Help Save a B.C. Crag Threatened by a Quarry
Climbers have until June 26 to submit their thoughts about a new proposed quarry that threatens a crag in Golden
Climbers are hoping that the B.C. government does not allow a new quarry to be opened north of the small town of Golden, B.C. If the quarry is allowed, it threatens the existence of the Lower Quartz a.k.a. Hummingbird Wall, one of the best quartzite crags in the Columbia Valley.
Local climbers are raising awareness in hopes that people will comment on the B.C. government’s public commenting page here. “The application is currently under review, but we need to add as many comments in order for this to be rejected,” said Golden-based climber Amelie Goulet-Boucher on the Columbia Valley Climbing Association’s Facebook page. “We need everyone and comments need to be added fast. Deadline for commenting is June 26.”
The Columbia Valley Climbing Association is currently working to protect the area around Hummingbird Wall from any future resource extraction. For those who have never visited, the Columbia Valley gives you access to areas like the Bugaboos, Bush River Road and several crags. It’s also home to the Columbia Wetlands, which is a vital link on a major bird migration route.
The climbing community has been growing over the past few years thanks to better access to crags and the Confluence Climbing Gym. Below is the letter submitted by Goulet-Boucher to the B.C. government concerning the proposal.
Goulet-Boucher’s Letter
Michael Jmaiff has many errors within his proposal as well as problems with his mitigation strategies within the valley where the rip/rap mining would occur. On top of these errors, which I will attempt to outline below, this valley has been used recreationally by the community of Golden and surrounding areas previously too, and since the expiry of the previous owners’ quarry permit. The main recreation within this valley is rock climbing, but is also used for bird watching. The rock climbing wall is called Hummingbird wall.
Proposal issues:
-Rock and Roll has indicated that this will be a multi-year operation with 4 workers on site at any given time for the operation. This will employ a very low number of workers for only a few years. The recreational value of this valley for rock climbing will span generations, with continued development of the rock walls in the valley. This also enables a learning and educational area for the local schools, College and extracurricular activities that would employ local guides and teachers for generations.
-Impacts: Mr. Jmaiff has indicated that: “No vegetation removal, blasting or extensive development are required.” Having witnessed the previous owners’ work, I can say that this will be false. Surface mining most definitely removes all vegetation that is surrounding the area which includes raspberries (wildlife food) and many other species. It would be impossible to do this kind of work while not destroying the surrounding area. This was also evident when the previous owner had to knock down old-growth fir trees, as well as birch to widen the road for stockpiles. This impacted the water stream that is used for ungulates and bears.
Michael Daigle of BC mines was contacted by Kyle, and he did come and do a mine inspection of the place. He ultimately ordered a reclamation order to the permit holder to clean up the mess. Which in surface mining does not really work as the surface and damage is done. Mr. Daigle also mentioned that the development of the rock climbing was obvious and that this would be included in the file for any permits going forward.
The Columbia Valley Climbing Association is currently in the process of submitting and securing a Section 57 for this entire valley to gain access and put a stop to any more mining in this important valley.
There are also major concerns visually that will impact many other user groups. Mr. Jmaiff is mistaken when saying “This location does not have any visual concerns.” There are other user groups within this valley. There would be devastating conflict to multiple other user groups, counter to what the management plan indicates. The previous owner was confined to a very small portion of the start of the valley, and even then, the landscape was completely altered and changed. With Mr. Jmaiff’s new proposal of a continuation of the old quarry with plans to expand would alter this valley unusable during and after operations for a lifetime.
Wildlife: Rock and Roll have indicated that they will follow best practices for wildlife mitigation and “workers will use a cautionary approach giving wildlife the space to use the habitat as they need with the expectation that use is likely to change with the seasonal availability of food sources.” There is no way to give wildlife the space they need in this small valley with a quarry operation going on. This is a box to check for their management plan that has no concrete and valid way of avoiding wildlife and/or interrupting wildlife movement through this valley which I have witnessed time and time again. This includes black and brown Bears, Ungulates, Owls, Yellow Belly Sap Suckers and more.
Species at risk: In Rock and Roll’s management plan for species at risk, they outline the potential for a few SAR that could be in the area. Even with a qualified professional to educate workers on how to ” avoid the disturbance or destruction of SAR individuals ” this would be impossible while using large equipment like bulldozers and excavators used for a rock quarry. This type of mining is complete destruction of the habitat with no way of knowing what is being destroyed until the harm is done.
Archeological: A chance find will be very hard to be noticed with a rock quarry. They will be moving large amounts of surface with large machinery and completely altering the landscape. With rock quarrying, mining operations are not just digging a hole in the earth that might show something, they are striping it and altering the large rocks around that will be incredibly hard to know if you are disturbing an archeological find.
Rock climbing is a very non-invasive recreation that allows people to engage in the environment and to educate the upcoming generations about respectful use of land. Golden is very limited in this type of land use and the CVCA is trying to secure areas where this is most important and where the community is already engaging in this type of recreation that is inclusive for most people. All that is needed for rock climbing is routes on a wall (that are thoughtfully looked at for bird habitat) and a small trail that would allow people to walk along the valley to access the walls. This helps develop a relationship with the land, while placing very little impact.
I, respectively, strongly oppose Mr. Jmaiff’s rock quarry proposal for this area and plead with the government to allow a section 57 to go through so that generations of people can use this area.
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