Sumas Mtn. in threat of losing trails to mining.
Click Here for The Direct Link To Comment On This Application
![destruction]()
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.
![destruction]()
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.
![destruction]()
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
![destruction]()
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
![destruction]()
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
Author Info:
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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.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/2828126
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
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.
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.
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.