Private landowners and ranchers want their concerns to be taken forward

By Joanne McQuarrie editor@columbiavalleypioneer.com

Private landowners and ranchers in the Steamboat Landscape Unit say the environment is on the losing end of a report done by the Columbia Valley Recreation Planning Initiative (CVRPI). A goal to balance protection of a wildlife corridor with recreational use has been aimed for and that balance has yet to happen.

Clara Reinhardt, who co-chairs the CVRPI with Adrian Pery, said in an email, “The group has been formalized since 2019 when Rec Sites and Trails BC started providing some seed funding to kick start the planning process by inventorying trails and uses in the Columbia River Basin and creating a list of stakeholders. Since then we have been funded through both the Columbia Basin Trust and the RDEK in order to hire a consultant to do mapping and community engagement. Ministerial staff support has been instrumental in moving the project forward and in scope.

Reinhardt said “the Steamboat Landscape Unit was selected as the first project as it was contentious and heavily used”.

Over the last three-plus years, the recreation planning committee met with the advisory committee many times and conducted several field trips.

“Everyone agreed that there should be room for all recreationalists,” Reinhardt continued. “The status quo is not sustainable, and we need to begin to recommend management strategies.”

She noted, “The planning committee listened carefully to all the stakeholders, but we need to recognize that the status quo is not sustainable, and we have had to reconcile wildly divergent inputs on the land use, which is Crown land and everyone has a right to be there.

Reinhardt pointed out, “The committee has no authority or jurisdiction- the committee recommendations are provided to the government as a balanced community view to be considered when applications for Section 57’s are made, as are appropriate environmental and agricultural land use viewpoints.

Continued on page 16 . . .

Easter Brunch