Quarterly Update - September 2006
Dam ... no dam
The good news is, Birch Lake and Lac des Roches will not be dammed due to their low flush rate. The bad news is, Phinetta Lake is a possibility. This is particularly disturbing as there is minimal elevation change between Phinetta Lake and Birch Lake, which is just upstream. We will be meeting again with a task team in early September to express our objections to a dam on Phinetta Lake.
Development Update
We are disappointed that there has been no progress from our meeting in April with Land and Water BC, where the development project was to have been reviewed by a new Assistant Deputy Minister in June. Marc Woons, Constituency Assistant to MLA Charlie Wyse, attended our AGM and will do his best to get an update on the status of the development proposal. On a similar development issue, Marc suggests that members, who may be opposed to the BC Government's proposal to build lodges in BC's parks, write to Charlie Wyse (see our Help Us website page for contact information).
Publicity
We received lots of positive feedback to our public newsletter, distributed in May, however we have decided to restrict this initiative to once a year, a spring edition. Any lake users wanting more up to date information on our society are encouraged to become members and receive our quarterly updates or visit our website regularly. Welcome packages continue to be distributed to new property owners in the area.
Lake Monitoring
We are now monitoring 4 lakes; Lac des Roches, Little Lac des Roches, Birch Lake and Phinetta Lake for clarity, pH, temperature and lake level. Many thanks to Bryson and Madeline Kerr who are making the weekly trip to monitor Phinetta Lake. The report on Lac des Roches, produced by the BC Lake Stewardship Society is now available on the BCLSS website, linked through our website.
Hudson's Bay Fur Brigade Trail
We have discovered that there is a designated heritage trail between Little Fort and Lac des Roches, but not along the entire distance. We plan to work with the Ministry of Tourism in the upcoming year to maintain the existing trail, expand its identification to Lac des Roches and actively participate in its celebration as part of BC's Heritage in 2008.
Regional Boundary Change
There has been no real change in the status of the initiative to move the regional district boundary east, so that all of Lac des Roches, Birch and Phinetta Lakes are included in the Cariboo Regional District (CRD). The first meeting between the CRD and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District is scheduled for September.
Membership
Gordon Marshall reported at the August General Meeting, our membership totals 166.
New Executive Portfolios
Welcome to 2 new executive members, and thanks to our re-elected executive members who have accepted newly restructured portfolios. Your 2006 executive is;
| Chairman | Barry Reid |
| Vice-Chairman | Bryson Kerr |
| Media Relations Director | Bill Jollymore |
| Media Relations Co-Director | Lorraine Jollymore |
| Membership Director | Gordon Marshall |
| Secretary | Sharron Woloshyn |
| Treasurer | David Woods |
| Publicity Director | Marie Wallewein |
| Website Director | Al Wallewein |
| Wildlife & Stewardship Dir. | Wendy Marshall |
| Dir. at Large (no portfolio) | Madeline Kerr |
| Ralph Watson | |
| Heidi Ruegg | |
| Bev Sinclair |
You can contact the executives through our website email address or mailing address.
Un-OCP
We have received support from Maureen Pinkney of the CRD to proceed with development of an Un-Official Community Plan for our area. We invite members to provide input into land use preferences.
Around the Lake
Wendy Marshall has surveyed the birds around our lake and counted 18 migratory songbirds which nest at the east end of Lac des Roches. Their nests are protected from disturbance by both Provincial and Federal law.
We are very encouraged by boater speed reduction we have witnessed through the channel between big and little Lac des Roches and attribute this to the new signage and the newsletter information.