When working on environmental projects, you sometimes become involved in proposals that you do not ethically believe in. Do you personally think the project should be allowed to continue? Does this differ from what you wrote in your memo?
(Roleplay as a natural resource planner for British Columbia Snowmobile Federation)
Memo:
Garibaldi at Squamish Project is a proposed year round destination to become a mountain resort on the Brohm Ridge, which has been tentatively approved to become a ski resort and accommodation site. As a natural resource planner for the British Columbia Snowmobile Federation, I was initially opposed to this project. Asked by the BCSF, I was asked to examine whether there is sufficient evidence in the Environmental Assessment’s recommendations and Whistler’s criticism towards the project, leading to whether there is enough evidence/concerns in order to oppose this project.
In order to analyze the data, the steps I took in gathering evidence in order to form the map was by acquiring data from DataBC in regard to the Categories of mammals, Old growth forests protection areas, Terrestrial Ecosystems as well as Parks and Protected areas. From there, with the combined information of roads, rivers, contour lines as well elevation data, I applied these data onto the projected boundary of Garibaldi at Squamish Park. With the information gathered, I was able to filter out where old protected forests were present, red listed species present as well as fishery habitats present within the boundaries.
Based on the results, I was able to find that the percentage of protected areas within the project area was to be 52.67%, which is the combination of the old growth forest, ungulate habitat, red listed ecosystems as well as fishes within the area. Within the proposed area as well, the area which is below 555m only comes to be 29.93% within the area. In general, the results of protected areas in regards of habitats for mammals were 7.89%, with old growth forests being around 6.79%. Furthermore, the total amount of red listed species present within the Garibaldi Project area came to be around 24.73%.
From my analysis, I was able to conclude two great environmental concerns regarding Garibaldi at Squamish Project, due to the protection of the present fishery habitats, as well as unreliable skiing. A main concern for the project would be that the ski slopers would not be able to provide reliable skiing. With a large percentage in low elevation areas and it’s detrimental impact to fishery habitats and ecosystems, it would not be an ideal location for skiing. Due to this, the idea of bringing in snowmakers can be used to mitigate the problem, but it requires a large amount of water, with common practice to pump water out of reservoirs, streams or lakes, which fishery habitats are present. Furthermore, the presence of fishery habitats being present where the ski resorts and villages are to be constructed may change the habitats. With the implementations of the villages, sewage and drainage systems would be implanted, which can change the chemistry within the fishery habitats present.
Through this environmental analysis, I do not believe this project should continue unless there is a way to address or mitigate potential environmental risks and concerns in protecting red-listed species and protected ecosystems. With the amount of under-elevation (555m) suitable for steady snowfall (deemed by Whistler Blackcomb as unsuitable), it casts doubt on whether there would adequate snowfall to sustain the skiing base, especially with the ensuing climate change over the past years. Because of this, it also brings into the question of the quality of the ski resort, which can affect the performance of profitability and tourism into Garibaldi. As well as the competition with Whistler ski resort, with the large industrial ski resort merely 30 minutes away, the competition on being on par or equally reliable is also difficult.
Sincerely,
Kathy Bi
British Columbia Snowmobile Federation
Discussion:
When working on environmental projects, you sometimes become involved in proposals that you do not ethically believe in. Do you personally think the project should be allowed to continue? Does this differ from what you wrote in your memo?
Environmental projects always run in ranges from positive to negative proposals towards thee environment. Sometimes, one may run into environmental projects or proposals that one doesn’t believe in ethically. Personally, I believe that such projects should not be allowed to continue. No matter how the project benefits economically and profit-wise, ethnically we shouldn’t ignore the basis of how such decisions can impact and change the environment.
With my decisions and view, it would not differ from what I wrote in my memo. From my environmental analysis performed, the project proposal ethnically and environmentally still contains various potential environmental risks which have yet to be addressed or mitigated.With a large percentage of the ski resort sitting on low elevation areas, it would cause detrimental impact to fishery habitats and ecosystems, leaving it a non-ideal location for skiing. As the idea of bringing in snowmakers can be used to mitigate the problem, the solution still requires a large amount of water, where common practices have been to pump water out of reservoirs, streams or lakes, which fishery habitats are present. Furthermore, the presence of fishery habitats being present where the ski resorts and villages are to be constructed may change the habitats. With the implementations of the villages, sewage and drainage systems would be implanted, which can change the chemistry within the fishery habitats present. Environmentally and ethnically, the project should not be able to continue, which i proposed to the board in my memo.
As a journalist, the classification method I would choose for my audience would be the natural breaks classification as it provides the natural breaks and intervals of differences in class within the housing market. If I was a real estate agent preparing a presentation for prospective home buyers near UBC, I would use the equal interval classification as it divides the numbers equally and would assure prospective buyers of a relative safe market to invest in homes. As well with the equal intervals, it would lean lower numbers in cost of housing values, which can help spike the interest in prospective buyers, as well helping the real estate agent to garner more clientele. Since the data is from 2011 and it is currently 6 years from 2017, I believe that the data shouldn’t be used since there has probably been a significant growth and differences in the data numbers. With housing costs increasing and decreasing each year exponentially in Vancouver, the data collected from 6 years ago most likely has changed significantly with the current data of housing costs.
Accomplish Statement:
Gained insight and knowledge in using ArcGIS on performing a environmental assessment. Learnt how to find and retrieve from reliable data sources in order to conduct the environmental assessment and analysis.