Residents continue to be concerned about losing hiking trail access as well as impacts of mining development work by Lehigh Hanson Materials near Sechelt, while shíshálh Nation hiwus (Chief) Warren Paull says work will move ahead but the nation is addressing access.
The hiking trails along Chapman Creek are situated in a corner of the 616-hectare Gravel Lands, covered by a Lehigh Hanson mining permit that has been in effect since the 1990s.
On Feb. 25, the transfer of the lands from the province to shíshálh Nation was announced. Shortly after, Lehigh Hanson installed signs at trailheads prohibiting use of the access road and trail system.
The signs were installed “as an added safety measure since the area remains closed and exploratory work and drilling will be occurring this month,” a Lehigh spokesperson told Coast Reporter on March 2.
The Mines Act and Mines Code prohibits public access to areas where mining activities occur, and prior use had been unauthorized, according to the company.
Coast Reporter requested further information about the location of the work from Lehigh Hanson.
In an email response on March 9, communications vice president David Perkins said, “We will be conducting standard bore hole drilling on site to further identify the nature of the sand and gravel reserve over the coming weeks.”
The work will inform the company’s short- and long-term mining plans “and is taking place within areas on these properties which are currently covered by our mine permit,” said Perkins.
According to the Ministry of Indigenous Relations, the status of the Lehigh mine permit remains the same after the land transfer, and the company must apply to B.C.’s Ministry of Mines to make a change to its permit, “including but not limited to the permit areas or terms.”
Coast Reporter made a request to the mines ministry for the company’s permit.
Some residents remain worried about the environmental impact of mining and the fact that they can no longer access what was until very recently, a well-used hiking area.
Sunshine Coast resident Luke Phillips told Coast Reporter he has already observed tree cutting and road works north of the power lines – an area he has grown up hiking and swimming in. “I want to make sure it’s protected,” he said.
The issue was expected to be raised at a March 10 Sunshine Coast Trails Society meeting, according to chair Julie Davidson, who recently spoke with a negotiator from the B.C. government about what can be done to keep the popular Chapman Falls trail open.
“I think it’s an important trail and destination for a lot of local residents” said the chair of the 1,400-member society.
A statement from provincial negotiators to the trail society obtained by Coast Reporter said that “currently there is no plan in place for the public to continue to access it and it will be unavailable for access after the [land] transfer.”
However, there have been discussions about how public access could be reinstated, said the statement, “and those conversations may continue in the future.”
The negotiator said, “The Province cannot make any promises about this, as it is shíshálh’s decision because it will be their private land.
“Further, the area where the Chapman Falls trail is will have Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) legally protected rights for use and access for maintaining and using the water works and water plant. As the SCRD has those legal rights, the SCRD will need to be in full agreement if shíshálh wants to allow the public to access the trail.”
Chief Paull acknowledged he has been receiving emails from concerned residents. He said the issue of trail access “is currently being handled by our forestry people at this point until we get it all sorted out.”
He said they are working to make people aware “this land is area for extraction,” adding the area has been under permit since the 1990s. “It will be actively pursued in a short period of time,” he said.
When asked whether the nation is considering keeping trail access open, Paull said, “I’ve got a team working on just that, but they haven’t reported back to us. We just got this less than two weeks ago, so you’ve got to give us a little bit of time to sort through it.”
The Feb. 25 release announcing the transfer said “strong provisions” have been established by B.C. and shíshálh Nation “to ensure drinking water quality is maintained in a section of the Chapman Community Watershed that overlaps with the gravel lands,” and that the SCRD will maintain its access to the treatment plant through a legal right-of-way.
