Project Memo
A new mountain resort project called the Garibaldi at Squamish has been approved and the proposed resort aims to open in 2025. This proposed site for the resort are located on Brohm Ridge, an area 80 km north of Vancouver and 45 km south of Whistler. While the project developers claimed that the project can bring in many job opportunities and economic benefit, the inevitable impact on the environment can not be neglected in the planning process. The environmental conditions in the project area need to be carefully review to ensure the minimal negative impact on the ecosystem of the region. An environmental impact assessment has been conducted to focusing the potential effects on vegetation, fish and wildlife habitat. Analysis about the development within project boundary, suggestions for further analysis and other considerations are also included.
Potential impacts and affected areas has been mapped in the project site using spatial data from HectaresBC, DataBC and TRIM (Terrestrial Resource Information Management). Snowline contour, roads, river and elevation contour are also included in the project map. As can be seen from the map, over 60% of the project area are above the snowline, which is suitable for building ski runs. However, there are still 31.8% or the area that is not suitable for skiing because there is not enough snow there. As for access for roads, the existing road within this area are enough to support the infrastructure development and further road development can also based on these roads.
Fish habitat riparian management zones, which is areas within the 50 m buffer (above the snowline) or 100 m buffer (below the snowline) are marked as the light blue area in the map. These zones account for 28.7% of the the total project area, and most of them cluster around the snowline in the south, which is the area ski runs development should avoid. There are also several ungulate habitat areas in the region. 7.9% of the project area fall in the ungulate habitats. The major ungulate habitat area is located at the east side of the project area in the south. Besides wildlife habitats, old growth management area is also one part of the environmental impact assessment. 6.8% of the total project area fall in this old growth forest management area. Most of these area locate at the north east corner of the project area.
In my opinion, the development of resort should avoid these vulnerable areas as much as possible to reduce the negative environmental impact. Hotel, tourist center and other infrastructure should should build below the snowline because there are less affected area. As for skiing area, the south west facing slope in the centre of the project area will be an ideal location as there are less rivers and no habitats and forest management area around. This area also has convenient access to existing roads.
The environmental impact assessment above include only impacts on major species in the area. Further research/assessment should also focus on other animals. There is also flaw in this assessment. For instance, the habitat area may change over time during development process due to human interruption in the region. Further analysis conducted before, during and after the actual development process to monitor the ongoing impact of project construction so that the development plan can be adjusted to the changing condition and new negative impact that emerge.
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