Since questions linger about the Black Tusk Helicopters proposal to build a backcountry cabin and heli-recreation staging area at Echo Lake, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District's (SLRD) board members decided at the March 22 regular meeting to defer decision for two months.
The board received a letter from the Squamish Nation, signed by Chief Bill Williams, stating the band has "outstanding questions" that need to be addressed by the province and business.
"We ask that the SLRD does not make a decision on the rezoning application submitted by Black Tusk until we are satisfied that our questions have been addressed adequately," the March 16 letter states.
An SLRD staff report encourages the selection of an alternate site for the proposed 1,586-square foot building, one that could meet the applicant's needs while having less impact on the environment and members of the public who hike and camp at the mountainside lake above Squamish.
SLRD Administrator Paul Edgington said regional district staff members will meet with Squamish Nation representatives to understand their concerns.
The proposal would accommodate around 80 clients per year, with one or two flights per month, in a building with a composting toilet and grey water system located 82 metres from the lake, according to a March 12 SLRD staff report.
Black Tusk Helicopter representative Danielle Saindon told the board at their December 2009 meeting the operators have been working to diversify their business with this proposal since receiving their tenure in 2000.
Saindon said they chose Echo Lake due to its close proximity to the Squamish airport, which would make flights cost-effective for a range of clients, "not just high-end users."
At December's board meeting, a few directors raised concerns about issues such as the cabin's presence in a grizzly bear habitat and its proximity to the lake, and the board wound up voting to seek more information and clarification about the project.
In a February letter to The Chief, Dave Williamson of Cascade Environmental said the proponents gave the SLRD more information in January about items such as confirmation that the cabin complies with the Sea to Sky Land Resource Management Plan, a plan for greenhouse gas reduction, and more location analysis.
He said the company and the province have contacted the Squamish Nation to ensure their values will be protected.
"The levels of use are not expected to increase significantly and impacts to grizzly bears and public recreationists are not expected. These issues were addressed during the in-depth community and corridor-wide consultative processes of the LRMP, which supported the development of backcountry cabins in the area," Williamson wrote.
However the March 12 staff report questions the perceived change in the LRMP that allows cabins for up to 12 people at Echo Lake, and suggests there are alternative sites within similar flight times and costs that "could meet the needs of the applicant and have less impact on the public and natural environment."
"Echo Lake is a rare public amenity that, as the population of Squamish grows, will be increasingly valued for its wilderness characteristics and should be left in its natural state The applicant should be encouraged to see out another location for guest accommodation," the report states.
It also notes that several members of the public have spoken out to state the special nature of the lake, which is accessible by a three-hour hike on a trail through old-growth forests and waterfalls, and they asked for the proposed cabin to move somewhere else.
Squamish wildlife advocate John Buchanan wrote to the board in January to express "great dismay" over the proposed cabin, referring briefly to the "obvious environmental impacts this proposal will have" and concentrating on the cultural impact for nearby spiritual areas valued by the Squamish Nation.
