devices on LdR and Little LdR.

Good News

Our community newsletter was delivered to all properties near Lac des Roches, Birch and Phinetta lakes. Recognizing that some of our members do not use properties near these lakes, they were mailed a copy as well. The cost of producing the newsletter was just under $200, and we have increased our membership revenue by almost that, as a direct result of the newsletter, so it seems to be money well spent. In addition to some positive feedback on the content of the newsletter, our distribution method is under question and we have discussed discontinuing the door-to-door delivery, both for safety and security reasons. In our next issue, we will be inviting property users to provide us with mailing addresses for future editions.

No Dam – yet

We have received unofficial word that there are no plans to dam lakes or creeks in our watershed at this time. The likely target for an upgrade is Taweel Lake, as there is an existing weir at the outlet, but should changes be made to the existing structure, it would not change lake water levels. This is good news and we hope it is more long-term.

Fur Brigade Trail

A year ago, we reported that this designated trail, between Little Fort and Lac des Roches, would be celebrated in B.C.’s 150th birthday celebration however we have been informed that this is no longer the case. The identification of this trail, along the north side of Lac des Roches, is still one of our many research projects in preparation for a future rezoning meeting of the development area.

Around the Lakes …

The map that was stolen from the Lac des Roches rest stop this winter will not be replaced by the CRD but the Tourism Association has one on order. The CRD has invited us to apply for a lake-specific sign that would be funded by the CRD and installed at the rest stop. This is under consideration by the executive.

For convenience and safety reasons, we are expanding on an existing map, which would see names applied to the bays and feeder streams of our lakes. Drafts of this map will be presented at the August 29 AGM.

We will be posting official Forestry Protection Act signs on some lake “picnic sites” along with providing buckets for campfire dousing – in order to protect these areas from human-caused forest fires.

Gordon Marshall is overseeing the collection of trout catch information this fishing season for the Ministry of Environment. Many thanks to the fishers that are completing these creel reports this summer.

Wendy Marshall reports that the numbers are down for the official Spring bird count but although these results are disturbing, they are not an isolated problem to our area.

General Items

Our membership totals 193. We are looking at a new, longer-term membership strategy for sustaining funding for our society. We welcome your input.

Regular Member’s Update – April 2007

Development unchanged

There is very little to report in the way of a status change on the massive development proposal at the east end of Lac des Roches (LdR). In November we advised Pat Bell, Minister of Agriculture and Lands, that we were prepared to send a delegation to Victoria to discuss our concerns. His reply late in December indicated that “the project is still under review” and we need to continue to deal with Robin Levesque, Manager, Crown Land Opportunities Branch in Kamloops. In early April, we received an email from Robin saying that he is moving to a different ministry, and our new contact is Marie Sturman. Our only action plan at this time is to introduce our group to the new project manager and continue to monitor land applications.

Recycling

Recycling is not one of our group’s objectives, but it is a hot topic and we have discussed it at a couple of our meetings this year. There is definitely interest among our members to heighten the awareness of recycling opportunities for our lake residents. Members will see more information about recycling in our upcoming community newsletter and are invited to provide input through the executive, as it is these folks who will be leading the initiative in the community.

Lake Monitoring

Lake monitoring does not occur during ‘ice on’, but we are watching the ice conditions carefully as the Ministry of Environment will conduct a level 2 survey of LdR as soon as the ice is gone. To improve data collection, we invested in 4 underwater thermometers so that the data from 4 testing sites; LdR, Little LdR, Phinetta and Birch are consistent. We plan to get a complete summer-full of temperature, turbidity and pH readings from Birch and Phinetta Lakes this year.

Boundary Unchanged & Land Use

No change is in store for the regional boundary line that dissects LdR between the Cariboo (CRD) and Thompson-Nicola (TNRD). It is this division that leads to conflicting classifications of LdR as “sensitive” by the CRD and “development” by the TNRD. As a partial solution, Maureen Pinkney of the CRD suggested that a joint Official Community Plan (OCP) could be done for the entire lake and we have jumped at the chance to provide input into this process. The executive is currently researching and developing a map-based land use plan of our watershed area for presentation to the CRD and/or the TNRD for inclusion into their OCP. We will present the draft to our members at the August 29th meeting (our AGM). Members are invited to contact any executive member with land use ideas.

Dam Diverted … for now

We heard rumors to the contrary, but an April email from Graham Strachan, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, confirmed that rather than damming Phinetta Lake for water storage to meet summer irrigation needs in Little Fort, the group has focused their efforts to have the structure on Taweel Lake replaced. We will continue to monitor this project – but the Lac des Roches watershed is excluded at this time.

Around the Lakes …

We saw plenty of snow and thick lake ice this year in the area although the ice will likely be off the lakes by the end of April or very early in May.

There seemed to be an increase in snowmobile traffic on the area trails, many of which are coming from 100 Mile House and beyond. The ambulance responded twice during one winter weekend to sledding-related accidents and we know that a number of local sleds were dragged out of the bush on tow sleds – a typical winter in the Cariboo.

Cellular towers are on the radar screen for Highway 24. Two land applications for towers can be viewed at www.lwbc.ca for a tower at Janice Lake and another above Lac des Roches. While we may be able to anticipate cell coverage at our homes, these will not be used for providing wireless high-speed internet service (unless through the cellular network). Satellite high speed internet is currently our only option to dial up over the phone lines.

All but one of the Cottage Country lots above LdR has sold since initial development of the 27 lots. Development is proceeding on a number of properties now that power has been installed.

General Items

Watch for our annual community newsletter in May. For the enjoyment and information of all lake users, we put together a summary of our activities and a variety of community topics in a newsletter, which is delivered to all lake properties at LdR and Birch Lake. If you would like us to include something specific in this year’s newsletter, we can accept submissions through our website until May 4.

Our membership totals 186.

Please pencil the following meeting dates into your 2007 calendars. We need your input. All meetings are held at 7:00 pm at the Bridge Lake Community School.

  • Wed., May 30, 2007 (next General Meeting)
  • Wed., July 25, 2007
  • Wed., August 29, 2007 (Annual Gen. Meeting)

Regular Member’s Update – January 2007

Dam Diverted … for now

We provided a list of concerns related to construction of a dam on Phinetta Lake. At the follow-up meeting in Little Fort on October 24, it became apparent that the Lemieux Creek Watershed Roundtable members are mostly concerned about the damming practices on Taweel Lake, which affects stream flow, and subsequent irrigation practices sourced at Lemieux Creek. The focus of the Little Fort group will be to initiate a meeting with the Ministry of Environment, Fisheries, First Nations, Parks, & DFO to discuss issues around the Taweel Lake Dam Structure. For the immediate future, damming Phinetta Lake seems to be off the table, however as stewards of this lake and its surrounding watershed, we will monitor status.

Development not changed

Despite the interest shown in our list of concerns presented to Land and Water BC (ILMB) in April, we are advised, “… the plans for development have not changed …”. We sent a letter in November, voicing our disappointment to Minister Pat Bell, Agriculture and Lands, offering to send a contingent to meet with the Ministry. We’ll keep you posted.

In the Zones

Executive members attended a public meeting in Clearwater to hear about the new zones for the TNRD, one of which is required to rezone the proposed development site to a resort. On behalf of our membership, we have provided written feedback to the proposed zone. We found the bylaws somewhat generalized and not providing for the safeguards we would expect to protect the watershed and sensitive ecosystem. There are a number of other “mechanisms” available such as development permits and restrictive covenants – if the land is included in an OCP (Official Community Plan) – which unfortunately, this land is not. We have expressed our intent to pursue these mechanisms as if the land was in an OCP and are proceeding with preliminary land use planning of our lakes in expectation of seeing Lac des Roches, Birch and Phinetta lakes included in an OCP in the near future.

Lake Stewardship

While we suspend lake monitoring during ice-on, we are continually active with our stewardship role of the lakes and lakeshores. Ice on and off status at all three lakes is a key piece of information submitted to BCLSS, and our two uninhabited lakes (during the winter) must be visited regularly in the fall and spring.

Boundary Unchanged

In spite of positive support from various levels of government, it seems the Manager of the TNRD has quashed discussions on changing the Regional District Boundary line, which splits Lac des Roches between the TNRD (Thompson-Nicola) and CRD (Cariboo). According to Maureen Pinkney, it was not specifically a Lac des Roches issue as the TNRD was looking at all lakes in the TNRD that have a split boundary. We have not given up on the boundary change but will table our arguments until we have the opportunity to meet face to face with the TNRD directors.

Land Use Planning

An Official Community Plan or Official Lake Management Plan will be our focus in 2007. There has been an indication from Maureen Pinkney, (Area L CRD Director) that there may be interest from the TNRD to prepare a joint TNRD/CRD OCP to include all of Lac des Roches, Birch and Phinetta lakes. A key part of this exercise would be mapping out the geography of the lake, including existing land reserves and developed areas, adding the potential Heritage Trail designation and desired green space, ecological and wildlife preserves. Some of this work, especially the mapping work, may be eligible for funding from the CRD and we are in discussions with Ms Pinkney over this option.

Around the Lakes …

This winter, we have seen an increase of wolves on our lakes and in our area. A pack of 5 wolves routinely hunt the south shore of the big lake.

Snow and ice conditions are excellent for winter fun however the many underwater springs decrease ice depth in certain spots on the lakes. Be careful!

General Items

Al Wallewein noticed inconsistencies in screen functionality and has overseen a number of improvements to the website. We encourage members to check our website often for “NEW” updates.

Watch for our annual community newsletter this spring. Editor, Marie Wallewein will accept submissions through our website email address.

Gordon Marshall reported at the October General Meeting, our membership now totals 172.

Please pencil the following meeting dates into your 2007 calendars. We need your input into planning.

  • May 30, 2007
  • July 25, 2007
  • August 22, 2007 (Annual General Meeting)

Regular Member’s Update – September 2006

Dam … no dam

The good news is, Birch Lake and Lac des Roches will not be dammed due to their low flush rate. The bad news is, Phinetta Lake is a possibility. This is particularly disturbing as there is minimal elevation change between Phinetta Lake and Birch Lake, which is just upstream. We will be meeting again with a task team in early September to express our objections to a dam on Phinetta Lake.

Development Update

We are disappointed that there has been no progress from our meeting in April with Land and Water BC, where the development project was to have been reviewed by a new Assistant Deputy Minister in June. Marc Woons, Constituency Assistant to MLA Charlie Wyse, attended our AGM and will do his best to get an update on the status of the development proposal. On a similar development issue, Marc suggests that members, who may be opposed to the BC Government’s proposal to build lodges in BC’s parks, write to Charlie Wyse (see our Help Us website page for contact information).

Publicity

We received lots of positive feedback to our public newsletter, distributed in May, however we have decided to restrict this initiative to once a year, a spring edition. Any lake users wanting more up to date information on our society are encouraged to become members and receive our quarterly updates or visit our website regularly. Welcome packages continue to be distributed to new property owners in the area.

Lake Monitoring

We are now monitoring 4 lakes; Lac des Roches, Little Lac des Roches, Birch Lake and Phinetta Lake for clarity, pH, temperature and lake level. Many thanks to Bryson and Madeline Kerr who are making the weekly trip to monitor Phinetta Lake. The report on Lac des Roches, produced by the BC Lake Stewardship Society is now available on the BCLSS website, linked through our website.

Hudson’s Bay Fur Brigade Trail

We have discovered that there is a designated heritage trail between Little Fort and Lac des Roches, but not along the entire distance. We plan to work with the Ministry of Tourism in the upcoming year to maintain the existing trail, expand its identification to Lac des Roches and actively participate in its celebration as part of BC’s Heritage in 2008.

Regional Boundary Change

There has been no real change in the status of the initiative to move the regional district boundary east, so that all of Lac des Roches, Birch and Phinetta Lakes are included in the Cariboo Regional District (CRD). The first meeting between the CRD and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District is scheduled for September.

Membership

Gordon Marshall reported at the August General Meeting, our membership totals 166.

New Executive Portfolios

Welcome to 2 new executive members, and thanks to our re-elected executive members who have accepted newly restructured portfolios. Your 2006 executive is;

Chairman Barry Reid
Vice-Chairman Bryson Kerr
Media Relations Director Bill Jollymore
Media Relations Co-Director Lorraine Jollymore
Membership Director Gordon Marshall
Secretary Sharron Woloshyn
Treasurer David Woods
Publicity Director Marie Wallewein
Website Director Al Wallewein
Wildlife & Stewardship Dir. Wendy Marshall
Dir. at Large (no portfolio) Madeline Kerr
Ralph Watson
Heidi Ruegg
Bev Sinclair

You can contact the executives through our website email address or mailing address.

Un-OCP

We have received support from Maureen Pinkney of the CRD to proceed with development of an Un-Official Community Plan for our area. We invite members to provide input into land use preferences.

Around the Lake

Wendy Marshall has surveyed the birds around our lake and counted 18 migratory songbirds which nest at the east end of Lac des Roches. Their nests are protected from disturbance by both Provincial and Federal law.

We are very encouraged by boater speed reduction we have witnessed through the channel between big and little Lac des Roches and attribute this to the new signage and the newsletter information.

Regular Member’s Update – June 2006

Water Retention Dam

We are still waiting for an update on the idea of a dam on our lakes. Should our wet spring weather continue into the summer, water availability will likely not be a factor, however availability of government funding may become an issue for the Lemieux Creek Watershed Roundtable group.

LWBC Meeting

In April, several Executive members traveled to Kamloops to meet with Robin Levesque and Peter Walters of Land and Water BC (aka Integrated Land Management Bureau) in Kamloops. We learned that the mandate for LWBC has changed, with a de-emphasis on revenue from developing crown land and that all development proposals were being re-evaluated. Peter will be presenting our many issues to his superiors and a decision on the future of the currently proposed development, should be made in June.

Newsletter

In May, we distributed to every lake property, the first edition of our general newsletter. For those members with property on the lakes, one was tucked near your door. For the benefit of our members, this newsletter will soon be posted on our website and is attached to the mail-out of the June Quarterly Update. Your feedback to Marie Wallewein would be helpful for the upcoming Fall edition.

Lake Monitoring

In May, Marge Sidney from the Ministry of Environment, took readings on Lac des Roches and Birch Lake with our lake monitors. This surface to bottom monitoring is in addition to the regular measurements, which are taken throughout the summer by our lake monitors on all three lakes.

Stewardship

We are planning to expand our stewardship role to include the major streams in our sensitive watershed, monitoring Deep Creek (between Lac des Roches and Birch Lake) and the larger feeder streams. We are currently members of BCLSS (Lake keepers) and Barry Reid will apply for membership into BC Stream keepers.

Regional Boundary Change

Although there is multi-level government support for this change, Maureen Pinkney of the Cariboo Regional District has indicated that it will be a lengthy process. The Thompson Nicola Regional District is looking at adjusting the boundary lines for all of the lakes that are currently divided. Some residents of area lakes may not be as agreeable to change.

Membership

Gordon Marshall reported at the May General Meeting, our membership totaled 150.

Annual General Meeting

Our AGM is scheduled for August 30 at 7:00 pm at Bridge Lake School. There are several executive positions up for election or re-election for two-year terms.

Petition

Thanks to Cariboo South MLA, Charlie Wyse, our 700-signature petition was formally introduced into the Legislature by on March 30, 2006.

Around the Lake

Gordon Marshall reports that the ice went off Little Lac des Roches (and we think Birch Lake) on April 28 and off Lac des Roches April 30.

Wendy Marshall reports that loon chicks to June 19 on all of Lac des Roches total only three.

The new “dead slow” signage at both ends of the channel have been respected by an abundance of boaters using the lake since the May long weekend.

It has been a very wet May and June and lake levels are high. Boat wakes could potentially be very harmful to waterfowl nests so lake users should take care.