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Agreement between
the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Wildlife Branch,
Ministry of Forests, and
the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club,
Regarding Snowmobile Areas in the Revelstoke Area
Preamble
Snowmobiling is a highly popular
recreational activity in the mountains north of Revelstoke. Mountain
caribou occupy high elevation late winter ranges in the area north of
Revelstoke in both the Monashee and Selkirk mountains. The overlap between
snowmobiling and wintering caribou from December through April initiated
this agreement on the shared use of key areas. Five areas have site
specific agreements and two larger areas have a general agreement on the
timing and areas of use by snowmobilers.
Parties to the Agreement
There are three parties to this agreement:
Revelstoke Snowmobile Club (RSC),
Revelstoke British Columbia
Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection (MWLAP), Wildlife Branch,
Nelson, British Columbia.
Ministry of Forests, Columbia Forest
District, Revelstoke, BC.
Site Specific Agreements
Frisby Ridge
The ridge has been mapped into three areas (Map 1). In area 1, the
northern area (shown outlined in red), a trail will stay open in to the
cliff lookout, and be understood as a trail only. A safety / self rescue
trail will also be marked from the ridge top to the Westside road. The
remainder of Area 1 will be closed to the use of snowmobiles from December
15 to April 15 above 1300 meters elevation. RSC agrees that they will
better define the east boundary of Area 1 with signs to eliminate
incursions into caribou habitat, and work to improve both educational and
signing initiatives.
Area 2 will remain open to use of
snowmobiles. Caribou utilize this area and snowmobilers will avoid
disturbing caribou when they are observed by moving away from the caribou
use location.
Area 3 is not subject to any changes. Area
3 will be open to snowmobiling as mapped, with use narrowing to a trail
along the height of land in the northern section between Areas 2 and 3 and
staying out of the closed areas (Map 1).
Areas not shown as open to the use of
snowmobiles on Map 1 are closed to their use from December 15 to April 15
annually.
The details of agreed upon in this section
reflect the tenants of the original Frisby agreement. Operational
enforcement will be increase through additional efforts by the RSC and
through enforcement efforts by MWLAP .
Sale Mountain
The access road to the microwave tower from valley bottom to the tower
remains open at all times of the year.
Area 1 (Map 2) remains open, including
access route into entire geographic unit.
Area 2 (Map 2) is closed to snowmobile
access December 15 to Apri1 15.
Keystone and Standard
Peak
The RSC assures that the Keystone / Standard Peak access road would remain
un-groomed and not promoted.
The current access trail and Keystone Basin
(Area 1 and 3) will remain available for unrestricted access. Boundaries
and trail routes are identified on Map 3. A small closure area at the
south end of the first ridge will be signed to prevent snowmobile use
south of the open area (area 2).
Standard Basin
Area 4 (Map 3) will remain open during entire winter season. Areas 5 and 6
will remain closed during the December 15 to April 15 caribou use period.
As an additional condition, if MWLAP determines that there continues to be
unacceptable levels of snowmobile use within Areas 5 and 6, this component
of the agreement will be renegotiated between MWLAP and the RSC.
Caribou Basin
Access to Caribou Basin will be along a designated trail to the designated
snowmobile area of the Basin ( Area 1, Map 4) .Snowmobiling on the trail
and open area will occur only on weekends and statutory holidays, during
the December 15th to April15th caribou use season. Restriction lifted
after this date. Areas outside the designated trail and open area will not
be used for snowmobiling during the December 15 to April 15 period
annually.
Carnes Ridge
A decision on snowmobile use on Carnes Ridge (Map 5) has been defered
until autumn of 2002. The RSC will determine feasibility of Carnes Ridge
for use, and renew discussions in autumn of 2002, pending those findings.
Broad Areas of Agreement
Monashee Mountains
North of Frisby Ridge (Columbia watershed side)
Existing closure will be modified to move south boundary to the south end
of Area 1 on Frisby Ridge (Map 1 ). The area north of the line will remain
closed to the use of snowmobiles between the elevations of 1300 meters and
2100 meters during the December 15 to April 15 winter caribou use period.
The exceptions will be the trails to the north end of Frisby Ridge (Map 1
), Bourne Glacier (British Columbia Reg. 196/99) .
Selkirk Mountains
North of the Goldstream River (west of the Columbia Divide)
Existing closure will remain between the elevations of 1300 meters and
2100 meters during the December 15 to April 15 winter caribou use period.
The exception will be the trail to Fred Laing Ridge (British Columbia Reg.
196/99).
Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
will investigate the capability of this area to support commercial
snowmobiling activity , given its remoteness and relative negligible use
by public snowmobiling.
The RSC will also informally investigate
this area to establish any specific points of interest, including
Groundhog Basin, for future discussion. MWLAP acknowledges that there may
be additional high elevation areas that could sustain snowmobiling without
jeopardy to mountain caribou. Trails to these areas will be considered if
the RSC initiates discussions on them. Investigation of use of these areas
will require a. permit administered by MWLAP.
Regulatory Framework.
The existing regulation (B.C Reg. 196/99
Motor Vehicle Prohibition Regulation, Snowmobile closed areas 7.1 and
Schedule 7 Revelstoke (2). ) will be modified as described in the Frisby
Ridge section noted above.
The new closure areas described for Sale
Mountain, Standard Peak and Caribou basin will be created as regulations
under the Wildlife Act (B .C Reg. 196/99 Motor Vehicle Prohibition
Regulation, Snowmobile closed areas) for the 2002/3 period.
Monitoring
Increased snowmobile and caribou use
monitoring will be undertaken by MWLAP and the RSC to determine the
success of this Frisby Ridge agreement. Results of investigations,
strategies developed and result reports from monitoring efforts will be
developed jointly.
Funding
MWLAP will assist the RSC in obtaining
funds for signage and operational assistance through funding agencies such
as the Habitat Conservation Trust Fund and the Columbia Basin Fish and
Wildlife Compensation Program. MWLAP and RSC will work with MSRM to obtain
funds for publicizing access management.
Agreement
The Ministry of Water , Land and Air
Protection representatives and the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club
representatives agree that this management plan will be implemented during
the 2002 year and into the future. This agreement may be opened at any
time by either party with a letter of request.
Signed
Guy Woods,
Fish and Wildlife Science and
Allocation,
Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection.
F. Grant Dowdy,
President
Revelstoke Snowmobile Club
Dave Raven,
District Manager,
Ministry of Forests, Columbia District.
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