Sumas Mtn. in threat of losing trails to mining.

Jun 28, 2011 at 10:51

Click Here for The Direct Link To Comment On This Application

266531 BC Ltd has made application to begin new gravel mining on Sumas Mountain. This gravel pit will affect access to the Sumas Mt. Regional Park as well as destroy “Time Killer” in its entirety. Access to “Devils Throat”, “World Cup” and “Noah Fear” will likely be blocked as well. Mountain biking in the Abbotsford area will suffer greatly if this application goes ahead.

We need as many names as possible registered against this proposal before July 9, 2011.

Nevermind that the pit will be an eye sore for the residents of Abbotsford as a whole and create a large amount of heavy truck traffic in an already sensitive neighborhood. In addition, this will destroy threatened mountain beaver habitat which is currently being studied by students from BCIT on a regular basis.

The image below clearly shows the impact this mine would have on the trail network. The entire area inside the purple boundary would be OFF LIMITS TO EVERYONE as per the Mines Act.

Don’t like the sounds of this application? MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD by clicking below before July 9, 2011:

YOUR COMMENTS AGAINST THIS APPLICATION ARE CRUCIAL IN STOPPING IT IN ITS TRACKS

Click Here for The Direct Link To Comment On This Application

Dear Friends of Sumas Mountain,

The July 9/11 deadline for comments is approaching for sending your objection to the new gravel mine application on Sumas Mountain (please see Backgrounder below).

I’ve drafted a draft letter of objection for your use (see attached). Please use it as a prefix or addendum to your own letter, or, as your own letter if it reflects your concerns about another gravel mine on Sumas Mountain.

We need your help now. Please take the time to send your letter. It makes a difference. Your silence, on the other hand, is viewed by government as your tacit approval. Please invite your family, friends and sympathetic politicians to do the same.

The Sumas Mountain/Abbotsford/FVRD communities need your help. This time it’s happening in my community’s back yard.

Warm regards,

Walter Neufeld

You can email your letter to:

Kevin Walker, RPF PAg
Resource Authorizations
South Coast Regional Office
Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations
Email: kevin.walker@gov.bc.ca

OR

Click Here for The Direct Link To Comment On This Application

(Backgrounder)

Sumas Mountain

A community and environment worth protecting

Description: Untitled-1 copy

Sumas Mountain Quarry /266531 BC Ltd/ 479170 BC Ltd/Golden Pacific Aggregate Inc. recently posted its “Notice of Intention” to apply for a 310 acre gravel permit with an operational lifespan of more than 100 years.

The initial mine will border our FVRD park & Chadsey Lake (Lost Lake) and be very near our residential neighbourhood.

The initial size of this application is huge but what makes this application most disturbing is its potential for expansion. Experience has shown that the initial gravel mine permit application is a means to unlimited expansion. The mines potential for expansion is for that reason key to understanding what the permit applicant’s true negative impact will be on the community in the future. Like all gravel mines in BC, expansions are allowed without community input, without appeal, and with, seemingly, no end in sight. Species at risk are ignored. Under current provincial policies/practices, and in the absence of political intervention, much of Sumas Mountain could resemble this photo.

Description: CRW_1445 copy copyThis proposed mine's potential expansion is vast. This mine could expand/exploit between 1,500-2,000 acres under its tenured land holdings over the 100+ year permit duration. This graphic “AFTER” photograph to the right side of the page attempts to illustrate that reality.

What can be done? Get involved. We know from experience that your objections make a big difference. Your silence, on the other hand, is viewed by government as your tacit approval.

Organize:

With your help we can succeed in stopping this application. Please attend planned community meetings whenever possible.
We need to communicate with you and to do that effectively we need your name, address and email address
Get informed. A lot of information to help stop this application is available
Ask your local and provincial politicians to get involved, to advocate against this application
Write considerate letters of objection to our politicians and news reporters.
We hope to soon make available a draft “Letter of Objection” which can be used by residents for this purpose.
IMPORTANT DEADLINE JULY 9, 2011: Public comments will be received by the Senior Land Officer @ 100-153rd Street, Surrey, BC

Have a read of this well drafted opposition letter, feel free to substitute your own name in!

Click Here for The Direct Link To Comment On This Application

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35 Comments

Score Time

+ 22

nickboers (Jul 3, 2011 at 11:23)

I think that anyone sending comments or a letter to the land officer should not only object to this outright, but politely demand that if this does go through and the trails are lost, that the mining company should fund construction of new, equivalent trails nearby. If the trails are lost, they should at least replace them nearby.

KevSong (Jul 3, 2011 at 16:40)

boom a solution

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+ 15

tinfoil (Jul 3, 2011 at 10:10)

Done. Even if there were no trails to save on Sumas, that proposal is in blatant disregard of the community, and there is no way I'm supporting that.

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bendy (Jul 3, 2011 at 14:25)

i have never rode there, probably never will, but i am going to vote against the quarrying because the a$$ holes at the quary place should have no right to take away some of the communitys trails!! how about we just take over their quarry and make a nice freeride park? bet they wouldnt like that would they

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geo100 (Jul 3, 2011 at 14:40)

As an American citizen, I am sorry to have to voice my opposition to Canadian affairs, such as the Sumas gravel mine. My family and I come to Canada 1-3 times per year only to ride bicycles on the well constructed trails that SW Canada has to offer. My Post as a US citizen
We have only recently discovered the Sumas trail system and is now one of our favorite.
On and average I spend $2500.00 USD each trip but usally travel with several friends,(12) on one trip alone.
ave to We are only one small group that comes to ride BC trails, there are thousands I'm sure. Personally I know of at least 50 people that do the same. I am not saying that I will never come to Canada again to ride, but I will have to go elsewhere, not to Sumas.
In closing, I hope you concider the impact that US citizens can have on a BC community.
Mtn bike rider
George Smith

doorknob100 (Jul 4, 2011 at 17:45)

Meant to pos prop u. Couldnt agree more

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crashdad (Jul 3, 2011 at 10:47)

Done--

I have been using the Sumas mtn recreational area with my son and a group of friends for several years now. to limit access to the area for new gravel mining on Sumas Mountain would be a real shame. every year we are loosing access to our wilderness to development. haveing to travel further and further cost more than time. fuel expenses alone can impact whether we make those choices. please review carfully the full impact this will have on our community.

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/2828126/

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hal9k (Jul 3, 2011 at 13:40)

Done-here is what I submitted

Where do I start. I am certainly all for progress and commerce, but seriously in a province that wants to pretend to pride itself on being an environmental leader BC seems to continually fall well short. People like to have easy access to outdoor space, and being an avid mountain bike rider I moved here from ontario to be part of that community. It seems though as time goes on there are less and less places to ride close to home. Burning more expensive fuel to drive to trail heads seems to miss the point of the sport I love. It's even more sad to think that in ontario I had access to more trails within a 20min drive from anywhere in the toronto area, and in the lower mainland we are forced to drive further and further to get out for a ride. We seem to have missed the boat on the term 'conservation area' in the lower mainland in favour of townhouses and industrial parks.

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theriotact (Jul 3, 2011 at 11:50)

sumas is one of the gnarliest local spots in the fraser valley. I really hope they see that building a mine is the dumbest thing ever.

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mdrlangill (Jul 3, 2011 at 20:35)

I've been mountain biking since 92ish, I build many trail's on Vancover island, Okanagan valley and Alberta. I've lost trails do to industrialisation and snoty government officials, but I hate to say this is it come down to putting food on the table for your family first. We need jobs to buy bike. We should try to work togeaher on this not stop them

mdrlangill (Jul 3, 2011 at 20:37)

and the corporations should have to contribute something back to the community

PaliGap1983 (Jul 3, 2011 at 21:30)

haha what are you new? Do you not understand capitalism? They don't care about you or your community, you have to stand up and stop them.

DeepInTheForest (Jul 4, 2011 at 11:59)

@mdrlangill mining corporations do. in BC there is a profit share program for mining practices.

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tags42 (Jul 3, 2011 at 11:03)

HELP SAVE SUMAS!!

It's bad enough that the main out at the bottom has already been hacked to hell...

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kambc (Jul 3, 2011 at 10:04)

done, aaaand done. hope they save it

mehow1993 (Jul 3, 2011 at 10:10)

All comments need to sound professional and well thought out, be serious if you want to be taken seriously

kambc (Jul 5, 2011 at 9:03)

are you telling me that?

mehow1993 (Jul 5, 2011 at 19:56)

no, just in general.

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eastsideride (Jul 3, 2011 at 21:14)

PINKBIKE! Keep this up top on the new feeds, that way every Pinkbike user will see this and help to act against it!

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dubprof (Jul 4, 2011 at 9:38)

sumas aint that great if you ask me - maybe they will end up granting access to some other areas close by for development, provide some nice trail building funds and get some new lines cut....you guys got enough terrain out there. who donest like new trails???

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jer1 (Jul 3, 2011 at 23:38)

ive been riding and building up there for years it's a beautifull place to ride away from everything, there seems to always be quite a bit of politics up there about logging our trails, we always go back and make another route around and make due.
guess ledgeview will be getting alot more tire tracks on their trails.

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cripps (Jul 3, 2011 at 14:35)

It's unfortunate that you guys are going to lose your local trails and all the sweat you put into them, it's good to see that you have the pride to take a stand. I'd be choked over the inconvenience as well. But on the whole, what is it that you stand for when push comes to shove? If the BCIT guys wanted to shut down the trails for their beaver study would you be slagging them on the internet and summoning a letter-writing campaign at the eleventh hour as well?

A big evil company makes for a convenient target for criticism, but outfits like this submit their applications in the interest of their business and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Ever consider that they found the area appealing because it will also provide easy access to equipment, materials and workers? If you got a job there for a handsome wage would it be such a big deal anymore? In a time when there are too few people working and costs of living are rising, this operation could be an economic driver for the area for generations.

While we love our trails, the fact that a few ribbons of dirt have been cut across the landscape does not make it hallowed ground. Hipocrisy runs deep; if the sierra club tried to shut down your trails you'd be fighting them tooth and nail but when someone else wants to dig in the sandbox the mountain bikers are environmentalists all of a sudden. Go figure.

When(not if) the trails get plowed, this will eventually turn into something good for the Sumas area riders. The hardcore guys will be galvanized by this enough that there will be more organization, a new location will be found to rebuild and in a few short years it'll be a distant memory. The next couple years will be a little thin but The trails will be back for the same reasons they were built in the first place: you guys just want to rip.

Negative prop me all you want, but do remember that mountain biking is still a fringe sport and we're little more than a special interest group. Freeriding isn't free.

TremblayBKer (Jul 3, 2011 at 16:36)

I did a + prop by accident. Its a total - for me. These trails have been there first they deserve to stay, its like first come first served. Not First come and later comes second and kicks first out.

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lennyandcarl (Jul 3, 2011 at 12:08)

Sent my comments. Let's help out the shredders in abby. I still hope to check out sumas mountain sooner than later.

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DeepInTheForest (Jul 3, 2011 at 20:04)

This is a tough call. The thing is gravel deposits that are mineable are hard to find. If you don't think so, then you honestly just don't know. Especially good gravel around here that is accessible. The thing is, the mining company doesn't choose where these gravel deposits exist. Nature does that. Whether you like it or not, you need that gravel. If you live in a house, your home used gravel for drainage, concrete etc. If you drive your car on a road, the road needed aggregate and will in the future for repairs. You might not think about it twice when you go to Home Depot to pick up a yard of gravel or sand for yard work or get a new retaining wall put in, but without a readily available economic source of gravel, your building costs would be higher. I know that in our suburban orbit the greenways are shrinking. For something like this ... the mining company will have to have a reclamation bond. Meaning, they will have money set aside to rehabilitate the area. So what it means is, there is money already in place that needs to be set aside for the post-mine clean-up. They aren't allowed to even apply for a mining proposal until that is in place. There won't be a giant bare scar in the future. In some communities in BC this has been a great opportunity for them to develop some new feature in their community. So as someone suggested, yeah bring the issue up with company and ask them to either help allocate land for new trails in the area or in their post-mine reclamation put some seriously cool recreational features in. Who knows, the solution to the problem isn't on either side of the argument, it's somewhere in the middle.

partswhore (Jul 4, 2011 at 10:38)

While the pro pit comments are somewhat well put together, you obviously have no idea of the impact this will have on Abbotsford biking. Sumas is the only mountain in Abbotsford to ride long term, Ledgeview is private property and will be gone very soon to houses.

Post mine reclamation? It's a 100 year plan!

This is not about losing one trail, but an entire network!

Send in your comments people.

DeepInTheForest (Jul 4, 2011 at 11:55)

This does sound dire and no I don't ride up valley too much, but I can appreciate the loss and impact to riding in any area. Are there alternatives for rideable terrain on the ridge to the west and north of the sumas peak? Looking at terrain maps for Sumas it looks like there could be but I guess the accessibility of loops, roads etc would be a matter to consider.

If you are a rider in the FVMBA or are involved in the community there, I might be able to help. At least be able to explain the mining terms and plans and perhaps help with working out a solution. 100 years doesn't mean a massive 2 km by 1 km pit for 100 years, but I can appreciate that even 5 years in anyone's life is significant. I would think that the municipal government would be concerned with losing recreational space near suburban centres. So hopefully there will be a workable solution. Sometime coming forth up front with an alternative on your own terms is better than resisting and waiting for a response from the opposition. It's better to direct your resistance with a plan toward what you see as fair. Give me a hollar, I'd like to help if I can.

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Fehrhoff (Jul 4, 2011 at 20:27)

Done!! I would really miss these trails!!

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compaqnc6340 (Jul 3, 2011 at 10:21)

it's gonna be a rocky road from here on out....

dubprof (Jul 4, 2011 at 10:42)

heh heh

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Fontoker666 (Jul 3, 2011 at 22:15)

I know the feeling of losing a trail...sad.

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heropictures Plus (Jul 3, 2011 at 19:05)

done, read the title,and BAM. done.

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I-CanDoRideTheBike (Jul 3, 2011 at 17:27)

Done.

partswhore (Jul 4, 2011 at 10:36)

Thanks!

pmpete (Jul 6, 2011 at 20:26)

Hey, maybe someone in Abbottsford should ask one of their city councilors how much per ton of gravel, they will be collecting. Just saying, don't go looking for anything but crocodile tears from the City.

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