GIS 4 – Environmental Impact Assessment for Garibaldi at Squamish Ski Resort

Dear Client,

I am a natural resource planner from Northland Properties, contacting you regarding my environmental impact assessment using DataBC data on ArcGIS. I understand that the initial project approval certificate was denied by the BC Environmental Assessment Office due to lack of information about the potential effects of the project’s undertaking on local ecosystems near the Brohm Ridge area – specifically the impact on fish, wildlife, and vegetation habitats. Using spatial analysis techniques, I was able to analyze BC TRIM data and other government of BC datasets accounting for the geographic locations of ungulate ranges, old growth forest ranges, and endangered plant species.

To begin, I reference the climatological concerns about the project undertaking. I found that only 28.4% of the development area is below the 555 m snowline as cited in the 1974 report, which addresses concerns about low snow levels. The majority of the area above the snowline is suitable for development, and my colleagues in the planning department are prepared for warm winters if that be the case.Furthermore, using the analysis toolbox, I was able to clip multiple datasets to the project boundary to determine their proportion to the total project area. I found that there are 371 hectares of old growth forest and 432 hectares of mule deer and mountain goat habitat. Using selection by attributes, I was able to select out the 6 red-listed species found in this terrestrial ecosystem from a large dataset of areas classified by biogeoclimatic units, finding there to be 1358 hectares of endangered species habitat. Lastly, I used the buffer tool to approximate the extent of fish-bearing habitat surrounding streams and rivers, allowing for a 50 metre buffer above the snowline and an 100 m buffer below the snowline. There are 1558 hectares of fish- bearing habitat within the project boundary. It may seem like a large proportion of the project area is protected, based on these figures, but using the union tool, I joined each polygon layer together and found that much of this acreage overlapped: approximately 50.6% of the total project area happens to be protected area, and much of it is located below the snow line. Half of the bounded area is available for development.

The two greatest environmental concerns to project development, in my opinion, are the arrival of non-domestic tourists who must be notified about environmentally sensitive areas, which happen to be based at the foot of the ski area near much of the housing and village development. The best way to mitigate this impact is through a network of information signs, especially at tourist attractions and sites placed along the road leading to the resort. We will also have strict regulations and fines regarding waste disposal and fuel use (idling) to further protect our natural ecosystems. The addition of a snowmaking reservoir is my second concern, mainly because of the impact it will have on fish-bearing streams. We are working on plans to locate the reservoir at a higher elevation so that, while serving mid-level ski runs, it only draws on tributary streams when absolutely necessary. We have an existing program that gathers flow data to regulate water withdrawals and do not disrupt annual discharge in fish-bearing streams.

I trust you will find my GIS analysis helpful in presenting the proposal to the BC Environmental Impact Assessment Office. Attached are several maps that outline the results.

Regards,

Stephen McCausland
Natural Resource Planner, Northland Properties

What I wrote in my memo may not always reflect my ethical concern for megaprojects like this and their environmental/economic impact. In this situation, I was involved in a proposal that I did not necessarily agree with. The Garibaldi at Squamish resort promises to stimulate the economy by entering an already saturated market, and at a great environmental cost. If a disagreement regarding opinions occurs at the workplace, however, it is essential that I remain impartial with regards to data collection, spatial analysis, and cartographic methods, even if I do not agree that the project is morally justified.

Accomplishments:

• Built a multi-criteria environmental impact analysis of a new ski resort in order to identify over 13 million square metres of redlisted species land, 4 million square metres of large mammal habitat, and 3 million square metres of old growth forest required to be legally protected from development.
• Created a file geodatabase to maintain a systematic data collection process from external sources like DataBC, resulting in an efficient analysis of geographic information and an organized virtual workspace.