#776...Must be the friends of the enviroment doing this...The green movement is gaining a lot of momentum lately. David Suzuki, Al Gore and The IPCC are leading the pack.
No 789 Where is this going to end???? It seems that we are dealing with quite a few land closures in B.C. and Alberta and I don't know what it is going to take to get the snowmobile/quad community to wake up and start fighting these closures. I know I have written my fair share of letters to MLAs and MPs but it seems you are just beating your head against a brick wall. I was told by someone in the know that for every letter that a sledder or quader sends in to keep a particular area open there are about 6 more letters to close the area to the motrized public. We have to start letting our elected officials know how we feel and that our right to access is being taken away from us. We have just as much right to access these areas RESPONSIBLY as any one else does and most of the time it is the motorized users who do most of the work maintianing these areas so all users have access motorized or not!!!!!!
794 - it seems that the people pushing for these changes have never been outside. There are thousands of miles of land in the area, we are already restricted to a selected area. We are controlled!
Hmmm, wonder how all that wildlife we are protecting feels when a helicopter drops in on top of them and unloads a bunch of people. We are the same and the rules should be the same. If we lose our area then they , the skiiers should too.
Just my 2 cents worth of nothing.
We are loosing the areas because of them. They use tha area for helli sking. Snowmobiles are getting into these areas now and are impacting their product that they sell to the europeon skiers with ruts and stuff. The heliskiers are always against snowmobilers and the government agrees because the gov. is targeting foreign tourist over the local or canadian tourists (albertans). The gov. wants to be the swiss alps of north america. Thousands of AB and BC residents will be affected because of a few hundred foreign tourists. How many of you or your friends have ever gone and went and payed for a high end helisking experience. If so how many times a year do they do that. It takes a fair amount of money to ski that way. So people that know people with money have a larger influnce to the right people that make those decisions on what happens where and when. Its called politics and to some it works to others it doesn`t. Just think how many people are jumping for joy with this anouncment. We need to get more active, Alberta is gone now BC is next. Time will tell
Im 808, this is very upsetting, did everybody send their letter to B.C. environment from the Revelstoke forum that had to be in by the end of Feb., i believe. I did.
#812
Every day I look out my window to see a mountain that is 50% logged off (Kicking Horse Mountain resort) for the sole purpose of skiing and real estate devolopment. They have a grizzly bear kept in captivity for public viewing. If this is acceptable, why am I (a responsible snowmobiler/atver) being restricted to where I can ride?
As for Valemount, I always observe a town full of sledders, But no heli skiers.... But on any given mtn in & near Valemount one rides one seems to come into contact w/heli skiers jumping up & down, waving,hooting & yelling to clear away!!??. Where do they come from..... Blue River ??. Sledders spend a pile of money in Valemount, But have to abide by Blue River Heli sking rules.... & it continues.
As for the caribou, Myself have seen next to none on trail systems leading up to the alpines,Seen more goats up top. All the area the Mountains have to offer compared to the little areas we use for riding....Attempt is there to push us out. I know there is more to the legislation pushed than what I am talking about here, But this is one aspect that perturbs myself.
If you have signed the petition we sincerely appreciate your support!!! If you haven't here are some things to think about...
Do you plan on having fun with friends and family making your future recreation snowmobiling?
Do you love the freedom of a full day’s powder experience or the rush of a full throttle hill climb?
Are you planning to take on the most challenging, extensive and spectacular mountain terrain you can find?
How does a future of limited terrain, hard packed snow and over crowding sound? Or have you told yourself “I will just go somewhere else.’’ Sound familiar?
That future is starting with the recently announced Section 58 closures in Valemount & Blue River, your next area is already being targeted. Snowmobile closers will eventually affect us everywhere unless we act; the deadline is March 12, 2007.
Visit us & sign public petition at www.valemountrecreation.com Forward this info to everyone you know and get them involved doing the same.
Thank you for taking the time to consider our future!
We have now 416 views on this topic and I think only 30% of you went to the Valmount site and put your name on the petition. As Lisa says above this will also affect other area's too. Valemount is a great area and as the riding areas are condenced they will get more crowded and people will go somewhere else so that area too will get more crowded. I noticed every year when I go to to Miledge in Valemount it seems to be getting smaller and I remember going in to some good riding area's there that are now restricted.
So please take the 2 minutes it takes and put your John Henry on the petition. Thanks alot
Do the people in valemount think it will be the proverbial pot of gold if a ski hill opens up.. sure it cant hurt but the last time i was a valemount, in one day over 400 sled passes were sold. i dont think they will sell that may lift tickets.
where the heck ar ethey planning this ski hill any ways.. cant we all just get along?
I guess building a ski hill and a nice brand new shiny resort won't have an impact on wildlife or the environment. It is funny how we use old or existing roads to access snowmobile areas, and the environmentally friendly skiers just tear down hundreds or thousands of acres of trees before they enjoy the same areas. Don't forget how many won't be staying in town as well.
I don't mean to pick on the skiers, it is just an example.
Also I hate hearing all about the wildlife and how we are disturbing their habitat, we probably do affect them a bit, but how many dead caribou do we see in the alpine that were hit by a snowmobile. Now how many sheep etc... do we see hit or have a good chance of being hit going through Jasper. Maybe we should just close the National park to motorized traffic as well.