Picture a toad. You probably see it sitting docile on a rock by the shore. But its life involves a lot more movement than that — a migration up mountainsides for young western toads in the Kootenays.

“You normally think of toads as being in the water,” said Marcy Mahr, stewardship coordinator with the Kootenay Conservation Program in B.C. “But they go all the way up to the subalpine.” 

Baby western toads, she explained, “lift themselves like climbers do, up and over boulders” to reach the forest. Hundreds of thousands of babies make the journey in the Kootenays every year, leaving the shallow lakes where they were born to live in the forest until they return to water to breed. But they face the risk of being run over by cars as they cross highways along the way.

It’s an example of how built environments can impact the cycles of nature — something Mahr wants to change.

Healthy ecosystems have ecological connectivity, which is the “unimpeded movement of species and the flow of natural processes that sustain life on earth,” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. But humans have gotten in the way of that connectivity with roads, fences and industry. Even protected areas, like parks and wildlife management areas, are often fragmented and isolated. 

The Kootenay Conservation Program is focusing on boosting ecological connectivity in the region with $2 million provided over four years by the federal government, announced publicly this week, and matched by another $2 million from donors. 

The Bonanza biodiversity corridor is one of four areas targeted by the Kootenay Connect project, which aims to restore ecological connectivity between the valley and upland habitats of the region. Photo: Marcy Mahr

The federal funding comes from the Canada Nature Fund, which has $15.6 million set aside for priority locations to protect terrestrial species at risk. 

In September 2019, the  Kootenay Conservation Program launched Kootenay Connect, a project to enhance habitat in four biodiversity hotspots (the Bonanza biodiversity corridor, Creston valley, Wycliffe wildlife corridor and the Columbia valley wetlands) home to species at risk including grizzly bears, American badgers, northern leopard frogs and western screech-owls. The project aims to bolster the ecological connectivity between valley bottoms and upland habitats.

Kootenay Connect, for which Mahr is project manager, undertook its first project this winter to improve habitat for the northern leopard frog, a species that was once widespread in B.C. but now only breeds in the Creston Valley. Project crews excavated wetlands in the valley to allow for better waterflow and restored 1,500 metres of water channels. Reintroduced frogs successfully bred in the area, and even lay enough eggs to re-establish a population in the Columbia wetlands over the winter. 

Other ways to improve connectivity can be as simple as upgrading a fence to allow species to pass through. They can also include habitat restoration and establishing protected areas but, Mahr said, it requires engaging private land-owners, non-profits and governments to create these corridors.

Scattered examples of ecological corridors exist, including Whistler, B.C.’s “toadlet highway” for western toad migration and Banff’s famed wildlife overpasses. On a larger scale, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative aims to connect habitat across the Canada-U.S. border, including within the Kootenays. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, composed of 1,400 organizations, released a global guide to ecological connectivity in July, recommending larger networks of protected areas well-connected by corridors.

Planning ‘climate change refugia’ for animals

Mahr said it’s important not only to look at where animals are now, but where they’ll be going. Beyond migration, she said animals will also be moving in the coming decades due to climate change.

“If their preferred habitat is sparse and hard to find, it will make it a lot harder for them to adapt … and they may not,” she said. “It’s about how fast they can. If we have catastrophic wildfires, do they have places they can go?”

To boost survival of northern leopard frog, Kootenay Connect excavated areas in the Creston valley to allow for better water flow and restored 1,500 metres of water channels. Photo: Marc-Andre Beaucher

In the Bonanza biodiversity corridor, for example, the non-profit is working to reconnect waterways so wetlands retain a permanent source of water, even as the climate becomes dryer.

She said areas of climate refugia, which will remain more resilient to climate change, are key to the survival of wildlife. Kootenay Connect is identifying what areas will likely retain cooler and wetter conditions as the summers get hotter and dryer. It recommended these areas to partners, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Nature Trust of BC, as potential areas to purchase for conservation.

“We’re planning with climate change in mind,” she said. 

Retaining biodiversity in a changing climate

Eddie Petryshen, conservation coordinator for the Kootenays-based conservation group Wildsight, said Kootenay Connect is “an awesome investment in nature.”

“It’s a great start to ensuring that we can protect and restore key areas for sensitive species in the face of a rapidly changing climate,” he said.

But, he added, the province needs to step in to protect species at risk as well. B.C. still lacks an endangered species law, despite being part of Premier John Horgan’s mandate when the NDP government came into power in 2017.

“That’s probably the hugest issue,” Petryshen said. “There really aren’t provisions in [the Species At Risk Act] for protections on provincial Crown land.” 

“That would be the most critical thing we could do as a province to address the biodiversity crisis.”

Update Aug. 7, 2020 1 p.m. PST: This article was updated to clarify that western toad babies journey from shallow lakes into the forest after they’re born, but do not breed there. In fact, they return to water to breed. A photo caption was also corrected to state that excavation and restoration to restore water flow for the northern leopard frog was done in the Creston valley, not the Columbia wetlands.

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Four years ago, on a morning hike with her husband, Heather McIntyre spotted red and white flagging tape near a creek that supplies much of the drinking and irrigation water for her village of Glade in a pastoral Kootenay valley.

The tape marked logging boundaries and roads and was stamped with “KLC,” the initials of a local timber company, Kalesnikoff Lumber Co., which planned to log in the community’s watershed on the slopes of a low-lying Selkirk Mountain in the interior rainforest.

“We kind of panicked,” said McIntyre, who lives in a yellow strawbale house amidst a patchwork of fruit and vegetable gardens, in a community named Dolina Plodorodnaya by its Doukhobor founders, meaning “fertile valley.”

The community of Glade sits on the banks of the Kootenay River near Nelson, B.C. The Glade Creek watershed has been at the centre of an ongoing dispute between community members and two logging companies — ATCO and Kalesnikoff Lumber Co — who have been given cut permits in the drainage. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

“Everybody in the lower part of Glade gets their water from the creek and the logging flagging was right above the creek,” McIntyre told The Narwhal. “We’re using a lot of water in summer for irrigating and then there’s our drinking water.”

Since then, McIntyre and other Glade residents have been using their green thumbs to tap on the space bar of computer keyboards, writing long letters to politicians and organizing petitions and legal actions. 

They have sought every possible recourse to stop logging by Kalesnikoff and a second local company, Atco Wood Products, on the grounds that Glade’s drinking water quality and flow could be affected by conventional logging, primarily clear-cutting, that is slated to begin as early as this summer.

B.C. Supreme Court judge finds no legal right to clean water

In April, after Glade residents sought a temporary injunction against the two companies, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Tammen stated that any potential change to water quality caused by logging would not be “irreparable” because it could be remedied by additional water treatment. 

If the injunction were granted, on the other hand, Tammen said the two timber companies would suffer “irreparable” injury due to “obvious economic harm.”

“Do you have a right to clean water?” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan said in court. “I’d suggest you don’t …  there just is nowhere in the law where you can look and say, ‘there it is — there’s my right. I have a right to clean water.’ ”

McIntyre said the ruling was “a kick in the gut,” hurting all the more because costs were awarded to the logging companies, compelling Glade residents to raise more than $10,000.  

“You can’t drink money,” said Heather McSwan, a weaver and spinner who owns the Bee Glade nursery in the village of 300, reachable only by a 10-car cable ferry across the Kootenay River.

“This is our water that we’re talking about … We don’t get a second chance at this. When the timber’s gone the environment is impacted in a way that will result, somewhere down the road, in the degradation of the water, especially with climate change coming.”

 “That’s the wild card.”

Community watersheds slated for logging around the province

Across B.C., communities like Glade are grappling with imminent plans for clear-cut logging in watersheds that supply their drinking, irrigation and, in some cases, fire-fighting water.  

B.C. has more than 460 designated community watersheds, but only the water catchment basins supplying the Vancouver and Victoria areas are protected from logging and other industrial development. 

“Glade is a microcosm, one example of a huge problem throughout the province of B.C.,” said registered professional forester Herb Hammond, who lives in the Slocan Valley and mentors the Glade Watershed Protection Society.

Forester and ecologist Herb Hammond, seen here at his home in Vallican, B.C., has worked as an independant consultant for the Glade Watershed Protection Society. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

“Canadian provinces are amongst the few, or maybe the only, jurisdictions left that have given — and given is the right word because the amount they received for it was a pittance — the rights to public forests to private timber companies,” Hammond said in an interview.

“Once that’s done it becomes difficult to get back.” 

Forestry companies are moving into B.C.’s community watersheds with increasing speed as they run out of logging options elsewhere. That’s left communities like Glade, along with the regional districts that represent them, in a bind because they don’t have control over their watershed lands yet face the potential costs of cleaning up the water.

In Peachland in the Okanagan, where extensive logging has taken place nearby, a landslide downslope of a logging road contributed to boil-water advisories and the need for a new $24 million water treatment plant funded by the community. In Grand Forks, sprawling clearcuts are believed to have played a major role in a monster flood in 2018 that inundated houses and led to the closure of 28 downtown businesses.

Watershed logging a ‘major’ issue for Kootenay regional district 

In the Regional District of Central Kootenay — which stretches from the U.S. border to north of Nakusp and includes Glade and the cities of Nelson and Castlegar — at least seven communities face clear-cut logging on slopes that are home to the creeks that supply their drinking water. 

Regional district chair Aimee Watson called it a “major” issue for the district, which has sought answers from the provincial government about issues such as community safety in the event of landslides or flooding, finding little solace in replies.

“We know that the annual allowable cut, as it runs out, was going to hit watersheds. And we’ve hit that point,” Watson told The Narwhal. 

Members of the Glade Community walk through the lower portion of the watershed. Should the proposed logging go ahead this road would be widened to accomodate logging truck traffic. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Watson said she has repeatedly asked the B.C. government who will pay for new water sources or water treatment if there is a problem after logging. 

Her understanding from the B.C. forests ministry is that fault will be determined by the courts, if a community sues a logging company once a problem arises. 

“You have to prove it,” Watson says. “I don’t want to rely on having to sue a logging company to prove fault after a devastating issue has occurred, whether that’s loss of water or a landslide.” 

Local governments are in a conundrum, Watson pointed out. They are responsible for the safety of residents in communities like Glade — and for emergency responses in the event of flooding or landslides — yet they have no decision-making authority when it comes to how watersheds are managed. 

Climate change is only heightening concerns, with scientists predicting changes to snow packs and increased spring precipitation in the Kootenays will lead to larger and earlier spring freshets, increasing flood and landslide risks. 

“I have a very big interest and responsibility for ensuring that whatever land activity occurs, even when I don’t have jurisdiction, is not going to cause a risk to the communities I represent,” Watson said.

Logging plays a role in landslides and flooding 

According to Hammond, clear-cutting is often overlooked as a contributing factor to landslides and flooding. 

“Clear-cutting is indefensible ecologically,” said Hammond, who is also an ecologist, ecosystem planner and author. “It’s a blot on the forest industry, particularly in the middle of a climate emergency, that we don’t own up to that.”

“If you think about maintaining the biological diversity of forests to withstand climate change then it doesn’t make any sense to log in watersheds.”

Older forests produce the highest quality water supplies and are best at moderating climate through carbon storage, Hammond pointed out. 

“If you think about maintaining the biological diversity of forests to withstand climate change then it doesn’t make any sense to log in watersheds,” said Hammond, who has also worked on contract for the Glade Watershed Protection Society.

Glade’s watershed was logged about 120 years ago, leaving some remnant old-growth in its upper reaches, and Hammond said it’s especially important to leave the forest — with western red cedar, hemlock, white pine, larch and Douglas fir — undisturbed because the watershed is still in recovery mode.

“They [the B.C. government] are erring on the side of protecting corporate interests, not erring on the side of protecting ecosystems and communities.” 

Proposed solution for Glade turned down by B.C. government

Seeking a solution, the Glade Watershed Protection Society, a volunteer-based public interest group, applied to the B.C. government to have Glade’s watershed designated a community forest, allowing local residents to make decisions about logging and other uses.

The society wrote four letters to Doug Donaldson, B.C.’s minister of forests, lands and natural resource operations, asking for a meeting. Their request was turned down in April 2018. 

Donaldson’s assistant deputy minister, Gerry MacDougall, informed the Glade society in a letter that the request for a community forest agreement would be “difficult to meet” because the annual allowable cut allocated to community forests in the Selkirk forest district had already been used up.

“In order to further expand the program, a new government mandate would be required … ,” MacDougall wrote. 

A community forest agreement “would provide employment, address wildfire issues, strengthen our quality and quantity of water, protect wildlife habitat and … protect the public interest,” the society subsequently wrote in a plea to Donaldson, Premier John Horgan and other politicians, asking the government to reconsider Glade’s application for a community forest.

McSwan pointed out that logging companies are not going to build Glade a new water treatment plant if water quality suffers after clear-cutting.

“The most ironic thing is that the logging companies … bear almost no responsibility … whereas the people who use the water and organizations that oversee the water, like the Glade Irrigation District, are solely responsible for the potability of the water,” McSwan said.

Local communities oppose logging in drinking water sources

Kootenay Central Regional District director Andy Davidoff, who is responsible for the area that includes Glade, said more than 80 per cent of the timber tenures for local mills are in watersheds, including in “consumptive watersheds” supplying drinking water to Glade and other communities.

“We’re trying to figure out a more holistic approach,” Davidoff said in an interview. “We have a real problem here in the Interior.” 

Heather McSwan walks through the Glade Community Watershed to the site of a 2017 slide that took out part of an old service road. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

The Kalesnikoff Lumber Co’s lumber yard sits directly across the Kootenay River from Glade with the community’s watershed clearly visible across the valley. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Ideally, the B.C. government would swap logging tenures in community watersheds for tenures elsewhere, Davidoff said. “But the problem is that apparently there’s none to be had.”

Near Balfour, on the north shore of the west arm of Kootenay Lake, residents set up a protest camp in June at the base of a forest service road leading to planned logging around Laird Creek, and three people were arrested.

Residents of Argenta and Johnson’s Landing — where a 2012 landslide killed four people and buried and damaged homes following a deluge of rain — are asking the provincial government to protect local watersheds from planned logging on a mountain face along the east shore of Kootenay Lake between the two communities. 

And in Ymir, a community of 230 between Nelson and Salmo, residents are deeply concerned about planned logging in the Quartz Creek watershed, which supplies all of the village’s potable and fire hydrant water.

Timber in the Quartz Creek watershed has been auctioned off by the Crown corporation BC Timber Sales, which has drawn ire for selling allotments of publicly owned old-growth forests in places like Schmidt Creek on Vancouver Island.

“It’s a very, very difficult situation and very sensitive situation for all of us,” Davidoff says, “when a Crown corporation like BC Timber Sales digs its heels in and says we’re not bending on our harvesting plan in a really sensitive watershed like Quartz Creek.” 

Heather McIntyre, member of the Glade Watershed Protection Society, notes ambient temperature readings in the Glade Creek watershed as part of the community’s ongoing monitoring program. They hope this data can provide a baseline should any changes occur when the watershed is logged. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Unusually, the regional district owns Ymir’s water system, which Watson said gives it more leverage than community-owned water systems like the Glade Irrigation District because it can negotiate directly with the B.C. government.

“We’ve got them to agree to ongoing water monitoring, which sounds like it should be pretty basic and done all along. But it wasn’t, and we really, really had to lobby for them to monitor the water.” 

McIntyre said the B.C. forests ministry district office told Glade residents that watershed logging will not create new sediment sources. 

But a hydrology report commissioned by the watershed protection society found the planned logging could threaten drinking water from Glade Creek — possibly rendering it non-potable due to elevated turbidity and contamination.

In addition to water data collected by the Glade Irrigation District, McIntyre said Glade residents have been collecting additional baseline water, temperature and discharge data each day and sending samples to a lab.

B.C. government appears indifferent 

The issue of logging in community watersheds is cloaked in a jurisdictional tangle that creates the impression of provincial government indifference to the quandary facing Glade and other communities. 

When the Glade Watershed Protection Society wrote to Environment Minister George Heyman to request a meeting, they didn’t hear anything back for several months.

Following a prod from their MLA’s constituency office and a further wait of more than a month, Heyman’s office responded with a single line, saying it had referred the matter to Donaldson’s ministry, which the Glade Watershed Protection Society had already contacted repeatedly.

Watson said after several requests the regional district was granted a meeting with Donaldson, who told them the NDP government is reviewing the Forest and Range Practices Act and said they could provide input into that process. 

“I’m really happy to see that, but these are logging operations happening now,” Watson said. “So what do you do about the now?”  

The regional district is collecting data about areas at high risk for landslides or flooding and Watson said they asked to share information with the ministry when “red flags occur in potential logging operations.”

“And they said yes, of course. But the catch is under current legislation once a forest stewardship plan is approved you, as a district manager, can’t actually decline a cutting permit. It’s a rubber stamp … there is no current mechanism to look at community safety, to look at these other values.” 

In an emailed response to questions from The Narwhal, the B.C. forests ministry said it takes the issue of water quality “very seriously.” 

The ministry said there are “constraints and limitations” on logging within community watersheds, allowing multiple uses “while protecting water intended for human consumption.” It also said the government reviews logging companies’ forest stewardship plans to ensure they meet objectives for protecting water.

Heather McSwan (left) and Barbarah Nicoll walk down a transmission line service road that leads past several proposed cutblocks in the Glade Watershed. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Glade’s request for investigation turned down by health authority

In 2016, the Glade Watershed Protection Society asked the Interior Health Authority to investigate concerns that logging would affect the quality and reliability of the community’s drinking water — already under a boil water notice because it is a surface water source.   

A sign on the Glade side of the Kootenay River welcomes visitors to the community. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

A year later, the authority’s environmental health officer informed the society there was not enough evidence to warrant an investigation under section 29 of B.C.’s Drinking Water Protection Act.

“As a matter of jurisdiction, we believe it is not appropriate to apply a Section 29 investigation to the legal framework and approvals processes of forestry activities of MFLNRO [the forests ministry],” said the March 2017 letter from the Interior Health Authority.

The Glade society also filed a complaint with the Forest Practices Board, saying the timber companies’ forest stewardship plans — along with the hydrology report commissioned by the companies in keeping with B.C.’s much-criticized professional reliance model — did not meet government objectives for community watersheds.

In May, the board told the society it is satisfied that the report and stewardship plans meet current government objectives. The society is now waiting for the board’s report to be released.

With limited options left, McSwan and other Glade residents plan to launch a judicial review of the health authority’s decision not to conduct an investigation into drinking water quality. 

“We’re saying the whole process was skewed, for a number of reasons,” McSwan explained.

“I still hold out hope. And that’s because I see a lot more people in positions of authority and people with scientific knowledge saying the same thing we are saying: that conventional logging cannot proceed.”  

Independent science, community stewardship proposed as solutions 

Hammond said the climate emergency provides ample social licence for the government to cancel logging tenures in watersheds and provide a transition period to put control of forests “back in the hands of publicly accountable agencies that place ecosystem services and social well-being ahead of short-term profit taking.”  

Watson believes B.C. needs a model where communities become stewards of the forests in their own backyards, so community safety is paramount and forests can be managed for resiliency in the face of climate change. 

A Campanula rotundifolia, or harebell, blooms in the Glade Watershed. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Carmi Restrick sits at the base of the Glade Creek waterfall. His grandmother Heather McIntyre is one of the community members leading the fight against the proposed logging in the watershed. Photo: Louis Bockner / The Narwhal

Both Watson and Davidoff said studies about potential threats to drinking water and community safety need to be carried out by independent scientists, not by scientists hired by logging companies, which often leads to dueling science when communities commission their own reports. 

The Kootenays are in a “transition economy,” Watson pointed out.

“There’s no hiding behind ‘let’s keep doing things the old way.’ We’re out of logs. Our forests are burning.” 

“I’m not out there saying logging is good or logging is bad. But at the end of the day being safe in your home and having access to clean water is something no-one’s going to debate and I can very much advocate for.” 

Instead of becoming a divisive “us and them” issue, Watson says logging in watersheds near communities offers a critical opportunity to discuss things that are not negotiable and an opportunity for B.C. to look at entire landscapes in light of climate change.

“We can’t negotiate the fact that the climate is changing,” she said. “You can’t negotiate the fact that communities are at risk.”

“We need to put all our egos aside and really get down to data and facts, and face the fact that we can do a much better job of what we’re doing. We can either get through this really, really well or we can all go down in flames.” 

This article was produced in partnership with the Small Change Fund.

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The Ktunaxa Nation, which for 25 years has battled plans to build a massive ski resort on land that is considered sacred, will make its case to Canada’s top court with a freedom of religion argument that could set a precedent for indigenous people worldwide.   The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear the Ktunaxa appeal of a 2012 decision by the B.C. government to approve plans by Glacier Resorts Ltd. for a 6,250 bed, all-season ski resort on Crown land in the Purcell Mountains, about 55 kilometres west of Invermere.   Plans called for Jumbo Glacier Resort to be built at the foot of Jumbo Glacier in an area known as Qat’muk by the Ktunaxa who believe it is where the Grizzly Bear Spirit was born, goes to heal itself and returns to the spirit world. That means it is an area where Ktunaxa people receive strength and guidance and they believe the development would desecrate the sacred area.

The Ktunaxa previously argued unsuccessfully in front of B.C. Supreme Court and the B.C. Court of Appeal that allowing the development to go ahead violated the Nation’s right to freedom of religion and that the B.C. government failed to consider that right or adequately consult Ktunaxa on their constitutionally protected aboriginal rights. Both cases were dismissed. 

Kathryn Teneese, Ktunaxa Nation Council Chair, said in an interview that she is elated about the Supreme Court decision.   “I am certainly pleased that, at last, we are going to have the opportunity to present our story to the Supreme Court of Canada,” she said.   “Our right to freedom of religion should not be held in less regard than that of other Canadians. We are confident that the Supreme Court of Canada will agree that Ktunaxa beliefs and practices are vital to who we are and must be taken into account by statutory decision-makers.”   The fight is not just for Ktunaxa, but for every Canadian who values the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Teneese said.   The case will inevitably be watched closely by groups throughout Canada and the world, said Teneese, who added that legal teams are already looking at lists of possible intervenors.   “It is my hope the Supreme Court of Canada is cognizant of the impact this case may have on indigenous people, not just in Canada, but worldwide,” she said.   Looking at average wait times for Supreme Court cases, it is possible the case will go to court in the winter of 2017, which will give plenty of time to prepare, Teneese said.  

Jumbo Wild, a documentary about the battle over the Jumbo Glacier Resort, has recently been added to Netflix.

The Jumbo Glacier battle has brought a diverse group of environmentalists, business people, local politicians and First Nations together in opposition and Robyn Duncan, Wildsight executive director, said people in the area are overjoyed that the Ktunaxa values and spiritual beliefs will be explained in the highest court in Canada.   “People locally are very excited — not only for what this means for Jumbo, but what it means to the Ktunaxa. The fight to protect Qat’muk has built a bridge between the Ktunaxa Nation and non-native locals to work together to protect this special place,” Duncan said.   The immediate effect of the appeal is not likely to be apparent because Environment Minister Mary Polak ruled that the project had not been substantially started and pulled the project’s Environmental Assessment Certificate last year.   However, the development group, Pheidias Project Management Corp., is asking for a judicial review of that decision and has alleged that Polak’s friendship with Teneese influenced the decision.   That came as a surprise, Teneese said, with a laugh.   “I didn’t know we were that close. I have a cordial working relationship with all the government officials I have to deal with and I certainly don’t know Ms. Polak in a way that would suggest a friendship.”   The development group is also looking at scaling down the scope of the resort to fewer than 2,000 beds in an effort to avoid starting the environmental assessment process from scratch.   Tommaso Oberti, Phaedias Group vice-president, said in an interview that he does not yet know the effect the Ktunaxa leave to appeal will have on the company’s plans, but it is obviously important.   “We hope justice will be served,” he said.   There are currently several balls in the air, but the project is still alive, said Oberti, reiterating that, with a smaller resort, there will be no need to go back to square one.   “We are trying to understand the process and it seems to be at the minister’s discretion,” he said.   “We are waiting for direction from the province.”   A smaller, cozier resort is very doable and would fit well with the area, Oberti said.   But Teneese emphasized that the objections would be the same, whatever the size of the resort.   “Legal counsel has advised us that they have no legal authority to do anything right now because they don’t have an Environmental Assessment certificate,” she said.   Duncan agreed that Glacier Resorts has no legal authority to move forward with any size of resort.   “The Jumbo Valley is sacred territory for the Ktunaxa and critical grizzly bear habitat. No permanent development should take place there,” she said.

Photo: Howard P Smith of Phototide

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A film documenting a battle that has stretched over almost a quarter century, pitting communities and environmental groups in B.C’s Kootenays against supporters of a proposed wilderness ski resort, is showing to sold-out audiences across North America.

The stunning scenery of the Purcell Mountains, iconic historical clips and the even-handed exploration of a clash between two visions of wilderness make Jumbo Wild an extraordinary documentary that transcends local issues and delves into the ideological battle between those who want to keep the wild in wilderness and those who believe development gives people access to nature.

“We saw sold-out shows at almost all the stops along the way and that’s because the bigger questions being addressed about how we define wilderness and what makes a place sacred are important to people around the world,” said Tess Byers, spokeswoman for Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company that funded and promoted the Sweetgrass Productions film, directed by Nick Waggoner of Salt Lake City.

In Victoria, where the film was first shown to a sold-out audience in October, a planned Dec. 10 free screening at Patagonia on Yates Street sold out immediately and there is the possibility of a second showing in January (you can add your name to the waitlist here).

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Jumbo Wild will also be available on iTunes, Vimeo, Amazon, GooglePlay, Vudu and Playstation on Dec. 11 and will be available in February on Netflix and Hulu. Showings also continue across North America and individuals can host their own screening for $99. All proceeds will go to Wildsight, a group that has fought the Jumbo Glacier Resort proposal since its inception.

The film is now being seen around the world and inspiring audiences to take action, not only on protection of the Jumbo Valley, but also in their own backyards, said Robyn Duncan, executive director of Wildsight.

The saga of the Jumbo Wild campaign is a story of love for wild places, a community coming together to successfully oppose a development they do not want and the story of the Ktunaxa Nation standing their ground to protect their sacred territory, Duncan said.

“The film resonates with people on a deeper level, cutting to the deeper questions of what is wilderness and what are we, as a society, willing to do to protect the wild,” she said.

Patagonia Funding of Doc Rankles Oberto Oberti

However, the Patagonia funding created a controversy of its own, raising questions about bias, especially as the company has supported Wildsight’s fight against Jumbo Glacier Resort and is now advocating for the remote Jumbo Valley to be protected.

But director Waggoner was determined to do justice to all sides of the argument, Byers said.

“While Patagonia’s pro-conservation stance has been no secret for several years, Nick Waggoner made this film and he approached it as a documentary endeavour in every way,” Byers said.

“He gave significant credence to the developers’ arguments during research, production and in the final film that frankly outweighs the balance present in many modern social documentaries.”

That was not the view of Oberto Oberti, the architect who first envisioned the mega-resort in the Jumbo Valley and who has been battling ever since to make his dream a reality.

Waggoner spent a considerable amount of time with Oberti and Glacier Resorts vice-president Grant Costello while making the film, but did not immediately disclose who was funding the project.

“It may be offensive to Canadians (and to justice) to see that a movie made by an American and as an advertising project for a foreign company like Patagonia is made to reverse the CORE land use decision (the legal, political, democratic and moral foundation of the two decades of process for the Jumbo Glacier Resort project) when both sides of the story are not given equal weight,” Oberti wrote in an open letter to Waggoner after being informed about Patagonia’s involvement.

But the film takes a remarkably balanced stance, showing Oberti, not as an evil developer riding roughshod over local wishes, but as a man who believes in his mission and in the ultimate good of building a resort that will allow others to experience the beauty of the area.

“Are you proposing to Patagonia the idea that to keep the JGR territory for exclusive use of wealthy heliskiers and for snowmobilers is a better use?” Oberti asks in the letter.

One of the most telling segments of the film is when Oberti, who was born in Italy, says “creating a mountain resort and access to the mountains is like creating a cathedral” and describes the soaring peaks and glaciers as the “Alps multiplied by 1,000 times.”

For many opposed to the plan for a billion-dollar, 6,300 bed resort, the commercialisation of the Alps is exactly what they want to avoid.

“My church is up there. You can’t get any closer to God can you?” asks Nolan Rad, who has spent almost seven decades hunting, trapping and fishing in the area.

The ultimate opposing viewpoint to Oberti’s vision comes from Joe Pierre of the Ktunaxa First Nation, who regard the area as sacred.

“He’s come here to build a monument to himself. Talk about being offensive to a world view that for 400 generations have never even considered that. It’s hard to take,” Pierre said in the film.

A rare nod to the animosity created by the proposed development comes from Grant Costello.

The opponents don’t believe humans should be allowed to change the environment, he explained.

“I don’t want to lose to these people. That’s what it really comes down to,” he said.

However, for Glacier Resorts and Oberti, the lengthy battle was all but lost in June when Environment Minister Mary Polak decided the project had not substantially started before its environmental certificate expired.

To continue would mean starting the environmental assessment process from scratch.

But Oberti is not ready to give up and is planning a smaller development that would avoid the need for a full environmental assessment.

Tommaso Oberti, Pheidias Group vice-president, said in an e-mail to DeSmog Canada that the company is working on a revised master plan.

“It won’t look very different. It will just be a smaller development. I don’t know yet what the timelines will be,” said Tommaso Oberti, who has not watched the film.

“But I understand there is some beautiful scenery (in the film),” he said.

So, the battle for the wilderness is not yet over and, whether or not skirmishes will continue in the peaks and glaciers that surround the Jumbo Valley, the film documenting the fight is now inspiring communities around the world.

Image: Howard P Smith, First Light on Jumbo.

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This is a guest post by Gerry Taft, the mayor of Invermere.

When most of us think of a small town, we think of friendly neighbours and quiet streets — the type of place where you know almost everyone. I’m privileged to be elected as mayor of Invermere, B.C., which is pretty close to being a perfect small town. 

However, about 55 kilometres from Invermere, down rough old logging and mining roads, lies another kind of “small town.”

The “small town” of Jumbo, also known as the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality, is not home to friendly neighbours or quiet streets. In fact, it is completely empty — a wilderness with no residents and no buildings.

On Nov. 15th, when every other town in B.C. will vote for new municipal leaders, there will be no voting in Jumbo.

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How did it come to this?

Glacier Resorts Ltd. has wanted to build a 6,300-bed ski resort on Crown land for 24 years. While the proponents envision a village of condos, shops and hotels and more than 20 ski lifts, many locals like myself oppose a new dense urban development in an area already awash with ski resorts operating below capacity. (A 2008 random survey by McAllister Opinion Research found 63 per cent of Kootenay residents oppose the resort, with 19 per cent in favour and 18 per cent undecided.)

Faced with strong local opposition, the province has tried to fit a round peg into a square hole. Instead of admitting it won’t fit, the province has changed the hole until that peg fits.

The only reason there is a “municipality” here in the mountain wilderness is because in 2012, the provincial government amended the Local Government Act to allow the creation of a municipality without residents. Next, the province appointed a mayor and two councillors. And then a provincial order-in-council mandated that the council adhere to the terms of Jumbo Glacier Resort’s Master Plan — not to citizens.

This series of events ruffled many feathers, but what came next was even worse. Jumbo received a $260,000 provincial grant and $50,000 in federal gas tax money.

Why would a “town” with no residents and no services require taxpayer dollars? Well, there are bridges to build and infrastructure to construct before real estate can be sold. Given the Jumbo Glacier Resort is a private development, you’d think the infrastructure would be fully funded by the developer – but not in the case of Jumbo.

Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality has asked for $200,000 a year from the province for the next five years. In its five-year financial plan, the municipality is predicting $0 in tax revenue, $0 in funding from the developer and 100 per cent of funding to come from government grants.

At the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, my motion to oppose provincial funding for towns without residents was adopted unanimously by local politicians from all over our province.

Aside from grasping for taxpayer dollars, the reason Jumbo municipality exists is to circumnavigate a key condition of the resort’s environmental assessment certificate, which dictates that final land use decisions be made by local government. Of course, the intent was for elected, accountable local government to make the decisions, not a puppet appointed council.

Residents of the Columbia Valley want to map their region’s own future. The environmental assessment was focused solely on mitigating environmental impacts. The question of whether we want a dense urban development and private real estate speculation in the mountain wilderness has never been posed to our community.

The environmental assessment certificate for the Jumbo resort expired on Oct. 12, unless the province rules that the proponent has made substantial progress. In yet another case of corners being cut, the resort was hastily laying foundations the week before the deadline in a last-minute push to show progress.

Three days before the construction deadline, B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office wrote to Glacier Resorts saying the company was not in compliance with three pre-construction conditions, primarily relating to water quality and fish habitat monitoring. Last week, a debate at the Legislature raised the question of whether the foundation for a lodge was built in a Class 4 Avalanche Zone.

The big question now is when the province of B.C. will call an end to the farce of the “town” called Jumbo. The cost of failing to act is at least $1.3 million in taxpayer funding, the sell-off of Crown land at bargain basement prices and, most of all, the complete disregard for the basic concept of what democracies are … and what small towns should be.

Photo: #Democracyforjumbo via @Tweetwild

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Snow is flying in the Jumbo Valley, covering both the rapidly constructed foundations of a ski lift and day lodge and the campsite where, throughout the summer, opponents have monitored activities at the site of a proposed all-season ski resort centred around four glaciers in the heart of the Kootenays.

For now, it’s a waiting game — no surprise to the many players on both sides of the controversial proposal who have been involved throughout the 24-year saga.

Glacier Resorts Ltd. is hoping the foundations, built in October, will prove to the provincial Environmental Assessment Office that significant progress has been made on construction of the billion-dollar proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort.

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In 2004 the company was granted an environmental assessment certificate with 195 conditions. The certificate was renewed in 2009 and, under legislation, cannot be renewed again. For the certificate to become permanent, Glacier Resorts must show that the project was “substantially started” by Oct. 12.

Three days before that deadline, the Environmental Assessment Office wrote to Glacier Resorts saying the company was not in compliance with three pre-construction conditions, primarily relating to water quality and fish habitat monitoring. However, the warning about non-compliance does not have any direct bearing on the decision about whether the project has made significant progress, said an Environment Ministry spokesman.

The term “substantially started” is not defined in legislation. The Environmental Assessment Office will make a recommendation to Environment Minister Mary Polak, who will make the final decision.

“There is no set timeframe in which the minister must make the determination about whether a project was substantially started by the deadline,” said the ministry spokesman.

Until a decision is made, it is not only the weather that has put a stop to construction. The company has been warned not to continue work until a decision is made, although restoration work on the non-compliance problems is allowed.

Mountain Guide Critical of Construction 'Rush Job'

A 10-centimetre snowfall in the Jumbo Valley means the “concrete slab” foundations are “out of sight, but not out of mind,” said retired mountain guide Arnor Larson, a tireless opponent of the resort proposal.

Larson has submitted a document and photos to the Environmental Assessment Office raising questions about the “unusual” quality of the foundation work on the day lodge and ski lift.

“Rush jobs often mean cutting corners, but it was still a surprise that, throughout the area covered by the forms, the ground was never properly leveled and compacted, nor was the necessary topping layer of fine aggregate material ever installed, leveled or compacted,” he wrote.

“Believing in foundations that have no foundation is like something out of Alice In Wonderland.”

Foundation for Day Lodge Adjacent to 'Avalanche Meadow'

Larson, armed with pages of photos and documentation, also has serious concerns with the location of the day lodge.

“As a professional mountain climbing guide since 1970, I stood there and had a thought that went like this — in the winter, when avalanche conditions are ripe, I would find the risk too high to set up my tent here for even one single night. Yet they are going to erect a permanent building here,” he said.

“Who the heck signed the paper saying this was a safe place to build?”

Larson pointed out in his submission that the site of the day lodge has changed from the original plans and the lodge doors at the new site would open on to “the aptly named Avalanche Meadow.” It is an area where, in 2009, a massive avalanche tore down a ski run.

The resort’s Master Plan calls for avalanche control measures, such as helicopter bombing potential avalanche sites, but critics such as renowned Canadian mountaineer and photographer Pat Morrow, who lives in the East Kootenays, does not believe the area can be made safe.

“As you get further and further into the proposed townsite, you are getting further and further into avalanche territory,” he said.

“No other resorts have base areas that are threatened as much as this.”

NDP Leader John Horgan Says Day Lodge in Class 4 Avalanche Zone

Growing concerns about building a day lodge adjacent to an avalanche path — even though proponent Oberto Oberti has said the buildings will be just outside the high-risk area — were taken up this week in Question Period by NDP leader John Horgan.

Jumbo Glacier Resort specifically committed to building residential and commercial structures outside avalanche zones, Horgan said.

“Yet the Jumbo Glacier Resort has put the only foundation that they’ve been able to pour to this point in time, their day lodge, right in a Class 4 avalanche zone,” he said.

“For the minister’s edification, a Class 4 avalanche zone is really, really bad. In fact, it says ‘a Class 4 could destroy a railway car, large truck, several buildings and forests up to four hectares.’ It’s a big deal.”

However Polak, who recently visited the area and met with the Ktunaxa First Nation, rejected calls from Horgan for her to immediately withdraw the permit.

“It is very important that we allow the process to unfold, that we allow First Nations to respond appropriately, providing us with that information,” she said.

Robyn Duncan of Wildsight, a non-profit group that has led much of the opposition to the proposal, said Wildsight has been working with Ecojustice to make last-minute submissions to the Environmental Assessment Office and, if the Jumbo Resort project gets the go-ahead or, if there is an attempt to again extend the certificate, a legal challenge might be considered.

The proposal is already being challenged by the Ktuxana First Nation, which is appealing a B.C Supreme Court decision that the consultation was reasonable and the resort would not substantially interfere with Ktunaxa spiritual beliefs and practices. The area in which the resort is planned is known to the Ktunaxa as Qat’muk, the place where the Grizzly Bear Spirit was born, goes to heal itself and returns to the spirit world.

The West Kootenay EcoSociety is also challenging the incorporation of the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality, a municipality with no residents which is being supported with taxpayer dollars.

Others who have taken part in the annual protest and monitoring camps are watching carefully and are ready to spring into action again if it proves necessary.

“I have been working to keep Jumbo Wild for over 15 years,” said KL Kivi, who spent much of her summer at the monitoring camp.

“This is the largest unroaded wilderness in southern B.C. and our lives are inextricably linked to the health of this place. It would fracture the spine of an incredibly important ecological region,” she said.

Tommaso Oberti, vice president of Pheidias Project Management, who has acted as spokesman for previous stories, did not respond to questions.

However, a letter written by Oberto Oberti, on behalf of Glacier Resorts, to Jumbo Municipality Mayor Gregory Deck, underlines his confidence that the project will go ahead.

“In the most unlikely event that physical and legal disruptions do not permit the start of construction, the government will have an obligation to extend or remove the deadline, as in any construction case of force majeure,” he wrote in February.

“I am certain that, in this case, Glacier will seek legal advice and legal routes to ensure that its rights are not compromised.”

Photo: Lucas Jmief, Lucasimagephoto.ca

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Grizzly bears in the Central Purcell Mountains are more vulnerable than shown in 15-year-old research being used by proponents of Jumbo Glacier Resort and, if the resort is built, it could threaten grizzly populations through southern B.C and into the U.S, says one of Canada’s leading grizzly bear experts.

Michael Proctor, who has studied grizzly bears in the Purcell and Selkirk mountain ranges in southeastern B.C. for almost 20 years and whose work is regularly published in scientific journals, recently completed two ecological analyses of the Purcell grizzly population and found, based on data-driven population surveys, that bear populations are about 50 per cent smaller than previous estimates.

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In 1999, government scientists estimated the area to be at 93 per cent of carrying capacity for grizzlies, but Proctor’s research, completed more than a decade later, found grizzly capacity to be at 54 per cent. The capacity is the population an environment can sustain.

Human Encroachment Likely Cause of Drop in Grizzly Population

Using DNA analysis from hair snagging, Proctor found the Purcell grizzly populations are depressed, bringing them “close to or below the threatened population threshold.” The reason for the lower than expected numbers is most probably more roads into the backcountry and human-caused mortality associated with the activity that roads bring.

Work needs to be done on helping the population recover before efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the proposed resort come into play, he said,

“To improve the status of the Purcell grizzly it will likely be necessary to improve the balance of human use and wildlife habitat needs. The Jumbo Glacier Resort would challenge our ability to accomplish that goal,” Proctor said in a 2010 letter to the provincial government.

Purcell/Selkirk Grizzlies Act as Anchor Population

An even more important issue, Proctor said in an interview, is that the proposed resort will likely fragment the approximately 600-strong Purcell/Selkirk grizzly population and compromise its ability to act as a core anchor for beleaguered and already-fragmented smaller units to the south. Keeping that population intact is probably essential to maintaining international grizzly bear populations extending south into the U.S.

“Those small, fragmented populations just to the south are too small to survive long-term without the larger Purcell/Selkirk regional core population to act as a long-term source of immigrants,” Proctor said.

It is an argument that has been emphasized by Wildsight, a non-profit fighting approval of the proposed resort.

“This is the last stop. There’s small bits of populations to the south and in the U.S and, if we cut them off they are hooped,” said Wildsight spokesperson Robyn Duncan.

Although Glacier Resorts spokespeople say there are few grizzlies in the area that would be used for year-round glacier skiing, there are numerous anecdotes about resort proponents ignoring grizzlies that appear almost in front of them.

Bob Campsall, a long-time Jumbo Creek Conservation Society board member, recalls one of the first meetings about the planned resort.

“I asked about grizzly bears and they said they had studied the grizzly bear population and there were not enough to be concerned about. I had hiked up there the previous weekend and saw four grizzly bears,” he said.

Most Up-to-Date Grizzly Research Not Considered by B.C. Government

Proctor said that, as Jumbo is in the central spine of the Purcell Range, it is in the area where the bears are generally going to travel.

“Ski areas are not generally bad for grizzly bears; it’s the location of this one,” he said.

However, Proctor’s latest research appears to have been ignored by the provincial government. The Environmental Assessment Office is currently considering whether the environmental assessment certificate, first granted in 2004 and renewed in 2009, should be made permanent.

“They haven’t incorporated the new information I have given them,” Proctor said.

“They said the research was too late.”

That is a disappointment, according to Proctor, who has a reputation as an independent research scientist, whose only agenda is science.

“It is a shame not to use the latest science,” he said.

Gerry Wilkie, a director of the Regional District of East Kootenay, is angry that Proctor’s research is not being taken into account and believes it illustrates how poorly the Jumbo decision is being handled by the government.

“It’s a debacle,” he said, describing the project as a white elephant.

“The fact that Mike Proctor’s work on population dynamics and fragmentation of habitat of the southern interior grizzly was disregarded is of critical importance.”

The Environmental Assessment Office determined that the 1999 report, conducted for Glacier Resorts by Axys Environmental Consulting (PDF), satisfied the requirement for a pre-construction inventory of grizzly bears in the study area, said an Environment Ministry spokesman.

The project is in compliance with five conditions related to grizzly bears, but future work is required, the spokesman said.

 “Jumbo Glacier Resorts is currently developing plans for the next steps in monitoring for potential impacts of the project on the grizzly bear population.”

Proctor is not the only one to conclude the resort would be bad news for grizzlies

Alton Harestad, former co-chair of the provincial Grizzly Bear Scientific Advisory Committee, concluded the development would adversely affect the grizzly population in the South Purcells.

“The size and nature of the development will result, eventually, in the loss of bears locally and will diminish the viability of the regional population of grizzly bears,” Harestad wrote in a report.

“There are no examples in North America where grizzly bears have coexisted successfully with large human development over the long term.”

The Jumbo Glacier Resort Master Plan, approved by the province, relies heavily on mitigation efforts, ranging from Bear Smart programs to establishing partnerships with government and local forest tenure holders to improve grizzly habitat in and around the almost 6,000 hectares of controlled recreation area – Crown land that the company will lease from the province.

Ktunaxa Spirituality Not Up For Grabs

However, members of the Ktunaxa Nation, like other critics, say categorically that mitigation is not possible.

The Ktunaxa, who are appealing a B.C. Supreme Court decision turning down an application for a judicial review of the province’s approval of the resort, know the area as Qat’muk, the place where the Grizzly Bear Spirit was born, goes to heal itself and returns to the spirit world.

The heart of the nation’s spirituality is not up for grabs, says Kathryn Teneese, chair of the Ktunaxa Nation Council.

It is easy to understand why the Jumbo Valley is so special in First Nations culture, Duncan said.

“It’s where grizzly bear science and spirituality come together. It’s not a coincidence that the Ktunaxa knew from living on the land that this is a core area — that this is an area we don’t touch,” she said.

Photo: Heather & Mike via Flickr

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When Pat Morrow looks around at the mountains, towering on either side of the Jumbo Valley, his concern is palpable.

Avalanche paths are clearly visible, both beside Jumbo Creek Road and on slopes surrounding the meadows and valley where Glacier Resorts Ltd. wants to build a 6,000-bed all-season ski resort.

“Looking down the valley, we are seeing how vulnerable it is to massive avalanche damage. There are three or four fresh ones. The avalanche paths are just slowly eating their way across the slope as the years go along,” Morrow said.

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Few people who are familiar with Morrow’s accomplishments are going to argue with his expertise.

Morrow, who lives in the East Kootenay community of Wilmer, is a mountain climber, photographer and filmmaker and was the first person in the world to climb the highest peaks of all seven continents. In 1982 he was a member of the first Canadian team to climb Mount Everest and in 1987 he was awarded the Order of Canada for his international mountaineering exploits.

“I have been in hazardous terrain all my adult life — sizing it up — and in there I felt really exposed,” said Morrow, as his truck rattled over the rough road, heading home after a day hiking the Jumbo Glacier Resort area.

Morrow is a director of the Jumbo Creek Conservation Society and supporter of Wildsight, one of the non-profit groups fighting against the Jumbo proposal. On a sunny day in September, as he again looked at the site, his concerns grew.

Morrow does not believe there are any other ski resorts with such high risks at the base site, as well as along the access road and on the glacier ski runs.

“Where are they going to park the cars,” he asked.

“You’re not going to park them in the middle of an avalanche zone.”

An illustration of the power of avalanches — which sweep down one side of the mountain, across the road and swoosh up the opposite side — came this year. A bevy of provincial government cabinet ministers were scheduled to visit the area in June, but had to take a helicopter tour of the site, instead of driving, as the road was still blocked from spring avalanche debris.

The ministers included Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett, who has pushed provincial support for Jumbo, and, after the visit, Bennett told a Columbia Valley newspaper that the resort proponent needs improved access. The road, until it reaches the resort boundary, is the responsibility of the province.

In addition to avalanche risks, there are the challenges of bringing supplies along an uneven, unpaved access road and Morrow shakes his head as he tries to estimate the expense of rebuilding the road and helicopter bombing potential avalanche sites.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said Morrow, who grew up in the area and honed his mountain climbing and photography skills in the Purcells.

However, the Jumbo Glacier Resort Master Plan assesses the avalanche hazard at a low to moderate risk, similar to other ski areas in B.C. and Alberta.

An avalanche study, conducted in 1995 for the company by Peter Schaerer of Stetham and Associates, concluded that avalanche risks could be managed with road closures during hazardous times combined with dropping explosive charges from helicopters.

“The avalanche hazard to traffic on the Jumbo Creek Road would be low with the predicted initial traffic volume of 160 vehicles per day and would increase to moderate when volume exceeds about 260 vehicles per day,” says the report.

Avalanche paths sweep down towards the road leading in to Farnham Glacier and the Lake of the Hanging Glacier. Photo: Judith Lavoie.

The reports were compiled by some of Canada’s leading avalanche experts, said Tommaso Oberti, spokesman for the resort proponents.

Rod Gibbons, senior guide with RK Heliski, a company with a 44-year history in the area, said no mountainous area is completely safe from avalanches, but the key is ensuring the level of risk is acceptable.

“Because of the avalanche hazard, there are going to be some extreme costs in keeping that road within Ministry of Transport allowances,” said Gibbons, who has spent 28 winters working in the Purcells.

“It’s going to take a lot of money to make that road fit.”

Helicopters would be required to drop explosives on potential avalanche sites and “a lot of the time, the helicopter will not be able to access those points to do avalanche control,” Gibbons said.

Pilots need good visibility to fly and to assess where to put explosive charges to get the best results, meaning flights are weather dependent.

“There could be multiple days that road will have to be closed,” said Gibbons, who believes he has spent more time in the Jumbo-area mountains than anyone else.

“I’m out there every day,” he said.

RK uses explosives on potential avalanche areas, but last year a German client was killed by an avalanche in the Jumbo area.

Mary Clayton of Avalanche Canada, formerly the Canadian Avalanche Centre, said avalanche terrain is found throughout B.C. and there is nothing unusual about the Jumbo area.

However, of all avalanche fatalities in Canada, 80 per cent occur in B.C. and the majority of those are in the Columbia Region, she said.

Glacier Resorts’ environmental assessment certificate, first issued in 2004, expired October 12 unless proponents can prove there has been substantial progress.

Main image: Mountaineer and photographer Pat Morrow studies the slopes for avalanche paths. Credit: Judith Lavoie.

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The rough track at the foot of West Farnham Glacier, carved by a Glacier Resorts bulldozer in 2008, comes to an abrupt end as the already rough terrain becomes impassable.

Huge boulders block the path, where there is an early-fall dusting of snow and, ahead, the cliffs are festooned with precariously hanging icicles.

“We call it the road to nowhere,” said professional mountain climbing guide Arnor Larson, who, since 1970, has taken visitors into the remote Farnham area of the Purcell Range — 60 kilometres from Invermere along a lumpy, slippery one-track road.

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Stretching above the track is the money card — blindingly bright snow, broken by icy blue patches, where the prospect of all-season glacier skiing has fuelled a 24-year debate.

Glacier Resorts Ltd. plans to build a billion-dollar ski resort, with hotels, lodges, condominiums and shops, in the adjacent Jumbo Valley. Lifts and gondolas would take visitors from the village to ski on Farnham, Jumbo and Commander Glaciers.

But the most pressing question is how long the glaciers will be around.

While the Jumbo Glacier Resort Master Plan predicts the glaciers will survive or even grow as climate change will mean additional snow at high altitudes, climate scientists say glaciers in the Purcell Mountains will have disappeared by the turn of the century.

Larson, who has had a front-row seat to the glacier melt for more than four decades, points to scraped rocks below the glacier toe, showing how Farnham has receded in the time he has been guiding. Then he glances up at the summer snow and points to semi-concealed crevasses.

Professional mountain climbing guide Arnor Larson. Photo: Pat Morrow.

“I wouldn’t be too keen as a guide to take anyone there in the summer for skiing,” he said.

Larson, who has collected old photos of the glaciers, compares a 1913 photo of Commander Glacier to a 2008 photo, showing massive ice reduction. Over recent years, the process has sped up and Commander has shrunk considerably further since 2008, he said.

Commander Glacier in 1913.

Commander Glacier in 2008.

The melting is further accelerated by machines cutting ice roads on the glaciers or “mining” snow from the upper part of the glacier to build ski runs, he said.

Large machinery on Farnham Glacier. Photo: Arnor Larson.

Tommaso Oberti, vice-president of Pheidias Project Management Corp., the company spearheading the resort design, said the Master Plan is based on information from Michael Maxwell, a geophysicist with global consulting firm Golder Associates.

Maxwell, an honorary research associate at the University of British Columbia, said he worked on monitoring the Purcell glaciers in the mid-1990s, but has not done any research in the area since then.

“I guarantee that things have changed since then, but I can’t say how they have changed,” said Maxwell, who is continuing to do some glaciology work in other areas.

The Jumbo Master Plan fact sheet on climate, water and glaciers argues global warming is actually a compelling reason to build the resort because many low-elevation ski resorts in B.C. will not be able to operate if the worst climate predictions come true.

“Even with extreme glacier retraction and a dramatic increase in global temperatures, JGR will be one of the very few locations in North America where skiing will be possible in winter because of its high elevation. In fact, the moraines that are left behind by retreating glaciers result in some of the most skiable terrain possible, when covered with snow in winter,” Oberti wrote in an e-mail.

The glaciers range from a height of 3,400 metres at the top of Jumbo to a low of 2,450 metres at the bottom of Farnham.

That means the high glaciers could actually grow, rather than recede, says the Master Plan.

However, Brian Menounos, professor of earth sciences and Canada Research Chair in glacier change at the University of Northern B.C., said glaciers in the Columbia Basin are unlikely to survive past 2100.

Brian Menounos. Photo: Univeristy of Northern B.C.

It is likely that precipitation will increase from 10 to 15 per cent because of climate change, Menounos said.

“But that doesn’t compensate for the amount of warming that is likely to occur. The modelling that I have seen says most of the ice in the Columbia Basin will not be there by 2100.”

Glaciers in western Canada started retreating in the 1920s, probably because of natural warming, but most scientists agree that, since 1980, they are strongly retreating because of human-caused climate change, Menounos said.

Large glaciers take a long time to respond, so even if everyone immediately stopped using fossil fuels, the glaciers will continue to melt “because of what we have done to them,” he said.

Some icefields in the North Coast Mountains will survive past the turn of the century, although they will be reduced by half, Menounos said.

“But in the southern interior ranges it’s not a good news story.”

Climate scientist Andrew Weaver is Green Party MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head and a lead author of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientific assessments, including the report that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Weaver scoffs at claims that the Purcell glaciers will survive or grow and described long-term plans for year-round glacier skiing as a “bit of a pipedream.”

A group that knows the glacier well is the Canadian Olympic Development Association (CODA), now known as Winsport, which spent six years training at Farnham, eventually pulling out in 2009.

“It was amazing conditions for summer training and we believe it played a key role in as many as three medals won at the Vancouver Olympics,” said Dale Oviatt, Winsport communications spokesman.

“Essentially we pulled out because of finances as it was an expensive operation to run.”

But while ski conditions on the glaciers may be good for now, the Jumbo Glacier Resort project, which will take 20 years to build, flies in the face of scientific understanding of climatic trends, Weaver said.

“It is expected that by 2100 Jumbo Glacier will be largely non-existent. In fact, just looking at the period between 1985 and 2005, the entire southeastern B.C. glacial region lost, on average, roughly 15 per cent of its mass,” he said.

Weaver cannot understand why the provincial government is supporting the private-sector proposal by funding the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality, which has no residents, and he questions whether the project is attracting investors.

“A prudent investor would ask ‘how long is this glacier going to be around?’ and would ask the scientific community,” he said.

Main Image: Commander Glacier by Pat Morrow.

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This is a guest post by Troy Sebastian, special projects coordinator for Ktunaxa Nation Council.

Amid the succulent smells of turkey and spice this Thanksgiving weekend, another season draws near.

In every municipality in British Columbia, lawn signs are popping up like plywood pumpkin patches. Door knocking has begun in earnest and no baby is safe from obligatory photo ops. Hand shakes and promises — the currency of democracy — reign once more.

Every town in the province is gearing up for municipal elections a month from now, except for one — the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality.

The reason is simple: Jumbo is a town without residents.

Jumbo is heavy on bravado and weak on substance. The project is sold as a 6,000-bed resort at the foot of a receding glacier that promises year-round skiing. Yet it is relying on taxpayer dollars to keep afloat. What Jumbo does have is the limitless support of the province in every request imaginable.

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During the past five years, the province has:

• Extended the Environmental Assessment Certificate (2009)
• Approved the project (2012)
• Amended the Local Government Act to allow the creation of Jumbo municipality (2012)
• Established Jumbo Glacier Resort Municipality with appointed mayor and council (2013)
• Provided $260,000 in funding. The municipality’s five-year financial plan relies solely on taxpayer dollars, asking for $1 million from the province through to 2018.  

Yet the province has very little to show for its support.

The developer is under significant pressure to demonstrate it has “substantially started” the project. Otherwise its Environmental Assessment Certificate will soon expire. That is why a bridge and a shack are quickly being thrown together in the Jumbo Valley.

Years of government time, money and effort in support of this project have resulted in a taxpayer-funded bridge to nowhere.

When it comes to Jumbo, the red flags are plentiful. For starters, the East Kootenay region is awash in ski resorts that are rarely at full capacity.

The closest municipality, the District of Invermere, has been officially opposed to the project for years.

At the recent Union of British Columbia Municipalities, Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft put forward a motion to oppose provincial funding for towns without residents. It was adopted unanimously.

The Ktunaxa Nation is opposed to the project as the ski resort would be located in a sacred area known as Qat’muk. Jumbo is also critical grizzly bear habitat. The NDP are opposed, as are the Greens. Heck, Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer and Olympic Gold medalist Beckie Scott are opposed.  

Olympians, Indians and grizzly bears — oh my!

And yet, the never-ending saga of the Jumbo Glacier resort continues to push the boundaries of expectation, common sense and straight-forward believability.

The province has an opportunity to put this sad cliché where it belongs: in the dustbin of loony B.C. ideas with the likes of Fantasy Gardens, Fast Ferries and the myth of Cascadia.

Should Jumbo Glacier Resorts by found to be in violation of its obligation to substantially start its project by October 12, the province will finally be in line with realities that are impossible to ignore. No one wants it. It does not make sense. It is a costly mess.

However, should the province continue its support for Jumbo, it will embrace a level of absurdity usually reserved for governments of global ridicule. Often, democracies beset with allegations of corruption and graft are known as ‘banana republics.’ It is an unfortunate term that usually refers to countries in the developing world. Bananas do not grow in Jumbo.

The continuing saga of the Jumbo Glacier Resort symbolizes all that is wrong with British Columbia’s politics and economy. Where else but in Jumbo would we find a mayor without residents, a town without homes or a ski hill without investors? Welcome to the Jumbo Republic!

The only people who could truly give thanks for this debacle are the mayor and council of Jumbo who are not encumbered with the weight of democratic accountability. Nor are they required to express their gratitude for the largesse they enjoy at the expense of the citizens of British Columbia.

It is time for Premier Clark to stop the Jumbo Glacier Resort gravy train and bring accountability and sanity to the situation once and for all.

Keep Jumbo wild.

That is something we could all give thanks for.

Photo: Courtesy of Pat Morrow

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

The clock is ticking toward the deadline for Glacier Resorts Ltd. to prove substantial progress has been made toward constructing a controversial all-season ski resort in the East Kootenays and the company is making a last-minute push to transform a wilderness valley into an active building site.

Jumbo Glacier Resort was first granted an environmental assessment certificate — with 195 conditions — in 2004. It was renewed in 2009 and, by law, the certificate, which expires October 12, cannot be renewed a second time. For the certificate to become permanent, the company must show B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office that substantial work has been completed.

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*Update: On Oct. 9, the province's Environmental Assessment Office wrote a letter to the project's proponents stating that the project has been found to be non-compliant with three pre-construction conditions related to the monitoring of streamflows, fish habitat, water quality and road use.

"Our common practice is to work with companies to first focus on approaches to begin to address non-compliances such as these before determining if any formal enforcement is appropriate," the letter states. "This warning is a first step in the enforcement process, and the Province may choose take further compliance action with regard to existing or future non-compliance."

Robyn Duncan of Wildsight, a non-profit group spearheading opposition to the resort proposal, says the conditions need to be upheld.

“The B.C. government has an opportunity to prove their claims to the people of B.C. that we have a rigorous environmental assessment process in place by upholding these commitments and stopping construction until they have been satisfied,” she said.

“Show British Columbians that environmental protection is a priority of this government.”

Earlier this month, apart from brush-clearing and markers stuck in the ground, there were few signs of construction at the site in the heart of the Purcell Mountains. But this week has seen a flurry of activity and cement foundations have now been poured for a lift and day lodge.

The last-ditch activity has infuriated opponents who are questioning why, after years of inaction, the proponents are now putting on what appears to be a frantic push.

“This is a desperate attempt at the last minute to try and achieve something on the ground and keep their environmental certificate, not to mention save face,” Duncan said.

“After 10 years, all they have been able to accomplish is to pour the foundation for one day lodge and one lift footing.”

An Environment Ministry spokesman said Thursday that Environmental Assessment Office staff will be at the Jumbo site Monday “to document progress for the purpose of the determination on whether the project has been substantially started.”

Several ministries and agencies are coordinating the oversight and staff have been in the Jumbo Valley since last Saturday and will be on site every day this week, he said.

Since construction began in August there have been a dozen site visits and field inspections, according to the ministry.

However, a decision is not likely to be made immediately as the Environmental Assessment Office will ask Glacier Resorts, the Ktuxana Nation Council and Shuswap Indian Band to provide information to help determine whether the project was substantially started by October 12, said the ministry spokesman.

“If Glacier Resorts Inc. decides to work past October 12, they are potentially at risk of constructing without an environmental certificate,” he said.

If it was found the project was not substantially started, any work done after October 12 would violate the Environmental Assessment Act.

Already the last-minute work has run into problems with the uncertain fall weather. Opponents, taking part in a rally near the entrance to the Jumbo property, cheered on Saturday when cement trucks were unable to get up the unpaved road because of mud.

“Mother Nature is working her magic,” said a posting on the Jumbo Wild website.

Tommaso Oberti, vice-president of Pheidias Project Management Corp., the group designing the resort, said between six and 10 inches of rain fell at the resort site the previous night.

“It made the last few kilometres of the access road very muddy and difficult for heavy trucks. The contractors are making improvements to the road,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Three days later, cement trucks were able to drive into the wilderness site, 55 kilometres from Invermere, and construction started.

A concrete foundation at the site of Jumbo Glaicer Resort. Photo: Tommaso Oberti.

The weekend’s botched attempt to bring in cement trucks is an example of the project’s disorganization, Duncan said.

“You’d think they would have checked the road conditions first. This is supposedly a billion-dollar project. It’s indicative of what we have seen over the last 10 years — desperate efforts and runarounds.”

Robyn Duncan of Wildsight at a protest against the Jumbo Glacier Resort last weekend.

Glacier Resorts is also facing two court challenges. The Ktunaxa Nation is appealing a B.C. Supreme Court decision that turned down an application for a judicial review. The case is based on alleged inadequate consultation and the constitutional right to freedom of religion. The Jumbo Valley is considered sacred to the Ktunaxa people as the home of the Grizzly Bear Spirit.

Also, the West Kootenay EcoSociety is challenging the incorporation of Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality.

The plan for a 6,000-bed resort, with more than 20 ski lifts, was initially proposed 24 years ago and the Master Plan was approved by the province in 2007. In 2012, the province changed the Local Government Act and created the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality, with an appointed mayor and council, even though the community has no residents and no buildings.

The municipality initially received $260,000 in provincial grants and its five-year plan calls for a further $200,000 a year. The municipality has also received about $50,000 in federal gas tax money.

Critics, including the Union of B.C. Municipalities, have railed against the province funding a municipality with no citizens. In addition to the mayor and council having no accountability to voters, under the municipality’s Letters Patent, council must adhere to the resort’s Master Plan — meaning building permits and approvals are all but automatic.

Oberti said cash also flows from the province to Jumbo opponents, such as $1.4 million to the District of Invermere for improving tourism infrastructure and $1.65 million to the Ktuxana Nation to help with land and resource decisions.

Opponents say funding for an existing municipality and a First Nation are a far cry from funding for a private, for-profit enterprise.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.