Mayor Wants Eagle Mountain as a Park

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By Janis Cleugh

Crown land north of Westwood Plateau that has been a dumping ground for car thieves over the past few years could become a massive mountain park owned by the city, Coquitlam's mayor said last night.

Mayor Jon Kingsbury suggested at Monday's council meeting that the province transfer 1,235 acres (500 hectares) above Westwood Plateau Golf Academy to the Coquitlam watershed for the city to control. The concept will be pitched to the B.C. Liberal government later this month, he said.

"Eagle Mountain is becoming a tremendous route for recreation," Kingsbury told Coquitlam city council last night.

"People are spending a lot of time in the [Cypress] lake area and quite a few people are getting lost. It's not mapped... I think we should make an application to the province to encompass this area to the watershed to make it into a city park and open it up for more recreation.

"It's a piece of property that I don't see any use for the province," he added. "With the amount of recreation that goes on there, it needs to be planned. We have got to get this under control."

The proposal came after city council received a report this month from Fire Chief Doug Johnson on how Eagle Mountain has become a threat for forest fires because of arsonists torching stolen vehicles; most of the fires happen on the access road to the top.

The most recent example of a potential fire hazard happened Sept. 14 when a vehicle was found in flames near a forested ravine close to the Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club; oil and plastic debris from the burned vehicle also contaminated a nearby stream, Johnson said.

But Eleanor Ward, vice-president of the Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers' Association, said Burke Mountain also has been a target of vehicle arsonists in the past and she fears making Eagle Mountain into a city park will only shift the problem to the northeast region.

"Shutting down the Eagle Mountain access to 4x4 clubs is totally irresponsible," she said, "because they will just find a place in northeast Coquitlam.

"We have had more car fires in our area than on Eagle Mountain," Ward said. "They have just appeased a few people for naught.

"It annoys me to no means," Ward said.

Kingsbury said he anticipates no cost to Coquitlam taxpayers to transfer the Crown land to the city.

As usual, the interests of fourwheelers is being completely ignored. Kingsbury says that the area is a "tremendous route for recreation" yet the majority of the users that I have seen up there are other fourwheelers. In fact, we're the only recreational user group that has made an effort to clean-up the area. So, seeing as how we're the major users AND we have demonstrated an interest in stewardship of the area, WHY haven't we been contacted?
 
...lars