LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
- March 11, 2008
To The Editor;
After many years of wanting to move to this beautiful community, Larry and I moved here in July from Aldergrove and love it. We also realize that Mother Nature has been kind to us for our first non-rainy Winter.
To breathe the clear and clean air, to experience the peace and quiet, to see all the stars at night is so delightful and such a change for us. It is so much fun to go to the Posse games and be close to the ice, we even enjoy those folks who ring their bells and horns. They know who they are.
We have been very privileged to have met Dan Hillman and Wade Masch who are wonderful young men who will do well in whatever they choose to do in their adult lives. Responsible and incredibly hard workers who were a pleasure to have at our home as they helped finish the fencing.
To Judi Esdale who worked so hard to do our big paddock so we could have a safe place to run our dogs without worry once we moved up, to Heather and Al Tremblay who have
'taken us under their wings' while we learn the ropes in our new lives, to Dean and Judy at Century 21 who have spent hours helping us find our home and to settle into Princeton, to Hugh and Melodie for their neighbourliness but especially to Susan and Ken Matsumoto.
I have known Susan since she was a teenager and Ken since their wedding. Yes, we share a love of our Irish Setters but also much more.
Larry is now involved in coaching bowling with the Special Olympics and that has made us really feel more involved in the community. It is such a delight to get to know all these athletes and see them blossom as they progress and get together to have fun. Competitive? You bet but they have fun while they compete and isn't that what it is really all about?
Once I am no longer commuting as much, we both hope to get more involved this spring and summer.
Then this past weekend, we had the heart stopping terror of having 2 of our dogs find a loose board and be gone for 33+ hours. With the help of so many, we were extremely lucky to find them alive and well, albeit confused at being so many miles from home, sore and tired.
We would never have thought to look on Summerland/Princeton Road so Osoon' although I did worry they had chased deer up the hill on our property. I have never driven so fast from Vancouver as I did after Larry called me.
THANK YOU, Thank you Ken Matsumoto who spend almost the whole time helping Larry search; to Brenda and Gerry Crimmons for trying to catch them when they were first sighted and for contacting Ken Jones and it seems everyone else they know, as well as going out themselves looking on their properties; to our RCMP Constables Jarvis and Daigle for letting us know they had found them but were unable to catch them.
It was very scary to think that Nova and Ricky were so leery of all who tried to help as they are both more than outgoing and sociable but they have also never been lost before and out in the woods at night. They are our bed warmers and couch dogs first and foremost.
We are blessed to live here and get to know some of you. May we know more as times passes.
- Pam and Larry Legault, Princeton
To The Editor;
On Saturday March 1st I had the pleasure to attend a Seminar -Community Planning for a Green Legacy organized by Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance, South Okanagan Similkameen and Environment Canada. Hats off to Margaret Holmes and everyone who helped to organize this very informative event. Great Job! I found the speakers very knowledgeable in their fields and the information well presented. Special thanks to Mike Sarell, Registered Professional Biologist who came out in spite of having a very bad sore throat to speak to us. That shows the dedication and commitment that these folks have to educating the public and protecting the environment!
The Seminar was focused on what is being done in the Okanagan to work with the developers and still protect the environment as the Okanagan Valley undergoes tremendous pressure for growth.
If you wish to get involved in protecting the environment go to www.StewardshipWorks.bc.ca.
Well now that I have sung the praises of those who made this happen I feel the need to comment on the content of what was presented to those who took time out of their hectic schedules to attend.
My first comment is that I was incredibly naive before attending this seminar. The information presented shows how vulnerable the Okanagan is to development as far as protecting the environment goes. There is little in place to put habitat before development. Here in a nutshell is what I learned at the Green Legacy Seminar.
I was stunned to learn that Areas G and B of the RDOS have no bylaws in place whatsoever and so fall under provincial guidelines only. This means that those areas do not even have building inspectors!
Areas E, D, C and A fall under Zoning Bylaws and Official Community Plans and Area H and F have only Rural Land Use Bylaws. It should be noted that Official Community Plans are non regulatory, they are guidelines only that have been formulated to give direction to Boards and Council when making their final decisions.
Developers are required to hire a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) if the site they are proposing for development is within a certain area as defined by mapping done by the RDOS identifying environmentally sensitive areas. The public can view these maps on the RDOS website at
www.rdos.bc.ca, these areas are identified by pink shading on the RDOS maps.
However QEP's are hired and paid by the developer, so there is a conflict of interest for them. If they submit a report that would stop or seriously alter the developers plans, I would think chances are this would adversely affect their future hiring potential. Further the QEP does not have to have a familiarity with the local plants and animals and many come from Alberta. Since the valley is a very unique bio system it seems difficult to think someone from another Province would have the knowledge to be able to complete a very accurate report.
This report is then submitted to either the city council or Regional District Office. Locally we are very lucky to have Jillian Tamblyn RDOS Environmental Coordinator, who reviews these reports and makes recommendations to the RDOS as to whether these reports seem accurate and what the developer could do to alleviate any of the QEP concerns if any, as to minimize the impact of the development on the environment.
However this again is only a recommendation and there are no local bylaws regulating environmental impact development.
At this point the QEP's role is done once their report is submitted. The QEP is not involved in any follow up to work with the Developer to implement these recommendations. I also learned that any lands within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) or Integrated Land Management Branch (ILMB) are generally exempt from even these requirements. The final vote of approval rests with the Regional District Board or the City Council if the development is taking place within a city's boundaries.
The Ministry of Environment gave a very informative talk on their roles in protecting the environment and again I was shocked when they stated that the entire Province of British Columbia has only approximately 100 field Conservation Officers! Also as far as protecting any Riparian areas, the area interface between land and a flowing surface water body, they only have power under three legislative acts - the Water Act, the Federal Fisheries Act and Forest and Range Protection Act Section 46-1.1, which was just put in to give Conservation officers the ability to ticket people found to be destroying stream
beds. These acts are very specific and very limiting in the actual power a conservation officer has to protect the Riparian areas of our valley. Also it is my understanding that there is no legislation in place to protect other forms of wildlife at risk.
However if you have a concern about someone damaging the environment you can contact them 24/7 on the Report a Poacher line 1-800-663-9453. These people do care and will help wherever they can. Hats off to them for all their hard work and dedication in what must be a very frustrating job!
The South Okanagan Regional Growth Strategy that the RDOS is in the process of revising has added some environmentally sensitive areas to what are called secondary growth areas which have given cause for concern to some citizens. It does contain some recommendations for the preservation and protection of the environment but again this document is non regulatory and just the fact that they are recommending amending it to include these sensitive areas shows that it has no long term security. When I brought this fact up at the meeting Oliver Councilor Pat Hanpson stated that just because someone becomes a Politician it does not mean that they do not like birds and animals as much as the rest of us, and the fact that the people had enough faith in them to elect them should show that they will make the right decisions. I interpreted this as the basic TRUST ME speech.
Nothing personal Mr. Hanpson but I don't trust the average Politician and that is why I encourage everyone to take notice that our local politicians have the future of our beautiful valley in their hands with little or no bylaws or legislation governing their decisions and personally that scares me. Our local RDOS and Council Representatives have a great deal of power in what happens in our valley. Please take the time to write, email or call your local representative at both the local and provincial levels and let them know that the present system is not acceptable.
You can locate contact information for all your representatives in the blue pages of the phone book. However in the mean time I encourage everyone to look very closely at the candidates during elections when you are preparing to cast your vote and ask them how they feel on the protection of our wetlands and
environment versus development because as it stands right now we do have to
'TRUST THEM' because the public really has little or no say in the final decisions that are made around the board room or councillors tables!
- Theresa Nolet, Penticton
