The B.C. government this week introduced legislation to add 9.7 hectares of land to Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, making good on a promise made by legislators more than a year ago.
The land being added to the park takes in the Malamute, which until September 2010 was owned by Malamute Holdings Ltd. A popular rock climbing and falcon nesting bluff, the Malamute was acquired by the provincial government as part of a land exchange involving provincial Crown land valued at $1.25 million, a $333,000 gift from Malamute Holdings through Environment Canada's Ecological Gifts Program, and $81,000 from the B.C. government.
When the purchase was announced, then-Environment Minister Barry Penner said that after First Nations consultations, he planned to introduce legislation making the 9.7 hectares of land part of an expanded, 526-hectare Stawamus Chief Provincial Park.
The government announced introduction of the legislation to protect the 9.7 hectares of land in a statement issued on Monday (Nov. 14) about an omnibus bill called the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act.
In March 2007, Malamute Holdings Ltd. officials angered recreational users by removing nearly 1,500 trees from the site in contravention of the District of Squamish's tree removal bylaw. When the Province's land acquisition was announced, Malamute Holdings principles Steve Miles and Paul Turner said reaction to that action helped them realize the importance of the land and prompted them to work with officials to protect the site for its conservation and recreation values.
