To the editor:
I have had the pleasure of spending a good portion of my life in the Bridge Lake area.
It started back in the late 1940s when my parents would make the two-day drive from Vancouver to the Double T Ranch (the last part was by tractor).
In 1975, I purchased a lot on Bridge Lake and started building my own log cabin. Since then, my family has enjoyed the wonders of nature this beautiful area can provide.
However, over the years, there have been many mistakes made by the governing authorities that have degraded the quality of Bridge Lake. Examples are the disruption of spawning streams, the lack of control on lake shore septic systems and the poor management of the fishery.
Bridge Lake, which was one of the most prolific Kamloops trout lakes in British Columbia, coveted by the Canim Lake Indian Band as their summer fishery and anglers from all over North America, is now clogged with coarse fish and shows signs of growing weed problems.
It’s not too late to fix these problems, but to my knowledge, no government group is taking an active role. Only The Friends of Bridge Lake group is working to solve problems.
The purchase of the Heritage/Rainbow Island by an individual with the idea of making a lot of money developing it is the kind of action that will continue to degrade the Lake.
The residents of Bridge Lake (The Friends of Bridge Lake was formed to help) have fought this action and now there is a move to exchange this land for 45 acres of waterfront Crown land on the south side of Bridge Lake.
I am opposed to the Crown land being swapped for the following reasons:
1. The values assigned to Heritage Island are far less than the value of the 45 acres. This is a bad deal for the people of British Columbia.
2. This kind of deal would set a bad precedent by allowing an individual to exchange privately held land, which has always been and should only be a single private residence, for public land with the intention of having it zoned for multiple dwellings.
3. There is very little lake front Crown land left on Bridge Lake and it should be simply saved or converted to public parks like Centennial Park [in 100 Mile House].
4. This particular 45 acres is close to the ice caves on Bridge Lake, which have been in existence since the lake was formed and could possibly be affected.
James Elliott
Vancouver/Bridge Lake
