Cheam / Pelólxw Territory/ Rosedale – In their June 24 media release, Cheam First Nation and the Pelólxw community, including the Skwah and Kwa-kwa-a-pilt Nations, stated that they are increasingly frustrated by the ongoing lack of action from the Province of B.C. regarding their proposed Cascade Skyline Gondola Project.
In part it reads:
“The BC Government has been stalling and creating additional hurdles for the past 6 ears, rather than letting us create hundreds of jobs for Indigenous and non-indigenous people in the Fraser Valley,” said Darwin Douglas, Chief of Cheam First Nation.
Despite changes to our proposal which further reduce the environmental footprint and eliminate any claimed overlap with other First Nations, the B.C. Government has still not granted permits for the project to move forward.
“We don’t appreciate government platitudes about reconciliation, especially when it’s not matched by meaningful action,” said Johnathan Prest, Chief of the Skwah First Nation.
The re-scoped project will provide a spectacular experience, and includes:
- Reduced project footprint (320 ha vs 450 ha) = 29% reduction in area
- Reduced project infrastructure requirements (1 Gondola instead of 2, no longer a
mid-station required, and no new roads). - Revised tenure boundary, eliminating any conflict with Spotted Owl wildlife habitat
areas (WHAs). - Revised tenure boundary to avoid the study area of the proposed Bridal Veil
Mountain Resort (BVMR). - Revised tenure boundary to avoid overlapping with other First Nation traditional
territories. The project is now exclusively within the traditional territory of the
Cheam and Pelólxw peoples. - Golf Course purchase completed by Cheam First Nation for the project base.
A key component of the Cascade Skyline Gondola Project remains a Stó:lō cultural interpretive centre with programming about First Nations history and culture. This will be located on lands of the former Bridal Falls Golf course, recently purchased by Cheam First Nation.
“We look forward to inviting everyone to the interpretive centre, as well as to the mountains,” Chief Randy Leon, Kwa-kwa-a-pilt First Nation. “However, the B.C.
government has been getting in the way for the past 6 years.”
Letters of support for the Cascade Skyline Gondola Project have been provided by the Mayor and Council of Chilliwack, the Mayor and Council of the District of Kent (Agassiz), Tourism Chilliwack, Indigenous Tourism BC, and the Tourism Industry Association of BC. Many other groups have also gone on record supporting the project.
BVMR has received no such support.
