M
Mike Vandeman
Guest
Mountain bikers claim to be environmentalists and nature lovers. They
claim that mountain biking helps protect habitat from development. But
the fact is, they are only interested in "protecting" BIKE ACCESS in
areas where they want to ride.
Please let your Olympic Committee know that you don't approve of this
kind of environmental destruction in the name of sport.
Mike
News Release #1. May 7, 2006
Eagleridge Environmental Stewardship Alliance (EESA)
Biologists Concerned Over Highway Impact on Eagleridge Bluffs/Larsen
Creek Wetland
BC Ministry of Transportation’s 2004 decision to proceed with a
Highway 99 overland route through Eagleridge Bluffs and traverse
Larsen Creek wetlands continues to draw strong opposition. In a May 7
2006 News Release North Shore registered biologists Jim Cuthbert and
Fred Sverre announced establishment of the Eagleridge Environmental
Stewardship Alliance (EESA), an independent organization of biologists
and supporters extremely concerned over imminent threats to the
ecological integrity of Eagleridge Bluffs and Larsen Creek wetlands
and the adjacent towering coniferous forest.
EESA is a non-partisan team offering independent science-based comment
to government, the public and the media. At issue is the inevitable
loss of biodiversity at the Eagleridge Bluffs and Larsen Creek
wetlands if highway construction proceeds through these sensitive
ecosystems.
Also of concern is the content of the August 2003 Environmental
Assessment currently being used to justify the 2004 selection by the
Province of an overland route for Highway 99 to bypass Horseshoe Bay.
A June 2004 federal Environmental Certificate based on the 2003
Assessment allows for construction of the overland route.
EESA provided the following facts in support of a review of the 2003
Environmental Assessment and the decision to proceed with the overland
route while rejecting the alternative options to build a tunnel or
widen the existing highway above Horseshoe Bay:
The 2003 Environmental Assessment did not include wildlife and plant
studies during all seasons resulting in seasonal plants and animals
not being recorded.
The Assessment did not identify the endangered blue-listed Northern
Red-legged Frog (Ranus aurora aurora) as present in the Larsen Creek
wetlands. Occurrence of this species in the wetlands area was
confirmed by District of West Vancouver staff in June 2005.
The Assessment did not address the issue of blow down following tree
removal and land clearing.
The overland route intersects with habitat supporting the endangered
blue-listed Howell’s Violet (Viola howellii Gray) and the regionally
rare Hairy Manzanita (Arctostaphylos columiana).
The overland route traverses habitat of the blue-listed Western
Screech Owl (Otus kennicottii).
Eagleridge Bluffs contain preferred habitat for the rare Rubber Boa
(Charina bottae bottae) snake although the 2003 Environmental
Assessment includes no mention of this species.
The overland route intersects with an open water component of the
Larsen Creek wetlands which are know for their biodiversity. The
Larsen Creek wetlands is a highly valuable undisturbed
fully-functioning ecosystem that should remain intact. To the best of
EESA’s knowledge, this very deep elevated bog is one of very few
intact bogs of its kind in the Lower Mainland. Similar sites at Burns
Bog and UBC Endowment Lands have received protection as a provincial
protected area and ecological reserve respectively.
The Larsen Creek bog is very old, dating back to a period following
the last glaciation. Within its depths it records the ecological
development and climatic patterns of the Lower Mainland by preserving
ancient plant remnants such as pollen and spores in the anaerobic
sediments.
The bog acts as a history book for scientists by revealing how local
plant communities developed over the last many millions of years.
Preserving this natural record of the region’s vegetative development
and climate is most worthwhile and will become more valuable as time
progresses. Understanding the past is critical to accurate
predictions for the future.
Highway construction through the bog may trigger deleterious
downstream impacts on Larsen Creek fish, plankton, insects and other
invertebrates.
The overland route intersects with stands of towering western-red
cedar and Douglas fir
trees as large as 15 feet in circumference.
Proceeding with the overland route will destroy portions of the rare
and sensitive Coastal Bluff Arbutus Dry Subzone of the Coastal
Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone. This Eagleridge Bluff
broad-leaved arbutus stand is one of the rarest forest ecosystem in BC
and does not occur elsewhere in Canada. The unique dry arbutus habitat
of the Coastal Bluff Arbutus Dry Subzone supports rare vegetation
associations and occurs nowhere else on the Lower Mainland. This plant
community can be easily damaged since the thick moss and lichen have
no firm attachment to the rocky bluffs. Of 22 regionally rare plants
in the Lower Mainland, 13 are found in the Eagleridge Bluffs area.
The lower reaches of Larsen Creek support populations of salmon and
trout and should be afforded the protection provided by legislation.
This includes a protective buffer setback from the top of the east
bank. The Black Mountain Trail follows this top of east bank before
intersecting with the Baden Powell Trail near the Larsen Creek
Wetlands. On site survey markers delineating clearing and grubbing for
the proposed construction of a logging road over the existing trail
show no provision for the buffer.
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
claim that mountain biking helps protect habitat from development. But
the fact is, they are only interested in "protecting" BIKE ACCESS in
areas where they want to ride.
Please let your Olympic Committee know that you don't approve of this
kind of environmental destruction in the name of sport.
Mike
News Release #1. May 7, 2006
Eagleridge Environmental Stewardship Alliance (EESA)
Biologists Concerned Over Highway Impact on Eagleridge Bluffs/Larsen
Creek Wetland
BC Ministry of Transportation’s 2004 decision to proceed with a
Highway 99 overland route through Eagleridge Bluffs and traverse
Larsen Creek wetlands continues to draw strong opposition. In a May 7
2006 News Release North Shore registered biologists Jim Cuthbert and
Fred Sverre announced establishment of the Eagleridge Environmental
Stewardship Alliance (EESA), an independent organization of biologists
and supporters extremely concerned over imminent threats to the
ecological integrity of Eagleridge Bluffs and Larsen Creek wetlands
and the adjacent towering coniferous forest.
EESA is a non-partisan team offering independent science-based comment
to government, the public and the media. At issue is the inevitable
loss of biodiversity at the Eagleridge Bluffs and Larsen Creek
wetlands if highway construction proceeds through these sensitive
ecosystems.
Also of concern is the content of the August 2003 Environmental
Assessment currently being used to justify the 2004 selection by the
Province of an overland route for Highway 99 to bypass Horseshoe Bay.
A June 2004 federal Environmental Certificate based on the 2003
Assessment allows for construction of the overland route.
EESA provided the following facts in support of a review of the 2003
Environmental Assessment and the decision to proceed with the overland
route while rejecting the alternative options to build a tunnel or
widen the existing highway above Horseshoe Bay:
The 2003 Environmental Assessment did not include wildlife and plant
studies during all seasons resulting in seasonal plants and animals
not being recorded.
The Assessment did not identify the endangered blue-listed Northern
Red-legged Frog (Ranus aurora aurora) as present in the Larsen Creek
wetlands. Occurrence of this species in the wetlands area was
confirmed by District of West Vancouver staff in June 2005.
The Assessment did not address the issue of blow down following tree
removal and land clearing.
The overland route intersects with habitat supporting the endangered
blue-listed Howell’s Violet (Viola howellii Gray) and the regionally
rare Hairy Manzanita (Arctostaphylos columiana).
The overland route traverses habitat of the blue-listed Western
Screech Owl (Otus kennicottii).
Eagleridge Bluffs contain preferred habitat for the rare Rubber Boa
(Charina bottae bottae) snake although the 2003 Environmental
Assessment includes no mention of this species.
The overland route intersects with an open water component of the
Larsen Creek wetlands which are know for their biodiversity. The
Larsen Creek wetlands is a highly valuable undisturbed
fully-functioning ecosystem that should remain intact. To the best of
EESA’s knowledge, this very deep elevated bog is one of very few
intact bogs of its kind in the Lower Mainland. Similar sites at Burns
Bog and UBC Endowment Lands have received protection as a provincial
protected area and ecological reserve respectively.
The Larsen Creek bog is very old, dating back to a period following
the last glaciation. Within its depths it records the ecological
development and climatic patterns of the Lower Mainland by preserving
ancient plant remnants such as pollen and spores in the anaerobic
sediments.
The bog acts as a history book for scientists by revealing how local
plant communities developed over the last many millions of years.
Preserving this natural record of the region’s vegetative development
and climate is most worthwhile and will become more valuable as time
progresses. Understanding the past is critical to accurate
predictions for the future.
Highway construction through the bog may trigger deleterious
downstream impacts on Larsen Creek fish, plankton, insects and other
invertebrates.
The overland route intersects with stands of towering western-red
cedar and Douglas fir
trees as large as 15 feet in circumference.
Proceeding with the overland route will destroy portions of the rare
and sensitive Coastal Bluff Arbutus Dry Subzone of the Coastal
Western Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone. This Eagleridge Bluff
broad-leaved arbutus stand is one of the rarest forest ecosystem in BC
and does not occur elsewhere in Canada. The unique dry arbutus habitat
of the Coastal Bluff Arbutus Dry Subzone supports rare vegetation
associations and occurs nowhere else on the Lower Mainland. This plant
community can be easily damaged since the thick moss and lichen have
no firm attachment to the rocky bluffs. Of 22 regionally rare plants
in the Lower Mainland, 13 are found in the Eagleridge Bluffs area.
The lower reaches of Larsen Creek support populations of salmon and
trout and should be afforded the protection provided by legislation.
This includes a protective buffer setback from the top of the east
bank. The Black Mountain Trail follows this top of east bank before
intersecting with the Baden Powell Trail near the Larsen Creek
Wetlands. On site survey markers delineating clearing and grubbing for
the proposed construction of a logging road over the existing trail
show no provision for the buffer.
===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande
