Author: lacdesroches

The Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake came into existence in 2004 to fight a governmental body’s suggestion of creating a huge development on their lakes, which include Montana Lake. The group worked extremely hard to advise the “powers that be” that such a scheme for this pristine area was not good. All along they’ve had the backing of the Cariboo Regional District (CRD), which had long previously designated these lakes as “fragile”.

Eventually, Friends succeeded and the whole scheme was put “on hold”, but there is still potential for some sort of go-ahead as one side of the lakes are in the Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD). For that reason, there is movement afoot to have the regional district boundary moved so that the entire lakes area falls within the CRD.

The group meets every last Wednesday evening of the month at Bridge Lake Elementary School. For more details call Bill Jollymore at 593-9305.

Residents from the Lac des Roches area can rest a little easier as their concerns are now being addressed by various levels of government. For the time being, plans to develop the area are on hold, and talks on boundary issues have begun.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Lands had slated the area for development of strata title, year-round residences and resorts at the east end of Lac des Roches. The plan didn’t sit well with local homeowners concerned that the ecologically sensitive area couldn’t sustain the level of infrastructure that the government had proposed.

To compound the issue, the lake straddles Cariboo Regional District (CRD) and Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) boundaries.

The CRD deemed the lake as a sensitive watershed area that would not be ideal for development, whereas the TNRD’s stance is contradictory as they have said their portion is prime for development, Sharron Woloshyn, secretary for the Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake explained.

For now, the provincial government will not be moving forward with it’s initial plan.

“There’s nothing planned right now. Basically the project is on hold pending further review,” Liz Bicknell, a ministry spokesperson said. “However the ministry has said it will honour a commitment that was made, and that is that if there is going to be any further consultation that participants will be given 30-days notice to any further rezoning meetings.”

Bicknell suggested that the group meet with Cariboo South MLA Charlie Wyse to voice their concerns, which they did, and plan to again by next spring. He said he met with staff of Agriculture Minister Pat Bell, and the proposal is under review.

“It’s not off the table. His staff are in the process of completing their information gathering,” Wyse said. “From there Robin Levesque (who had been co-ordinating the project, will make his report to his group in the new year, and from there they will decide where to go with this particular proposal.

Wyse said he has been given assurances that should the proposals in whatever form proceed, all groups will be advised as to when and how.

The CRD has started the process of expanding its boundaries to encompass the entire area.

“The board will be sending a letter to the TNRD in response to an application received from residents of Lac des Roches,” Shelley Burich, the CRD Communications manager, said. Next step for the CRD is assessing the feasibility of moving forward with a plan.

“Now, planning staff and two managers have to look at what is involved,” said Maureen Pinkney, the CRD’s Area L director. “Geographically they fit the CRD better than they fit Kamloops, but it’s just at the beginning stages. Staff is looking at it so it can be a win-win situation, not a case of fix one thing and not another.”

Friends of Lac des Roches formed in September 2004 as a voice opposing the proposed development. The society, with membership totaling 141, consists of local and seasonal residents, as well as supporters from the United States and England. The group has a Web site www.lacdesroches.org.

Cariboo-South MLA Charlie Wyse has brought up a number of issues he says are on the minds of his constituents in the South Cariboo.

One issue concerns a proposed development on the shores of Lac des Roches, off Hwy. 24. The housing development brought up concerns that not enough study of whether the area could sustain it had taken place.

“The Minister of Agriculture (Pat Bell) says the project is moving ahead, albeit slowly,” Wyse said last week. “He’s extended an offer to me as MLA to be involved in this project. I intend to do that. My staff are arranging a meeting with myself and area residents.”

The development is a 225 lot subdivision.

“It raises all sorts of questions as to whether the lake can support this development,” Wyse continued. He said he would keep his constituents apprised of a meeting date.

(Excerpt from the Cariboo Regional District Board Report)

The Board will be sending a letter to the Thompson Nicola Regional District in response to an application received from residents of Lac des Roches. Lac des Roches has been traditionally divided between the CRD and the TNRD. Residents are requesting to be integrated into the CRD including the entire sensitive watershed, as they have been concerned with proposed development within the area.

This letter is to forward stewardship concerns of the property owners of Birch Lake and Lac des Roches Lake regarding a TNRD scheduled workshop on an official community plan (OCP) for this fragile watershed area.

The Friends of Lac des Roches and Birch Lake agree with the TNRD that there is a need to provide a long-term strategy that will guide any developmental growth to protect and/or minimize the impact on the natural environment – plan that avoids conflicts with the surrounding area’s historic uses.

The community of Birch Lake and Lac des Roches Lake, however, does not believe it is appropriate for an OCP to be forged out of the needs of a speculative developer but should be established first on factors and values the community identifies with.

We understand from Bill Valentine that the TNRD has required the proponent of Land Water BC Inc. to provide an environmental and economic impact assessment as a condition of rezoning.

We believe these studies will identify issues that will not be supportive of the proposed massive development currently being pursued.

The sensitivity of this watershed with its cluster of sports fishing lakes, streams and wetlands is not conducive to a large-scale C-4 zoning or a site specific lakeshore rezoning.

This type of development would be more suitably established along the Highway 25 corridor and away from an interconnected network of ecosystems.

This area would have a greater sustainable value as a public park or wildlife preserve/interpretive center. We would suggest further the OCP have discretion in approval through a performance bond to limit any strata development and the environmental blight often created.

Our joint lake community group is most apprehensive due to the dual regional district status of Lac des Roches, and that the resulting OCP will be incomplete in its scope to deal with developmental issues when applied to the whole lake system.

Such a plan is not a plan that will provide a balance between future development and lake and watershed stewardship. We look forward to the TNRD public meetings in this local community and for the TNRD to take the initiative to collaborate with the CRD to develop a comprehensive plan for this jewel on the Highway 24 corridor.

Residents of Lac des Roches are waiting to see how changes in the B.C. provincial government will affect a development proposal for the area.

With the recent dissolve of the Crown corporation, Land and Water British Columbia (LWBC), Lac des Roches area residents have been awaiting word on the future of a large residential development project LWBC announced in 2004.

“I got a notification of a water rate increase on our water licence on the lake, and its on Land and Water BC stationery, and I am sure they’re probably just using up old paper, but so far I haven’t seen anything,” Bill Jollymore, media liaison for the Friends of Lac des Roches, said. “Everything seems to be dormant at this point.”

Handed a mandate by the province in 2002 to develop and market Crown land, LWBC sought to develop approximately 300 residential properties around Lac des Roches and neighbouring lakes Birch and Montana. A hotel and golf course were also planned.

Residents of the area formed the Friends of Lac des Roches, which became the formal voice of opposition and negotiation to LWBC’s venture.

Following the 2005 provincial election, the re-elected B.C. Liberals dissolved LWBC and put all its projects on hold.

According to Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell, water concerns once handled by LWBC were handed to the re-formed Ministry of Environment. Development projects, such as the one at Lac des Roches, now fall under Bell’s portfolio and the recently formed Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB), which Bell will oversee.

“It was time for us to have a bit of a fresh start with LWBC,” Bell explained in an Aug. 8 interview with the Free Press. “We felt it was time to make a bit of a shift. Land and Water BC’s mandate certainly was to try and create opportunities and access to Crown land wherever we could. That was the business they were in. The ILMB will continue to do that type of stuff, but it will take, at this point, an approach that is more holistic. So we’ll be looking at values to society beyond the cash value of the land that’s being transferred.”

Jollymore said the change had to do with how LWBC’s aggressive approach reflected upon the government.

“I think that the government got a pretty fair massage, and I don’t know whether it was from our message or just a whole bunch of outcry from other sources of dissatisfaction with the arrogance and the aggressiveness of LWBC, but it certainly had an effect,” Jollymore said.

Bell recognized there were issues in the province around LWBC’s methods, particularly in the handling of First Nations issues.

“We are serious about trying to make significant headway with First Nations and bring them into the economic tent of the rest of B.C. so they can start building capacity and sharing in the economic wealth generated in the province,” Bell commented. “Taking a step back, a breather, and slowing down a bit here, and making sure we’re doing things in a methodical way – is exactly why we made the change from LWBC over to the ILMB.”

Along with managing Crown land sales, the ILMB, soon to be centered in Kamloops, will also be a single access service centre for all natural resource tenures.

“It is a program intended to help simplify the tenuring process for people that want to get any sort of a natural resource tenure,” he said. “We haven’t gone beyond that yet. We’re a few weeks away from a formal announcement.”

Jollymore is compiling a history of LWBC’s development projects which he plans on sending out to all of B.C.’s newly appointed ministers, including Bell.

“This is basically the story of Land and Water BC from last August, when this all started and came to light to the citizenry, and letting them know what has gone on prior to their appointment,” Jollymore explained.