Published: November 25, 2008 1:00 PM
Invermere Valley Echo
The construction of a 90-kilometre transmission line through a wilderness area is not acceptable.
Trans-mountain corridors only lead to one thing - more exploitation. Look at the Gray Creek Pass in the Southern Purcells.
What began as a simple Cominco transmission line today has a B.C. highway going across it, cutblocks to subalpine, and uncontrolled ATV and snowmobile access everywhere.
Upper Howser and Stockdale represent some of the last undeveloped drainages in this part of the Purcells, and are critical habitat for mountain goat and grizzly.
With the existing industrial and recreational impacts, proposed resort cities nearby, and a grizzly population already close to the threatened threshold, a transmission line through these valleys is not acceptable, especially with major transmission corridors already in place in the valley bottom in the West Kootenay.
People of the Kootenays will continue to work hard to protect our last remaining wilderness valleys.
With over 500 proposed independent power producers across the province, and over 75 in the Columbia Basin alone, the cumulative effects of these projects will be immeasurable.
The Kootenays have lost enough biologically rich riparian habitat to hydro development already.
With the lower Canoe River, lower Wood, Duncan River, much of the Columbia, the lower Kootenay River, lower Elk, Bull, etc, etc, the Kootenays are already over the acceptable cumulative impacts on our river systems without diverting large volumes from more creeks.
This project proposes to divert large volumes of water from Glacier and Howser Creeks, as well as several tributaries, through seven kilometre long, 4.5-metre wide tunnels.
This is not acceptable for creeks that are home to threatened bull trout and a host of other species whose habitat has been disrupted by other hydro projects in the region.
Dave Quinn
Wildsight Program Manager