Access Restricitons Coming to Furry Creek???

[Pippen]

I am posting this with the permission of Mr. Nicholls who started a thread over on FishBC with the following info.


Access Restrictions coming to Furry Creek?
Do your part to preserve parking and access to this public amenity.

I am a resident of Oliver’s Landing, a townhome development at Furry Creek along scenic Howe Sound. I thought that you may be interested in an action underway by our strata council that will impact on the general public, and other fisherpersons in the lower mainland.



Our Strata President, Mr. Richard Bennetts, has lobbied the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) to restrict public access to the creek and oceanfront in Furry Creek because the fisherpersons are creating a nuisance, and “we recently experienced an invasion of people from outside the Furry Creek community to fish along our waterfront”. They have requested that the public parking and access to the waterfront be restricted to “residents and guests of the greater community” because “for six weeks the community withstood this invasion of our property and civil rights”. As well, they are lobbying to “close the fishery in East Howe Sound”.



As you can see from the quotes and tone of their discussions and letters to the SLRD, they are attempting to privatize public property for personal gain. All owners in this development were well aware of the public access to and along the foreshore when they purchased into this community, and many support this shared enjoyment of the area. Over the past year or so there has been a splinter group of owners that have been driving the restricting of access to this public amenity, and lobbying for further privatization of the embayment and foreshore in the area. There have also erected misleading and intimidating signage at the areas of public access to discourage the use by non-residents, and have made false statements to the SLRD about the fisherpersons enjoying the area.



I meet and talk with the people visiting our community on a regular basis as I walk my dog often, and in the early mornings when most fishing is taking place. The fisherpersons, divers and families accessing the foreshore and enjoying this public amenity are friendly, respectful and considerate of the local residents. They are being falsely portrayed by the strata president as being a threat to the safety and security of community.



We are hopeful that fisherpersons and the general public will take it upon yourselves to contact the SLRD and let your thoughts and concerns about this infringement on access rights be known. Contact information is as follows;



SLRD Director responsible for this area is Mr. John Turner, johndturner@telus.net

SLRD Chief Administrative Officer is Mr. Paul Edgington, pedgington@slrd.bc.ca

SLRD Board of Directors E Mail address is info@slrd.bc.ca



Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,



Rob Nicholls

54 Beach Drive

Furry Creek, BC, V0N 3Z1

604-896-1954

[Dave]

I have to agree with the residents' perspective on this topic. There should be restricted access to Furry Creek. I have fished there for the last 4 years, and it has gone from a good day out fishing to a complete gong show. It is a small stretch of beach that is suitable for fly fishing. What has happened as of late is that it has been identified by gear fishing forums and is now overwhelmed - whole extended families with inflatable boats now show up to fish, and leave their garbage at the end of the day. My opinion is that if people are going to write to the Regional District, they should also copy their letter to DFO. The solution is to designate the beachfront as fly fishing only. This will limit numbers, protect the resource a little better, and improve ethics on the beach.

[nebc]

As well as reporting issues to the parties you mention, it is also a fact enforcement people will not be everywhere all the time. Their best method of support from the public is to have people call them when they see infractions.

If people complain yet do not report infractions they have done nothing to help matters.

[zugger]

Its a public beach and therefore open to the Public....you cannot restrict its use....its government owned land(owned by you and me) ...that means that everyone there has a right to be there. If you cross private property to get the beach such as the golf course or a residents property then that is a different story and they can take actions to prevent that. I dont seem them changing the rules; otherwise there could be a huge ripple effect to other parks and beaches

I was fly fishing there this summer and disagree with making it a fly only spot...im sure there are fly fishermen that leave just as much garbage there as the gear fishermen. i saw some fly fishermen camping there.... If they want to protect the resource they should close it down to all fishing or catch and release only....I highly doubt that will occur considering the number of pinks that arrived this year.

IMO it will either not be restricted and remain as is or it will be restricted to all fishing.

Has a small community had any success with closing down public beaches or parks to fishing in the past? That will be their precedent to this request.

[Dave]

Agree with above...it is not really possible to restrict access to this beach, however, DFO is able to designate gear restrictions, as they do in many other fisheries, and in many different locations. I'm still thinking that this beach is a good candidate for Fly Fishing only, I think it would improve the situation in general...and I will write a letter to that effect!

[ArticWolf]

Agree with above...it is not really possible to restrict access to this beach, however, DFO is able to designate gear restrictions, as they do in many other fisheries, and in many different locations. I'm still thinking that this beach is a good candidate for Fly Fishing only, I think it would improve the situation in general...and I will write a letter to that effect!

Dave..please post ur return letter with their response.......ArticWolf

[Dave]

Wolf - thanks for keeping my feet to the fire. Here is the letter, we'll see what comes back.

D