by Tod Strachan The Regional District of Kitimat- Stikine has gone one better than supporting the Lakelse Community Association in their bid to save their beach at the foot of Lakelse Lake Lodge Road. While the com- munity association had only asked thai Lakelse Air move their sea-. plane charter operation 100 feet further south, the regional district board has recommended to the Ministry of Crown Lands that no foreshore lease be granted unless Lakelse Air moves their operation more than 200 feet further south. Lakelse Air has about 500 feet of lake front property at the site. Controversy over the use of what is known as Oli’s beach at Lakeise Lake began last year when Harry McCowan of Lakelse Air pur- chased the property and began developing it as a seaplane base. The first thing McCowan did was to close the road the previous owner had allowed to be used for public access to the beach area. There was still a 33-foot-wide highways right-of-way on the north boundary of the property, and McCowan offered 33 feet of his own property to this right-of-way at the lake shore end of the road, but that failed to impress Mc- Cowan's Lakelse Lake neighbours. Earlier this year, McCowan ‘applied for a 30-year foreshore lease on the west side of his pro- perty that would allow him exclu- sive use of the beach area‘in front of his property as well as a portion of the lake measuring 30 feet on the north boundary, 150 feet on the south and about 250 feet in front of his property. Approval of- this application would mean that the public would not be allowed to use the public portion of the beach or the lake in front of McCowan’s property. They would be left sit- ling on their narrow 66-foot water- front right-of-way. McCowan's lease application alone, however, isn’t the only factor that is agitating lake resi- . dents. The regional board was told last Saturday morning by a delega- tion of more than 20 lake residents -that McCowan has developed his property and is using it as though the lease approved. Several months ago, McCowan put up a barbed wire fence and locked gale on the east and north sides of his properly and posted No Trespassing signs at the gate entrance and at the waterfront access from the right-of-way to the public beach in front of his pro- perty. At about the same time he built a wharf and installed a 5,000- gallon fuel tank on his property near the lake. In recent weeks, according to lake residents, Mc- Cowan has added more barbed wire on the lake-side of his pro- had already been perty at about the high water mark’ and anchored a log extending from a tree at the high water mark out into the lake. In making their recommendation to the Ministry of Crown Lands, the regional board first listened to comments from the Lakelse Lake delegation and then a petition with 260 signatures and 17 letters op- posing’ McCowan’s present deve- lopment. : ; According to lake residents, they are not opposed to McCowan's: Local forest advisory commission gets started "TERRACE — The city’s new Forestry Commitice met for the . first, time last month, and after the - election. of chairman Gerry Dodd and vice-chairman Rod Amold ‘they got down to serious business. | The committee has offered their full support “for city council’s resolution to write the Minister of. Forests and invite him to Terrace to meet with northwest: representa- '* tives to discuss the. Sustut-Takla . forest licence. . "The committee asked that th city remind ‘the minister of the insect infestation of the timber in the western portion of the-Sustut ‘tegion and the urgency to harvest the timber before it is destroyed. The committee also supports the city’s view that the minister should tour the Sustut area personally to note its proximity to the Hazelton- Smithers area and to witness first- hand the severity. of the. insect problem. ae . Also discussed by the committee were the province’s Old Growth Strategy — they recommeded that council seek representation on the working group developing the Terrace Review — Wednesday, August 22, 1990 A3 . etitioners want beach left to public efforts to establish a charter air service in their neighbourhood, only his attempts to close the beach and the way he is treating ‘Crown owned land as though a foreshore lease had already been granted. . In oral presentations, lake resi- dents told the board that the beach had been public for years and. McCowan had no right to deny them access to the public owned portion of the beach; the area from - ihe natural high water mark to the lake. Some residents also noted that McCowan had navigated his aircraft to within 20 feet. of children playing in the water and suggested this may have been an effort to intimidate lake residents. Written opposition stated in several cases that McCowan’s foreshore lease application should be denied outright. One seemed to capture the sentiment of all lake residents: "In my mind there is no reason why this enterprise can not co-exist with the public, except for the selfish motives of Mr. Mc- Cowan, wishing 200 feet of totally private secluded beach for ‘his personal use, while others will be left with a scruffy area almost undesirable for use. IE it is costly | strategy — prescribed burning, and a the benefits of the small business # plan and the silviculture industry to our area. . The committee is now reviewing a list of four goals suggested by mayor Jack Talstra. If adopted, the committee would seek ways, of @ maintaining our timber supply and ‘a healthy economic forest base, ways of ensuring public education and awareness, and ideas for work- & ing towards diversification in the’ forest industry. Public Involvement writing. | ‘What is a Management and Working Plan? . & Management.and Working Plan is a strategic plan Ministry of Forests for approval every five years, which indicates the general goals and objectives, forest management strategies and operating procedures to be followed dur- . ing the next five year period. ~ Our current Management and Working Plan (#4) covers the 1986-91 period. A new _ Management and Working Plan (#5) will be due at the end of 1991, for the period 1992-96. What is Tree Farm License 41? Tree Farm License 41 is shown in shade on the map. It covers an area ranging from the Kitimat Valley In the North to the areas sur- rounding the Gardner Canal in the South. lf you are an Individual or group with con- cerns, or would like to assist the company in developing a plan to manage the forest resource, please contact us by phone or in Y, _... PUBLIC INPUT FOR A | Ruy NEW MANAGEMENT AND WORKING PLAN : - -FOR TREE FARM LICENSE 41 -Eurocan Pulp & Paper Company, Skeena Sawmills Division is inviting public participation in the development of a new Management and Working plan. submitted by a company to the af a TS 1 N ‘ rs \ i Y b OM thy vir Ht STL! ees Pie: ES eae iy ltt: BRITISH GOLUMBIA we EE AAD ta realy ' eel) wit AR eA Te A for him to relocate fuel tanks, well I am sorry, but he should have secured his lease and everything before charging ahead and putting it where it suited him.” The regional district did receive one letter supporting McCowan’s lease application, however. A letier from the Northwest Flying Associ- ation stated in part: "The seaplane base is a welcome addition to the transportation network of our area. This base will serve local transpor- tation and commercial operations on the lake and will no doubt bring extra commerce to the area. The Flying Association is also very pleased to again have fuel avail- able at the lake but at the same time are concemed about the secu- rity of these facilities and realize a foreshore lease is the only way of obtaining adequate security.” In making their recommendation that McCowan move his entire operation further. south, the regional district board acknow- ledged that McCowan’s property is zoned Commercial, which allows - the type of operation he is present- ly developing, but expressed con- cern for public safety and the right. of area residents to freely access the public beach area. 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