By Keith McNeill
What is a Geopark and would one be a good thing for the North Thompson Valley?
Those seemed to be the main questions to be answered during a public information meeting held Wednesday evening, Aug. 9 at Dutch Lake Community Centre.
About two dozen people attended the meeting, which was hosted by Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD).
According to a brochure handed out at the meeting, a Geopark is an area recognized by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having exceptional geological heritage with a natural landscape that is managed within a framework of protection, education and sustainable development.
Although both are UNESCO designations, a Geopark is not the same as a World Heritage Site, said Ron Storie, the TNRD’s director of community service.
A group of individuals is seeking World Heritage status for Wells Gray Park and its volcanoes.
However, if extended outside the park, that would severely restrict resource activities such as mining or forestry. A Geopark is a more flexible designation that would allow branding and marketing to bring visitors and economic growth, he said.
There would be no impact on land use or resource operations such as logging or mining.
At present there are 120 UNESCO Geoparks around the world in 33 countries. Only two are in Canada – Tumbler Ridge in B.C. and Stonehammer in New Brunswick.
A Geopark usually is a series of discontinuous sites that can be promoted together. For the North Thompson Valley, those could include waterfalls such as Helmcken Falls, the Ice Age glacial melts that created many of the valley’s landforms, volcanism such as the Kostal Cone, and the geological faults that created the mountain and valley landscapes.
The Geopark proposal developed from the North Thompson Valley Tourism Plan completed in 2013, said Storie.
It was further examined in a feasibility study done in 2015.
The cost of the Geopark service would not exceed the greater of $150,000 or 12.2 cents per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements, said Doug Ray, the TNRD director of finance.
For a residence with the average value of $145,000, that would work out to a tax increase of $11.30 per year, Ray said.
For those who do not use all of their Homeowners Grant, the amount could be less.
During the first few years it appears that most of the money raised would be used hire a coordinator and to develop a formal application to UNESCO for Geopark status.
After that the priority would be on developing and marketing the Geopark as a tourist destination.
The alternative approval is one of three options available to local governments to establish a new service, the others being a referendum (in which people vote for and against) and a petition (in which those in favor need to get signatures from a majority in the proposed service area).
Under the alternative approval process, the proposed new service will go ahead unless 10 per cent or more of the eligible electors submit electoral response forms saying they oppose the service.
The TNRD has determined the number of elector responses needed to stop the Geopark service to be 657. Deadline for those opposed to submit their forms is 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Questions asked centered mostly about the cost of the service and the timing of the approval process.
Several people felt they already pay enough in taxes and do not want to pay more.
Ron Storie noted that if Valemount and the adjacent portion of Fraser-Fort George Regional District come on board, then the cost of the service would be spread farther and therefore reduced for each taxpayer. Having Simpcw First Nation contribute also would help reduce the cost.
Holding the alternative approval process in the summer was not intentional, the TNRD officials said.
Final preparations to hold the vote were not done until the spring and a decision needs to be made before an Oct. 1 deadline if the service is to begin next year.
“There never is a good time,” commented Doug Ray. “If we do it in winter, people will say we are disenfranchising the snowbirds.”
