There will be no new developments on Mt. Begbie for the next five years.
According to MLA Doug Clovechok for Columbia-River Revelstoke, the Ministry of Forests has granted a section 17 order, preventing any new Land Act applications on Mt. Begbie for the next five years.
“This is all Revelstoke,” Clovechok said. “I’m the weapon, they were the ammunition.”
Though existing tenures still apply, no new applications will be considered for the area.
However, according to the Wilderness Committee, an organization aiming to protect biological diversity in Canada, there are already several planned logging cuts by BC Timber Sales below the mountain. Black Press has reached out to the province asking if the cuts are still expected to occur.
In the fall of 2019 there was an open house outlining proposed plans for a commercial development on the mountain which would have included a hut and chalet in the alpine, near the glacier.
READ MORE: You’re going to have a fight on your hands’: development proposed on iconic Mount Begbie
Following that proposal a community movement, which included support from the city and the CSRD, asked that the province protect the mountain and create a land use plan for the area.
In July, the city received a letter from the province rejecting the request, saying they did not have time this year but it would be considered in the future.
From there a petition was created.
Clovechok presented it to the legislature is August. At the time it had over 1,300 signatures.
READ MORE: Petition to protect Mt. Begbie goes to the province
He followed up the petition with a request for a moratorium on development, which was granted today, Dec. 17, 2020.
READ MORE: MLA requests Mt. Begbie development moratorium on heels of petition
READ MORE: ‘It’s our iconic mountain’: Province rejects proposal to protect Mt. Begbie
“Now the hard work starts,” Clovechok said.
The next step will be to create a land use plan and it will be a community led process. Luckily other areas are facing similar processes, such as the Columbia Valley, that planning process is being lead by the mayor of Radium.
READ MORE: What’s in a name? The story of Mt. Begbie
Â
@RevelstokeRevueeditor@revelstoketimesreview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
