Dangerous Development!

[BigIron]

Natural Resource Road Act Project - Province of B.C.

Under the guise of catering to our "better interests", the Provincial Government has launched a new legislation proposal "for better regulation of natural resource roads". In the preamble they note: "This simplified process will create certainty about rules and regulations, and provide consistency for all sectors and resource road users".

All their wonderful words (spin) aside, what this really translates to is the wholesale curtailing of access to this province's back country. If passed, this new bill will allow the government to gate all access roads under their control, and hand off "policing" (read LIMIT & GATE) all other roads "owned" by Industry.

Already here on The Rock, Island Timberlands has started slapping up dozens upon dozens of No Trespassing Notices. Not simply on the side roads which are seeing gates assembled at an unprecedented rate, but most of the Main Arteries which of course are the only way for anyone to access the back country. It is assumed they are doing so in preparation for the passage of this bill, and has come as a surprise to both back country users and enforcement (RCMP and CO's). Chiefly this has occurred in the Comox region, but is spreading as I've now seen a handful of new signs/gates in the Port Alberni area.

Left unchecked, it will spread as fast as wildfire to the rest of the Province. If successful in pushing this bill through, the Provincial Government will be in effect curtailing everyone's access to the back country Province Wide. It simply will not matter whether you are "fishermen, hunters, mountain bikers, hikers, climbers, motorized recreation" etc etc, the answer will simply be NO You May NOT Enter!

For any who enjoy our natural heritage, and the ability to access that, I'd strongly suggest you treat this matter with the Seriousness it deserves! Write or call your MLA, send comments to the link posted above, and do it NOW! This is NO time for apathy! We are at extreme risk of losing FAR too much if this overbearing legislation is allowed to go unchecked!

I already have sent letters in, am working on comments to provide to the address noted above, and will post a few suggestions towards that once I have my thoughts assembled. I VERY much hope we can all come together, and ensure our access to OUR Province remains secure!

Matt

[BigIron]

Apparently the BC legislation is part of an International Public Access Management Plan.

It is directly connected to US and Alberta PUBLIC access plans.

Read this report, lots of information pertinent to BC: FLMF 2009-03 -- Report: Access Management Study Final

From that Plan we get:

"At the end of the work, perhaps the overriding lesson is that access management is one of the most difficult land use planning problems. This is particularly true when the objective involves denying public users access to existing routes."

And there, in a nutshell, is what we're facing...

Nog

[Turbo Al]

They tried this on Falls lake FSR and for some reason the gates keep disapearing -- all that was left of them was molten metal. Eventually they stopped putting gates there. In total I think 4 gates died.

[DLM]

It's probably less than 1% of the people that use the back country that screw it up for everybody else.
There is nothing that pisses a logger off more than getting to work Monday A.M. and find all the tools missing, or a machine shot up. fuel missing. ( got to work one morning and somebody had stole all the fuel out of the machines about 700 gallons)
What really make me mad is an area a gate that is locked during non-work time and the some people with keys use it for their own recreation area.

[BigIron]

In all seriousness, unless a significant number of people let them know directly of their opposition to this proposal (and soon btw) the problem WILL spread rapidly to the vast majority of the province. The Agenda here is to directly limit everyone's access in the name of "protecting the environment" and "liability issues". It is much more focused on the latter, and of course seen as a major cash saving initiative presented by those who never wander off the pavement.

The term "Let Them Play Golf" which was employed in the direction of recreational users in another situation earlier this year comes very much to mind. IF you are content with that, If you are content to simply sit idly by with the vein hope that others will take care of countering this proposal for you, then YOU will shortly bear witness to the loss of the vast majority of access to the back country in this province.

If you bother to have a read of the Master Plan this proposal is based on (latest link above), you cannot help but note:

- The extremely detailed description of measures employed to keep people from accessing the land and how effective they are...berms, gates, manned and unmanned, excavation, and even enforcement and punishment for accessing a closed area.

We have species of fish being killed off, habitat being destroyed, rivers and lakes being polluted and drained of their water on our crown land, huge tracts of forest being hacked down and now they want to restrict our access to those lands so that industry can work unimpeded...

Then, should we try to access this crown land despite efforts to prevent us doing so, they are recommending:

"Fit the punishment to the crime: Make penalties meaningful...adding appropriate community service as a penalty and linking violations to other recreational opportunities..."

Appears Orwell was closer than he thought...

So, each individual is now faced with a choice. Put pen to paper, get your comments in before the deadline, contact your MLA and inform them of your concern. Or, sit idly by and hope someone else deals with this for you, or ignore it all together in the mad hope it will simply not effect you personally. If you are in the latter camp, I suggest you start looking into golf related investment opportunities. For without great public outcry, our access WILL disappear in BC...

Nog

[CanuckShooter]

Did you vote Liberal in the last election? Did you vote for this? Nice payback eh???

[BigIron]

Originally Posted by CanuckShooter

Did you vote Liberal in the last election? Did you vote for this? Nice payback eh???

No. I did not vote for the LIEberals in the last election. Not ever likely to either...

Cheers

[Camp Cook]

Get a free miners license for $25 at any local government agents office and you will have the legal right to get the keys to these gates if it ever happens...

[BigIron]

Originally Posted by Camp Cook

Get a free miners license for $25 at any local government agents office and you will have the legal right to get the keys to these gates if it ever happens...

Good advice should this go right South Camp Cook.

Even better though if we all shut it down by voicing our opinions on this BS!

Comments can be submitted here: Submit Feedback - Natural Resource Road Act Project - Province of B.C.

Hope a few from here take the time to do so!!

Cheers,
Iron

[BigIron]

This current proposal is a resurrection of the old Bill 30 put forward by the Campbell government in April of 2008. Back then it was met with strong public resistance, and eventually died before passing. This time around, the Provincial government is being awfully quiet about their "new" proposal, I'd guess hoping that it will sneak it's way through before the general public is even aware it exists. NOT at all surprised by their underhanded tactics in this matter - seems if they don't get their way initially, they will quietly ignore the stated concerns of those they supposedly "represent" and do whatever the hell they want anyway.

Here's the background: B.C. Resource Roads are threatened by Bill 30 legislation.

The question this time is once again: Are you prepared to stand idly by while YOUR access to YOUR Province is stolen away right under your nose?
I hope NOT!

Nog

[BigIron]

Courtenay Fish & Game President on this proposal: Courtenay Fish and Game President

Comments have to be submitted by December 15, 2011.

Lets get some feedback happening people......

Nog