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This is probably old news for some of you, but it's new to me, because I haven't been following the developments in this issue while I was away on holidays:
For those of you who don't know the area, Sooke was a fantastic playground for motorized recreationists. It features an extensive road network, including many roads that have eroded into challenging 4x4 trails. There were also great places for camping and fishing. All that came to an end when The Land Conservancy bought the land, and then handed it over to the Capital Regional District (CRD) so they could turn it into a park and ban its use to all motorized recreation. But there was one fly in the ointment: the city of Sooke. The mayor and council are supporting their constituents, many of whom want motorized access to the area. And the CRD has to negotiate with the municipality of Sooke because part of the land they want to turn into a park is within the municipality and is currently not zoned for use as a park. The mayor and the off-road community want the CRD to provide motorized access to some of the old roads in exchange for allowing the park to go ahead. Needless to say, there are some very angry eco extremists.
This development was driven by Terrance Martin, who mobilized a very effective campaign to push the issue of motorized access to the trails around Sooke, and is continuing to do an amazing job of communicating the motorized recreationists' frustration to all the government representatives involved in this issue.
I strongly recommend that you read their press release for a detailed explanation of the situation: http://mckenziefriend.ca/docs/Mar-18-10-MediaRelease.pdf
I also highly recommend that you join their Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=236921441704
BTW, on their Facebook page, they have an audio clip of the call-in show on CFAX, where the mayor of Sooke was interviewed. Near the end of the clip, you can hear Wil phone in and speak.
...lars
For those of you who don't know the area, Sooke was a fantastic playground for motorized recreationists. It features an extensive road network, including many roads that have eroded into challenging 4x4 trails. There were also great places for camping and fishing. All that came to an end when The Land Conservancy bought the land, and then handed it over to the Capital Regional District (CRD) so they could turn it into a park and ban its use to all motorized recreation. But there was one fly in the ointment: the city of Sooke. The mayor and council are supporting their constituents, many of whom want motorized access to the area. And the CRD has to negotiate with the municipality of Sooke because part of the land they want to turn into a park is within the municipality and is currently not zoned for use as a park. The mayor and the off-road community want the CRD to provide motorized access to some of the old roads in exchange for allowing the park to go ahead. Needless to say, there are some very angry eco extremists.
This development was driven by Terrance Martin, who mobilized a very effective campaign to push the issue of motorized access to the trails around Sooke, and is continuing to do an amazing job of communicating the motorized recreationists' frustration to all the government representatives involved in this issue.
I strongly recommend that you read their press release for a detailed explanation of the situation: http://mckenziefriend.ca/docs/Mar-18-10-MediaRelease.pdf
I also highly recommend that you join their Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=236921441704
BTW, on their Facebook page, they have an audio clip of the call-in show on CFAX, where the mayor of Sooke was interviewed. Near the end of the clip, you can hear Wil phone in and speak.
...lars
